Frugal Finds: Toothpicks

We are back this month with another fun frugal finds feature.  Today we are going to get picky...toothpicky that is!  This month we challenged a few of our design team members to get creative with toothpicks.  For me personally, I had a lot of fun with this one.  I stepped away from my normal style and took a chance which is always a good for a creative mind.  I will admit, I ripped apart (for the the first time ever :O) a layout.  Yet, I was please with the end result.
After I had my ripping apart meltdown, I sat down and wrote a list of some other ways I could use toothpicks.  Here are some of those ideas I came up with ...

                             *make a fence -how cute would that be with some twine wrapped around it

                             *make a campfire/tee-pee embellishment

                             *use them as a tool to apply those detailed rub-ons

                             *make some Valentine's day cupid arrows 

                             *frame a photo

                             * use them for snowman arms

I'm sure I could go on , but let's take a look at what our designers did!

Practical Scrapper Brenda painted some toothpicks white, trimmed one end on each one, and then used them to outline a diecut star for this 4th of July page.  She used micro glue dots to adhere the toothpicks.

On this layout, Practical Scrapper Kerri, placed two round toothpicks together and wrapped a double layer of Martha Stewart twine around them to create her flagpole.

 

Practical Scrapper Liz Chidester used toothpicks and a doily die cut to make this cute umbrella.

Not only can you use them to embellish, but you can use them as a tool! Practical Scrapper Kerri took a stab at quilling on this card.  She used her toothpicks to roll her pattern paper to create her flower petals and leaves.  Not only did they do the rolling, but she used them to apply her glue to her rolled petals and leaves.

Hope you enjoyed our newest edition of Frugal Finds!  What frugal item would you like to see us use in an upcoming feature?  Leave us a comment below to let us know!



**Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

Baby cards

We haven't featured baby projects in a while and we know what a great source of inspiration they can be.  If you don't have baby pages to scrapbook, you probably know someone you could make a baby card for.  If you would like to contribute a layout or other baby project to Wednesday's post...shoot us an email with a link or attachment at practicalscrapperlayouts@gmail.com!

Practical Scrapper Christine created this simple card using goodies from Momenta

Practical Scrapper Laura

Practical Scrapper Lynn

Practical Scrapper Christa

Practical Scrapper Cathy

Practical Scrapper Brenda created this beautiful card...it seems to want to not be centered though and hang out to the left (:

Practical Scrapper Liz

To check out Michelle Battitori's mini album in it's entrirety follow this link

Pin It **Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

Frugal Finds: Bobby Pins

Welcome back to our monthly installment of frugal finds and do we have a "doosie" for you this month. Back in February when Christine, Erin, and I were trying to come up with what we wanted to do,  I posed bobby pins as an option.  I had just finished giving my five year old daughter an up-do for a "Fancy Nancy" birthday theme party she was going to and inspired me to try to use these in another way.  All thought it sounded interesting and what's even more interesting, are the ideas that we all came up with on how to use them.  A special thanks to design team member Liz for joining in with us!   Hope you enjoy all our bobby pin creations...

Practical Scrapper Erin used Bobby pins with rhinestone butterflies on them to make the bodies of her canvas butterflies. Just slip them over the canvas, and wrap the top pin with yarn or twine.

Practical Scrapper Liz made this simple Thank You card using bobby pins as a design on the puffy hearts. She covered the pins with micro beads and topped them off with a small sequenced flower.

On this layout,  Practical Scrapper Kerri painted her bobby pins white with white acrylic paint.  She then used them to create her journaling lines in the bottom right hand corner of her layout.

Practical Scrapper Kerri was inspired by the layout of this card from her online scrappy friend Cassie D'Ambrosio.  She then decided to add her own twist to Cassie's design my adding some more painted bobby pins and then embellishing them with some dew drops from one of our past sponsors The Robin's Nest.

Pin It **Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

Jazz up your projects with Pins

Pins can make for a really cheap and easy embellishment.  Best of all they are easy to customize with beads, sequins, and more!  Our designers have some inspiring custom creations to share with you today - be prepared to say WOW!

Practical Scrapper Carolina used Darice beads to create the pins. Here's a close up:

Practical Scrapper Michelle used beads and buttons to dress up plain pins.

Practical Scrapper Cathy....I wish I could take credit for these gorgeous handmade pins, but they are made by a friend of mine, Mary Livermont from Pierre, SD!

Practical Scrapper Amber Goble used money to make this pin for a giftcard holder.

Flower pins by Practical Scrapper Liz Chidester

Practical Scrapper Kerri used floral corsage pins to create her ribbon/pin embellishment.   She created bunching on one (accordion folding ribbon on one pin, alternating the gathering from one side hem to the other).  She then, used a second pin and pushed it through the gathering on the back so a pearl would be on each end.

Pin It **Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

"Love"ly Cards

This week I asked our designers to focus on projects with lots of hearts or about love, a theme that was kicked off by our 5th round of the layout contest (have you voted yet this week?)  Today we're going to share cards with you.

 Practical Scrapper Jayma

Practical Scrapper Aymee

Practical Scrapper Sarah

Practical Scrapper Caz

Practical Scrapper Liz

Practical Scrapper Dyane

Practical Scrapper Mary Pat Siehl

Practical Scrapper Amber

Practical Scrapper Rachel

 Practical Scrapper Brett

Pin It **Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

Using Ribbon on Layouts

Monday, you got a peek at some fantastic ideas on how to use ribbon on cards. Today, we share with you some fun, fresh, fabulous ideas on how you can use that ribbon stash on your layouts. Ribbon is a great way to accent color and texture to your pages. It may even be the deciding factor for the little bit of character or charm you want to capture in your layout. Take a look at how our designers and readers use their ribbon to create their flare for their pages...

Practical Scrapper Christa

Addie Otto

Practical Scrapper Aymee

Practical Scrapper Claude

Addie Otto

Practical Scrapper Fern

 

Practical Scrapper Claude

Addie Otto

Practical Scrapper Liz

Pin It **Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

Paint and splattering layouts

Using paint on layouts and mist to create paint like splatters has gotten so huge in the last year.  I have been finding myself thinking I could have used some splattering  on layout (often too late to do anything about it) so I thought some inspiration on this subject was due.  You will find several fresh ideas for using paint or splattering with your mists that I think you will enjoy!  Stay tuned for an upcoming tutorial on how to achieve different splatters!

 Practical Scrapper Michelle 

Practical Scrapper Caz Hancock Using mist splatters

Practical Scrapper Liz

Practical Scrapper Amber Goble - mist splatter

Practical Scrapper Cathy

Practical Scrapper Christa - Watercolours

Pin It **Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**