Bella Dia

Cereal Box House Tutorial

I have had this tutorial on my mind for
so long! I love little houses and creating
wee villages, definitely a carry over from
my childhood, and have been wanting to
make some of my own to play decorate
with. I figured I could make houses from
all the cardboard boxes in my recycling so
now I have finally taken pictures and
written up a tutorial to share with you!
There are a lot of pictures but the
tutorial is actually very simple. Once the
house is made it can be painted or covered
with paper or even left plain. You can also
leave one flap open and use it as a gift
box, part of an advent, or just a hiding
place for treasures :)

Supplies:
cardboard box from the pantry
straight edge
pencil
scissors
thick white glue
something to score with

Optional:
clamp, clothespins, or painter's
tape for holding pieces until
they dry

*click on pictures to enlarge*

#1: undo all the seams and lay your box out flat with the unprinted side facing up

#2: draw a line across the box at least one inch below the mid line

#3: cut the original vertical fold lines from the top to the marked line; lines to cut are marked with a white dot in the picture

#4: score across the box on top of your drawn line

#5: cut off the little flap at the arrow; cut off two of the top flaps - where the X's are
in the picture

#6: turn over and apply glue to the small side seam flap

#7: fold up box in reverse and clamp or hold until side seam is dry

#8: fold and glue the bottom of the box

#9: here's the box all glued up
in reverse and the top is cut
and ready to make the roof

#10: fold all four sides down
on the score line you made earlier
in #4 then fold back up straight

 
#11: apply glue to the small flap
at the top of the short side panel
(see arrow in picture #10); put
glue on the unprinted side and
glue together as above

#12: lay box on its side, then
mark and score angled roof edges
against the front and back panels of
the box (all four angles)

#13: cut off top section of each
front and back panel at the peak
of the roof

#14: cut side panels along the
angled roof line about 3/8" away
from your marked and scored
line (do this for all four angles)

#15: cut off an angled tip at the
peak of the sides (four times)

#16: fold all four flaps that you
just cut towards the box; apply
glue on all the flaps and tuck
into the roof

#17: here's your house all
glued and ready to be decorated!

Experiment with a variety of boxes;
the small house in the middle
is made from two pudding
boxes glued together and the
square house on the right is from
a tea box. You can also change
the height of the roof by adjusting
the length of the four vertical cuts
you made in #3.

These houses were all taped instead
of being glued and then I covered
them with paper.

These houses were painted with
acrylic paint. They can be drawn on
after they have dried. The little
house with the green roof is made
from an allergy medicine box.

I hope you'll try to make some
houses. They are easy enough for
older kids to do and younger kids
can have someone else make the
house and then enjoy the painting
and decorating. Have fun with it!

Cricut Crafts & Contest

I was sent a Cricut Expressions machine
to try out! So many possibilities, so little
time! One of the first things I did was make
scalloptrim for my plain white shelves...
then I used the new Winter Wonderland
cartridge to make this little house and 3d
trees! There are several different house
and building designs so my single home will
soon be part of a village.

There are several contests going on so
you can have a chance to win a Cricut, the
four newest cartridges, Provo Craft's latest
design device, the Gypsy, and more! See
all the details at The Crafty Crow.

Green Craft Magazine

Have you seen this magazine
yet? If you haven't then start looking
for it now! I think this is one of the most
beautiful craft magazine issues I've
seen in a long time, right up there
with Japanese craft books and Marie
Claire Idees.

All of the projects are beautifully
conceived and photographed and of
course each one uses materials that
are typically thrown away, thus,
Green Craft :)

You'll find Maya*Made's newspaper
buntings along with Pam Garrison's coffee
filter garlands, and Charlotte Lyons'
cardboard tube creations plus much more.

And just so you know, I'm not being paid
or pampered to promote the magazine,
just overwhelmed with the goodness
and wanted to share :)

fused flowers :: Tracie Lamp
cardboard dress :: Sarah Hodsdon
memory blanket :: Sadie Fox

Pocket Stitch Book

I created this little Pocket Stitch Book
for Sew, Mama, Sew's Month of Hand
Sewing. It features 7 different stitches
with illustrations and how-to's. The
book is one page to print out, then
folded to create a convenient little
book that can be slipped into your
sewing basket!

I'm trying to get back to blogging
here at Bella Dia on a more regular
basis. I've got lots to share - thrift
shop finds, books, WIPs and FOs,
and even a tutorial or two.

I'm blogging at The Crafty Crow
five days a week and it keeps me
really busy but I'm anxious to catch
up on my postings here as well.

Happy Mother's Day!

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy,
they are the charming gardeners
who make our souls blossom. 
~Marcel Proust

Happy Mother's Day
with love to
my Mom
jhvta3hx6f

Thoughtful Friday

Perhaps he knew, as I did not, that the Earth was made round so that we would not see too far down the road.

