Today we got back our first coffee-table style photo book that was created using our honeymoon photos using the Blurb software (free software). We started off with something like 1600 photos from our nearly month-long trip to Europe 2 years ago for our honeymoon (yes, I get camera happy!)

We have nearly 15,000 images on Flickr and have only ever physically printed just our photos from Barcelona last year. We rather suck at the non-digital step. So, I decided to mix the technology in to make it easier. I’m not sure it was necessarily easier to use Blurb to create the photobook, but the end result was something I couldn’t have achieved with just printing photos. Here’s a shot of the software:

In the end, we have a 160-page book featuring about 450 images from our honeymoon. Some of those images are full page, some arranged into quadrants, and some mixed into patterns. There were lots of templates in the Blurb software to create various layouts. The cover I chose is basically a sticker-type thing that goes over the fabric, instead of the jacket (though the latter has the advantage of jacket flaps).

I chose to keep this book just about the images. It was too overwhelming with so many images to choose from to think about putting in a story as well. I had something pretty written for the flaps, but didn’t realize there would be no flaps with this cover style. Kind of a bummer on that.

I will definitely be exploring this in future, and would like to create books with more full-page photos, with text, and perhaps with black backgrounds instead of the white. We had no idea what to expect from the first try, but were quite pleased by it!

The price was just over $100 plus shipping for the book – not bad considering how many photos there are and that they are full bleed, and many at a large size. The quality was pretty good, with only slightly less vibrant colors than the real photos.

Beautiful, isn’t it? And it’s all made from paper. Easier than you might think.

You simply start with paper, scissors, tape and a stapler.

Following the step-by-step instructions here, you cut and fold paper into each snowflake point. In the end, you staple them all together into the large snowflake.

It’s a beautiful and simple craft. Great for your windows.

Via DIY:happy ; Photo credit to Liz

Tags: paper, snowflakes, 3d snowflake, craft, crafts, christmas, christmas crafts

via MAKE: Blog

Just as nice as last year’s Extreme Jack’s

Via jwalk ; Tags: pumpkin, jack o lantern, pumpkin carving, carving, art, halloween

Via cool hunting ; Tags: food, art, sandwhich art, play with your food, funny

And today, in the "why didn’t we think of that" category: x-shaped rubber bands. Apparently they’ve been around since 1995, but I’ve never heard of them or seen them in use before. Very handy little bands. Wonder how far they stretch…

Via popgadget

When your light bulbs die, don’t throw them out. Make them into really cute ornaments. My favorite one is the Snowman Light Bulb.

1. Coat the light bulb in approx 3 layers of white craft paint

2. Coat the “hat” in black, 2-3 layers

3. Glue 3 buttons onto his front – either buttons, or little jewelry beads (using a glue gun)

4. Make eyes and nose from jewelry beads, those tinted silver inside add a nice touch

5. For the nose, I used a miniature light bulb from a package of those sold to decorate those mini Christmas village sets – I simply cut off the lights, then their ends and glued it on

6. Make scarf from some scrap material – fold it over, glue it down then create tassles. Tie it around the neck in your favorite position – you may need to glue it down a bit

7. Using floral wire, make a decorative trim to the hat – wrap it around and tie it off, crunching up the ends. This will give it some flare and also a place for you to add your ornament hook

8. Rub a regular glue stick around the base of the snowman then roll him in some clear sparkles

Hang & enjoy! Great craft with kids, although I suggest doing the painting beforehand, since it takes a bit of time.

Tags: snowman, crafts, light+bulb, ornaments

As my friends also know, I love to decorate. Make a ton of Christmas ornaments, about half of what you see on my tree. What you don’t see is the mess all this creates in the rest of our livingroom while I do my crafts!

The lights are white, but you can’t really see them in the picture.

For a few years now, I’ve been making my own wrapping paper. Just using regular brown paper with paint and some styrofoam or homemade stamps – wrapping it all up with fancy ribbons. Way more economical and fun.

I also make Christmas cards. They all tend to be fairly unique, but my favorite design is of “Christmas morning”, and I’ll explain how I made it.

1. Cut a piece of card stock in a bright color to the desired size for your envelopes.

2. Cut or tear the top piece just under an inch so that you can see the inside of the card (tearing is actually a nice effect)

3. Place a contrasting color on the inside of the card, leaving a colorful border on the left and right sides. I used recycled paper that was easy to write on

4. Stamp out 3 stockings, 1 set of presents and 1 christmas tree – use one color for all, or different colors for different effects

5. Cut out stockings into their shape

6. Cut the tree and presents into rectangles and glue each onto another contrasting piece of paper – cut around, leaving a small border

7. Glue the tree to the card top, then glue the presents onto the tree corner, letting it go half way over the cut front flap

8. Cut 3 short pieces of ribbon and one long one

9. Attach the short ribbons to the stockings in a loop with glue (white glue works)

10. Attach the longer ribbon around the top of the card (looping inside) and fixing in place with notches on the sides – before making a bow, slip the stockings onto the ribbon

Alternate “hanging” ribbon would be to fix the ribbon to the front only with a nice droop, then fix in place on the edges with colorful buttons & glue.

Rubber Stamp With Wood Handle-Christmas Joy