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Valentine Scrapbooking with Washi Tape

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I have some awesome washi tapes and tags from Downtown Tape lying on my desk, so I made a scrapbook project for this upcoming Valentine’s Day. It is so fun and colorful to work with washi tape, basically, this is a fail-proof project. Even kids can do this for their parents

Working with washi tape is easy, the tape is tacky and at the same time it is adjustable. If you stick it at the wrong position, simply lift it up and stick again immediately. No trace of glue line left behind and it won’t hurt your paper as well. The colorful prints and patterns are great for decorations too.

With the template I have prepared for this project (in pdf format), just download it and print it on your plain card-stock and you are good to create a pretty pinkish Valentine’s Scrapbooking Display with the tutorial on next page.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

{Get full details on next page.}

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DIY Embossed Washi Tape

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Washi Tape was on the heat in scrap booking and paper crafting world a while ago. I have been loving this translucent effect of the washi tape when I first saw it… never bought one because I wanted to make it myself. I saw many tutorials on how to make it, I find the tissue paper and double-sided tape version most appealing to me. I am not repeating what other has done, I want it to be something special, so, I embossed it to become a dimensional washi tape. I think it is not available in the market yet but probably later after they see this tutorial… lol…

So… what is Washi Tape actually? Washi (和紙) paper was originated from Japan and it is commonly known as thin handmade paper made from rice, wheat or fiber from tree. Washi paper is generally strong and translucent, it is vastly used as shoji in Japanese Tatami room. The shoji recalls me to the movie scene that the ninja used to wet his fingers with his saliva then poke the washi paper on the shoji to peep into and spy… Printed washi paper is used in gift packaging and sometimes as origami paper.

In short, washi tape is a printed washi paper that has sticky backing, to stick on card, gift box, envelope, furniture, toys, etc., be it for decoration, for organization, for labeling, you name it. Some people do call washi tape as tissue paper tape or printed masking tape or vice versa, I think they are all almost the same. Need more ideas on what to do with washi tape? Click here to get more idea from Mel Stampz where she complied more than hundreds of craft tape ideas and how make to them.

{Get the tutorials on next page.}

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Before and After Organize

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As you can see from the above before photo, I can’t even put on the lid to cover the box before stacking it up on the shelf. It is no joke when I need to get a specific ribbon out from the box. I found out I can free up a lot of space by removing the packaging of some of the ribbons. Some packagings especially the spools with big core are simply too bulky to keep. So, I decided to take those out. Then, I need to find a way to keep my ribbon organize and tidy otherwise they will get tangled up after a few digs. This is where the cardboard comes in place to wind them up and keep them in place. A tiny head sewing pins are handy to keep the ends on the winding. Read more after the jump to the second page.

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Today is the first day of Chinese New Year, I would like to wish all my Chinese readers and visitors a very Happy Chinese New Year and Gong Xi Fa Ca! 新年快乐，万事如意， 龙马精神，身体健康, 恭喜发财！

During the 15 days of Chinese New Year celebration, the most common traditional event you will get to see is Lion and Dragon Dance. I can’t make those big real size dragon costumes but I found a kid craft tutorial of making a Chinese Dragon Puppet at Family Fun, hope you like it.

This year, Chinese New Year comes a little early than usual, normally it falls between end of Jan to mid of Feb. According to Chinese / Lunar Calendar, the year change to Dragon on 4th of February, the official day of Spring [立春]. Baby born after the day of spring [立春] is called dragon baby, whilst who born before 4th Feb 2012 is still a Rabbit baby.

[The Chinese dragon (simplified Chinese: 龙; traditional Chinese: 龍; pinyin: lóng) is the highest-ranking animal in the Chinese animal hierarchy, strongly associated at one time with the emperor and hence power and majesty (the mythical bird fenghuang was the symbol of the Chinese empress), still recognized and revered. Its origins are vague, but its "ancestors can be found on Neolithic pottery as well as Bronze Age ritual vessels."[17] Tradition has it composed of nine different animals, with nine sons, each with its own imagery and affiliations. It is the only mythological animal of the 12 animals that represent the Chinese calendar. 2012 is the Chinese year of the Water Dragon.
Source: Wikipedia]

I will be back with more crafts after this short break to celebrate Chinese New Year with friends and family. Watch out for an upcoming giveaway after I come back in a few days time.