-Out of Africa

Happy Valentines Day!

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly;what is essential is invisible
to the eye."
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Vintage Valentines to Print

Do you love vintage valentines as much as I do?  I think they are so much better than the ones that are available today.  I found two sites that have adorable vintage valentines that you can download so I thought I'd let you know.  I've been busy with Valentine's Day posts at The Crafty Crow and making valentines with the kids but I have some great thrift finds to show you as soon as I can get to it :)

The valentines above, and more, are available here.

We are also making valentines for the senior center and the Meals On Wheels program for a total of seventy seniors so we're knee deep in hearts and glitter :)

Isn't that little Dutch girl adorable?  These are just a few of the ones available here.  Have fun!

Label Maker, Label Maker, Make Me A Label!

The good people at Brother sent me a P-Touch labeler (PT-1280) to try out and tell everyone what I thought; I know, lucky me!  I have to say that I love organizing stuff and I love having a place for everything and everything in its place.  I just think better when the area around me is nice and neat, it calms me.  The reality is my surroundings are rarely like that - single crafting mom to three kids at home all day plus a dozen+ animals just doesn't make for a neat-as-a-pin kind of home and honestly I have had to work hard to find a comfort level that works for me - balancing my ideals versus reality.  Anyway, one of the simplest things you can do to organize a space is to label everything.  You might have a drawer for scissors, a can for markers, a plastic tub for yarn, but by putting a label on the container those items have laid claim to that space and it really does keep away the stray marker in the scissors drawer or stuffing in the yarn box because, after all, the label says scissors or markers or yarn and those labels mean business, darn it!  So, onto the labeler; well, it couldn't be any simpler!  I'm usually a read-the-directions-first kind of person but since I didn't have my reading glasses nearby, ahem, I just started poking around on it. Put in the batteries, add the tape, turn it on and start typing up labels.  You can change the size and look of the letters which is nice plus there are different color tapes, even clear, if you want to get fancy.  A little tip, when you are printing out a lot of labels, just put spaces between the words and cut them apart later rather than printing one label at a time - you'll save a lot of tape that way.  It works just as well in the kids rooms as the craft room and letting the kids organize and label their own space is a great first step in learning to organize and keeping things put away in the right spot. 

One day I'll share new photos of my studio.  I moved all my things into a new space and it's workable but I don't have it prettied up enough to share just yet. 

 

Please vote for this very important cause!

Vote Now To Save Handmade!

Button Clips

This probably says something about how my gift making is going but here is another last minute gift that is quick and easy to make.  Buttons and paperclips glued together with hot glue make button clips!  They can still be used as paperclips but the large ones make cute bookmarks as well. 

The view from the back.  You can use a shank button or a button with hole.  Lay the paperclip over the middle of the back of the button and add some hot glue.  These look really cute with the novelty type buttons too - great for kids :)

Free Gift Tag List Updated

   

I'm just letting everyone know that I have updated the list of free gift tags that I've been collecting from the internet for the last few years.  There are lots of new beauties this year so be sure to take a look. The link is always in my sidebar under "Pages". 

Click over to Maya*Made and see what she did with some free gift tags and ideas for green gift wrapping :) 

Rocks +Transfers = Easy Last Minute Gifts

I love that scrapbooking has brought so many products into the crafting world that can be used in other ways.  I know rub-on transfers have been around for awhile but now they come in so many beautiful and fun designs and that's what I found on my last trip to the scrapbook store.  Of course, I wanted to try them out right away and since these stones were within arm's reach this is what I did.  These small ones look like they've been stitched together and would be just right for paperweights.

This larger rock would make a nice doorstop.  Did you need last minute gifts or stocking stuffers?  Here you go!

Glittery Newspaper Tree

I saw this tree on the Martha Stewart site and almost immediately set to making it.  I'm planning on doing a whole landscape of recycled trees this year for a holiday display so this fit the bill perfectly.  I have a few tips for you if you decide to make one as well. 
* I made the polymer clay base exactly as the instructions and it came out perfectly only I used a bamboo skewer instead of a knitting needle for the support.
* I have a large paper cutter and I am *so* glad I did! 
* Cut out all the newspaper ahead of time so you use the same amount of each size. 
* We used a small newspaper cone for the top instead of a star since ours is just a regular tree in the woods and not a Christmas tree ;)
* I used Elmer's spray adhesive for the glitter.  The glitter is actually small opalescent flakes - a brand new bag that I got while thrifting, woot!
* It is surprisingly sturdy and I plan to keep if for next year so we'll see if it stores well.
* My kids were very much involved and could easily do it on their own but it does take awhile so you may want to have them switch out if they get bored.