Soda Crate Upcycled Tutorial - Soda Crate to Magnet Board - Xmas Countdown Week #4

Soda crates are super-easy to find online and at flea markets and this is another simple upcycle to turn one into an awesome magnet board organization shelf. Makes an especially cool gift for a teenager this holiday season!

(you can also make this with a cork bottom - just use foam under the cork to add stability and thickness for your pushpins!)

you will need : an old soda crate, sheetmetal (available at any hardware store or big box home center), foamboard, glue, sawtooth hangers, glazier points, ruler, drill, bottle caps

Measure the inner area of the bottom section of your crate - note - you can also use a soda crate with one opening and fill the entire area - cut pieces of foam core to fill the inner edge, glue foam core edges together and slide into bottom opening, cut sheetmetal to fit, add glazier points with flathead screwdriver, add sawtooth hangers to back, flatten bottle caps with a mallet

(optional, but I never miss a chance to hammer anything with a mallet - trust me, get yourself a mallet)

glue magnets to back of caps - I added little wood backings that I had from scrap cuttings and screwed my caps to them

To get yourself a soda crate check out these wonderful sellers on Etsy HERE

your relationship with your other ball and chain (at least if you are a jewelry maker) ...

Being a professional maker - which means making things that you sell -

no matter how many of those things you are actually selling

is kind of like having another marriage -

(or a first marriage for you singletons or another civil union for those who are unjustly unable to even get married in the first place)

a marriage - that hopefully started with the falling in love part -

maybe love at first sight

(which I am pretty sure I have never experienced with man or makings)

or maybe the love that grows on you over time until you are thinking "hey, I think I've got something here"

(which I find to be true of both man and makings ... *winks at hubs*)

And that marriage started out with passion with a capital P - it was red hot - you could have fried an egg on your brain it was working so hard

(or maybe that was when you were on drugs, I forget, but there was some egg frying at some point, I'm sure).

I mean we were up all night with this stuff - our heads and hands full of ideas. We couldn't sleep. We couldn't eat (well, except for me, I can always eat, actually). We were creating.

This is what we will call the "falling in love" part of building a business, the fun part, the part where dreams are made flesh in the form of ingenious and original little whoseewhatsees (yes, I said whoseewhatsee).

But, alas just like any marriage this honeymoon phase is destined to give way eventually to the "you must work at it - this stuff is work, did you think you were going to get to party like it's 1999 forever" part of building our business -

the part that separates the men from the boys, the one night stands from the relationships, the divorce lawyers from the 25 year anniversary dinners.

And this working part of our business is just as important as the working part of a marriage until ... well, until it just isn't working anymore ...

which is the reason you need a brand and not a business, a brand and not a product, a brand that is all about you - so when the working part isn't working for you anymore

(this is not a death til us part kind of marriage after all)

you can saunter off (yes, I said saunter) in a new direction and take your people (ie cohorts, friends, customers) with you while still staying true to your brand because you are your brand.

You are your brand, right? That is a kind of important part of my theory here because when the working part is just not working for you, you need to be able to make changes. A creative without that passionate honeymoon phase to fire 'em up once in a while (this is an open marriage after all) will find the work to be well ... work. And when your makings become just work to you, well, people can tell and most importantly you can tell.

When artists become business people who are left to be artists?

(disclaimer - I stole borrowed this line from an HBO mini series about doctors, but I think it applies equally to creatives)

Passion must come first or we are just business people who make things.

(and that sounds like an awful thing to be and would look just crappy on your business card)

And, keeping that passionate spark lit in the midst of production and business thinking can be a challenge; maybe the biggest challenge of your business.

Part II later this week - Being a Candle in the Wind

* just because I love you card by TheWallaroo

if I stand on my tippy toes ....

... I can see the weekend from here ...

Hope everyone has a nice weekend!

A few of my lockets are being relaunched on Daily Grommet with free shipping this weekend. The lockets include Danitashop, Rachel Demsick (getreadysetgo), Dilkabear, Gollybard, Kathy Jeffords (DreamyGiraffe), Jodie Hurt, Jennifer Mullin and House of Six Cats all in the mini size!

Check it out here - just forward past the awful part where I speak (I filmed this last year for the original launch and it is very cringe-worthy).

xo

Upcycled Tutorial - Plastic Tube Necklace with Switchable Inserts and VALENTINE'S DAY LOVE NOTE!

This week an awesome changeable design necklace you can make for an amazing gift!

The paper inside the plastic tubing easily switches out for different looks and you can package this with a few slips of colorful scrapbook paper.

For the supplies to make one of these yourself - just add your own colorful papers and a little elbow grease - contact me by 2/7/15 using the LET'S CHAT button, lower right column. There is just a $2.00 shipping fee to get one set right out to you.