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Make And Decorate Star Jar For Christmas Table Decoration

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Ho ho hoh~~~ This is my last Christmas craft for year 2010… time really flies like a rocket!!! Almost time to say goodbye to 2010 and welcome 2011!!! Before that…

MERRY CHRISTMAS

to all of you, my dearest friends and readers!!!! Wish you all the best in health & wealth

Welcome the new members of my table decorations, frosted glass jars with lots of stars on them. They also act as tealight or candle stand decorated with holly berries. To make the christmas more aromatic…. I used pomegranate scented tealight and the candle has a white rose smell. They are going to give my house full of cozy warm christmas aroma ♥♥♥♥….

Get the tutorial on how to make this simple and quick last minute christmas craft after this jump.

Tutorial

There are 2 ways to frost a glass jar, either it is temporary or permanent. This tutorial is using frosted window tint sticker, it is temporary and can be removed with heat when you decided to re-use the jar for other purpose. Unlike the permanent type which uses frosted cream to etch the glass or sandblast tool to roughen the surface of the glass hence to make it “blur”; using frosted window tint is safer, with no chemical or mechanical equipment involved, it is fast to prepare and easy to clean up.

The tutorial is based on the frosted glass jar tealight stand. You can use this method for the candle glass jar too.
Material:
1. Clean glass jar with small mouth opening, just big enough to clasp a tealight candle.
2. Frosted window tint (a small piece will do for each jar)
3. Star templates (different sizes)
4. Pen
5. Scissor
6. Tweezers
7. Small glass wiper
8. Water

Trace the stars on the back (paper side) of the frosted window tint. Cut them out.

Carefully Peel off the backing paper with tweezers and immerse the star into water.

It will float like this. Make sure the adhesive side is facing down and touching the water.

Carefully position the star on the wet but clean glass jar.

Use a small glass wiper, carefully wipe out the air bubble captured in the star.
Repeat the steps for the stars you intended to stick.
Leave it to dry before handling.
Your frosted star glass jar is ready for more decorations.
Tip: If you notice any bubble in the star after it has dry or semi-dry, use a craft knife to make a small slash on the bubble to release the air out, spray some water and press that spot so that it adheres back to the glass.

Well, I have to confess that I need to be more efficient when come to blog….. This photo was taken on the Mother’s Day, with my daughter holding the carnation she made…. 24 hours a day seems not enough for me, lol!!

She learned to make a tissue carnation from her teacher a day before Mother’s day. She came back home and showed me, she told me she is going to make some for her grandma and aunties for the next day’s gathering to celebrate the Mother’s Day. She demonstrated it with a white normal tissue paper, then painted the flower with multi-color water color. It looks colorful but a bit troublesome, so I suggested her to use the left-over colored tissue paper that was in our cabinet since her last birthday. She is so happy since this save her lots of time and the red color is perfectly pretty for the celebration.

“Mom, can I put this up in your blog? I want to share this with your readers…”…. “why not?” It is never too late to share beautiful things though it is already pass the 2nd Sunday of May, moreover, there are some countries who celebrates mother’s day later this year, or perhaps make it for other occasions. Well, if you miss it this year, please bookmark or add this page to favorites and you still can do it for next mother’s day …. So, she started to work on them….. and I started to take photo as she goes…

She managed to get 3 flowers finished in 1 hour including all the pauses for me to take photos, so she gave 1 to her grandma (my mum) and 2 to her aunties (my sister and sister-in law). Did she forget about me????… she said “mum, you can always make a better one for yourself!”…. “oh no….but I want one from you?” This mummy end up didn’t get the flower from her daughter, poor me BUT….. I have a belated present from hubby…. a “Super Mom” organic t-shirt he ordered from Cafe Press, lol!!!

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!!!