You will need: clear plastic malleable tubing from the hardware store, end plugs (you can use plastic, but I have used cork, of course), eyehooks, cording, (2) sliprings, design paper

1. cut tubing to the size you would like (I've cut mine to 2.5")
2. screw eyehooks into your end caps
3. add slipring and tie on your cording
4. cut paper to size (I've cut mine to 1.5")
5. roll paper and push into the center, add your ends
6. cut and tie off your cording (I have added hardware to mine)

This makes a great kid's project, too - if you can get the kids making your gifts for you, you will be way ahead of the game!

(and by way ahead of the game, I mean passed out on the couch, feet up, pinot empty on the coffee table)

Don't forget to add a little LOVE NOTE for Valentine's Day to the back of the paper!

the bermuda triangle for makers ....

You may or may not have ever seen the triangle of customer expectations and it may or may not have ever actually been called this, but I think it is kind of catchy and one of those 'made to stick' phrases you will be talking about at the dinner table tonight

or maybe save it for when you are trying to get your kids to sleep- it might work better then.

(in case you haven't seen it or thought about how it might relate to your maker business, I have updated it for us here to be a little more memorable - in a marching band, geeky kind of way)

This is what your customer wants. They want it fast, they want it great and they want it cheap. And this is exactly what you cannot give them if you want to stay in business.

They can have 2 out of 3 and in fact you probably have to provide 2 out of 3, but provide all 3 and you will be doomed.

*cue the dramatic music*

(yes, doomed - this may sound a little melodramatic, but you will not last long providing excellent, fast and cheap makings, trust me)

So you can make 'em good and cheap, but not fast

or good and fast but not cheap

or fast and cheap but not good ... you get the idea.

I remember this chart from my days at a 'real job'. They handed it out on an orange 'slow moving vehicle' triangle that is for some reason burned into my brain.

(yes, the same brain that cannot remember if I fed the dog or where I put my keys or if I bought my hubby an anniversary card ... seriously what the hell happened to that card? and I have to keep this guy happy or we will have no one to cook for us or kill the stinkbugs)

So, I will leave everyone to ponder over the triangle's wisdom - keeping it short and sweet this week after last week's mini-rant against shop local got me quite a few emails from unhappy campers thinking I had misunderstood the concept - you would think I had ranted against babies and kittens for pete's sake - which I am planning to rant against next week actually ... especially those damn kittens ....

Giveaway - XENOTEES Fork Tea Towel! **Some total handmade amazingness for your kitchen!** CLOSED

AND THE WINNER IS:

True Random Number Generator

Min: 1
Max: 482
Result: 295

Powered by RANDOM.ORG = Bee W Bedard! Congrats Brenda!!

The girl who put the tee in eTsy is now putting the tea in eTsy!

Noelle Burke is Xenotees - the amazing Philadelphia artist and screenprinter who is one of the nicest and most talented people I know!

Everything in Xenotees amazing shop is professionally screen printed by Noelle and her hubby Neil, in their cozy little Pennsylvania workshop.

They only print on products that are ethically produced & they use as many eco-friendly processes as possible. Xenotees is dedicated to being as green as possible & they recycle voraciously! Oh, and their designs are 100% original - no clip-art here folks!

Noelle makes the most amazingly gorgeous, soft and original t's (I am addicted to mine as well as my scarves) wine bags, tea towels and scarves!

WHAT YOU GET:

One lucky winner will receive this amazing Xenotees tea towel!

HOW TO WIN:

It's easy, peasy - just pop over to Xenotees and then pop back here and let Noelle know in the comments below which of her amazing goodies is your fave!

For additional entries:

(5) Twitter this post
(5) Blog about this contest; linking to this post
(5) Follow my blog
(5) Facebook this post

Let me know if you have done these things so I can give you additional entries. This contest is open to everyone.

DRAWING:
Enter by midnight, Sunday, October 23rd! Good Luck!

Upcycled Tutorial - Drawer Repurposed into a Map Shelf - Xmas Gift Countdown Week 2

This week's easy peasy upcycled gift is a beautiful little shelf repurposed from an old drawer.

There are really countless things you can make shelves with, but an old drawer creates lots of little cubbies and crannies for your whatnots and the background can easily be fitted with something amazing!

(in this case a vintage map of Europe)

you will need: drawer, map, spray adhesive, scissors, tape measure, yardstick, hammer, sawtooth hangers

This is one of those measure twice, cut once projects - so measure your openings (easiest with a tape measure) and then mark and measure your map (easiest with a yardstick) - the idea is to have the map look like one solid piece when hanging so cut your interior pieces so they line up with each other.

Layout your cut pieces into the drawer and make any adjustments with your scissors or a razor knife. Remove your pieces. Spray your interior wood working from the top down. Lay out your paper (this stuff dries fast so work quickly, to adjust - lift and don't try to slide). When you have it positioned in the right place press it into place - I used an old VHS tape because ...

well, what else can we do with them ....

Add a couple sawtooth hangers to the back and you have a wonderful (and huge ... everyone loves big presents) gift for someone special.

(Note- if you decide to do this project and need a couple sawtooth hangers just drop me an email through the link at right and I will pop a couple in the mail to you at no cost - I have hundreds)

A series of these shelves on a wall would be amazing. To find a vintage map, check THIS link