Ooooohhh ohh, wait!!! Don’t forget to participate in the May Giveaway, I am giving away 4 pcs. of fat quarters of my very first fabric design…….

{Get full details on next page.}

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Tube Boxes With Christmas Trees

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I have been experimenting of how to make a sturdy tube box to store the Kanzashi Christmas Tree. The box must be strong enough to be able to withstand all the rough handling during shipping and reach the winners’ hands in good condition.

I used cardboard, folded 2 layers, no, not strong enough!

I used a thick cardboard, no, I couldn’t fold it in round!

I shopped around but all I saw were rectangle boxes and they are rather huge for the small tree I made, which means I have to include more bubble pack in the package, no no I don’t want that either!

I want it to be light weight yet strong….. I was grumbling to my technical staff about it during a casual talk while they were having their tea break. The chief showed me a UPVC pipe and said: “Use this!”. Yes, it is the perfect material that I want, why I never thought of it!!! More brains is always better than 1 as long as we are not the cooks and won’t spoil the soup lol!!!

Remark- UPVC pipe / white pipe (mainly use as rain water down pipe from roof) with large diameter has thinner wall compare to normal PVC pipe (grey color), hence the weight is lighter.

Like many Chinese, I love tea, and  I have some nice small tube boxes that store tea leaves. So, I stole its idea to make this box.

Not only can it be used for storage, if you change the dimensions a little, it could turn out to be your treat box during festive season. Just add some seasonal decorations on it

Material:
1. UPVC pipe (150mm diameter and 350mm length)
2. 2mm thick cardboard
3. Wrapping paper of your choice (I got this from Ikea)
4. Craft glue
5. Craft knife, steel ruler and cutting mat
6. Scissor and a pencil
7. A saw with a suitable blade to cut plastic material (I used electrical saw in my workshop)
8. Sand paper
Cut the Pipe to your desire length, a body and a cap (200mm and 50mm). Sand-off the sharp edges from the cut.
Trace the outer diameter of the pipe on the 2mm cardboard, make 2, cut them out for the top and bottom cap.
Cut 2 pieces of 30mm wide and 1 piece of 10mm wide strips from the 2mm cardboard. The length must be
Cut wrapping paper for the top and bottom caps.

Apply glue on the pipes surface. Wrap the wrapping paper around it and seal the open end in by putting some glue there.
Fold the top end of the body and both ends of the cap in and glue it.

Glue the 10mm strips at the end of the body (inner part). Since the strip is thick, you need to roll it so that it curved before gluing it, this applies to the 30mm strips too. Cut off extra length.
Fold in the wrapping paper and glue it.

Glue the top and bottom caps to the wrapping paper. cut off extra wrapping near the curve after the glue has dried.
Wrap one of the 30mm strips with wrapping paper too.

Glue the unwrapped strip on the inner surface of the cap with 5mm below the top border. This should make the bottom end has more than 10mm allowance for the cap to sit properly on the body. Cut off extra length.

Apply glue at the outer ring of the top (wrong side) and bottom (right side) caps. Insert them carefully into the pipes so that they sit on the stopping strips.

Glue the wrapped strip on the inner surface of the top body. Leaving it about 10mm protruded. Cut off extra length.

Cover the cap to the body and check if they fit properly. They should fit, by right!

Brush a round of glue on the caps that they seal better, both inside and outside.

Wait till they are completely dry and you can start storing your favorites in it.

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How To Make Pagoda Lantern

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I came out with the idea of this Glass Jar Pagoda Lantern after being frustrated with the traditional Paper Pagoda Lanterns which I used to carry and walk around the neighborhood with my kids during Mid-Autumn Festival for many years. I dislike the paper type for 2 reasons, they get burn easily (this is dangerous especially to kids), and changing the tiny birthday candle in it isn’t fun at all as they burn and melt so fast. Before I can really enjoy this special occasion, the lanterns either got burnt or the candles are consumed. So, I designed this improvised version of my Pagoda Lanterns, which won’t burn (if handled with care), don’t have to change the candle so frequently (using tea light candle), can be hung or placed on table, and most importantly, it can be used repeatedly . You can use electronic tea light candle to replace the wax candle to vow better safety.

During Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節) also know as Moon festival or Lantern Festival, we will gather together and sit outside under the moon, eating mooncake (月餅) while hanging many brightly lit lanterns around the house. We also carry our lanterns and walk around the neighborhood. During this day (15th day of Lunar 8th month), the moon is bright and round. There were a story dating back over 3,000 years about moon worship in China’s Shang Dynasty where this festival originated.

You will need to do some calculations on the size of fabric to wrap on the jar for this tutorial as the one you are using could be different from that I am using, so I can’t give you the exact dimension.

Estimated time to complete 1 lantern is about 2 hours, but you will get faster after you’ve gained the experience from the first one

Skill needed: beginner.

In this tutorial you will need:
1. A Glass Jar, I am using hexagon type. You can also use round or square, or even oval.
2. Fabric of your choice.
3. Ribbons, 5mm and 10mm width
4. Heatnbond-Lite iron adhesive interfacing.
5. Tea Light Candle
6. Measuring tape
7. Fabric Glue
8. A pair of sharp scissors
9. A permanent marker (not shown in the photo), Since I don’t have it handy, I used tape to do the marking.
10. A stick to hang your lantern (not shown in the photo). I used chopstick.

Measure the perimeter (P) and height (H) of your glass jar.This is to determine the size of the fabric you need to wrap the jar to form the pagoda outlook. My jar measures 275mm and 80mm.
The Length (L) of the fabric = [(P) + 10mm]
The Width (W) = [(H) + 90mm]

You meed to do a little calculation here for preparing the HeatnBond-Lite and fabric.
HeatnBond-Lite
Mark the top and bottom of 20mm each on the paper backing of HeatnBond-Lite.
The glue line is 10mm.
Equally divide the balance portion [(H) +90mm - 70mm] by 3, this is for the pagoda eaves.
Fabric
Cut the fabric to the size of the HeatnBond but with extra 20mm on top and bottom respectively, this is for folding over of the hem.

Preheat the iron to low setting. Place HeatnBond Lite paper (smooth) side up on wrong side of fabric.
Place and hold heated iron on paper side of HeatnBond Lite for 2 second. Gliding iron slightly overlapping prior area until entire surface has been bonded.
Fold over the hem allowance, and iron it to make a folding crease. Let it cool.

Peel and lift the paper backing of HeatnBond-Lite at the top and bottom 20mm hem to expose the adhesive surface of the fabric. Fold over the hem allowance. Cover back the paper backing on top of them.
Iron the folded areas so that 2 layers of fabric are bonded together.
Flip over and start to make creases for the pagoda architecture. Remember the markings we put onto the paper backing of HeatnBond? Folding along the lines and iron them to make some creases that look like the following photos.
This is how it looks like from the front.
This is side view.
This is how it looks on the wrong side after removing the paper backing.
Cut the Pagoda eaves perpendicularly with 5mm pitch interval. Repeat for all 3 eaves.
Tie a ribbon at the mouth of the jar to make a handle so that you can hang the lantern after you have finished it.
Mark the place you want to glue the fabric onto the glass jar. You can use permanent marker to do it. I didn’t have the marker in hand when I made this lantern, I used masking tape instead.
Apply and spread evenly a line of fabric glue on the toppest glue line on the jar and leave it for 5 minutes to let the glue become tacky before you stick the fabric onto it. Apply some glue at the overlapping area after you have wrapped the fabric around the jar. Press and hold until they are bonded. You can put a tape there to further secure the joint until the glue completely dry and provide a good bond. You have to make sure that the fabric stick well before moving to the next glue line.
Repeat the above step to all the glue lines but this time you don’t have to apply 1 whole round of glue, just some interval dots on the glue line will do, otherwise, it will be very messy.
Decorate the lantern with ribbons. Tie the ribbon to a stick, and place the tea light candle in the lantern.

You are ready to show-off your Pagoda Lantern by carrying it in the neighborhood, hang it or place it somewhere while you enjoy a piece of mooncake together with chinese tea and be mesmerized by the charm of the moon.