Photography Hack

I think many of us are aspiring photographers. Just admit it. 

But let's be honest, 

who can really afford a backdrop?

Seriously? 

They are like $100-$300. 

That's just for the backdrop, don't forget about the flooring, 

and the baseboards, and the lights, blah blah blah.....

The list is long....

Well, to make this long story short, I was at the dollar store the other day, 

and well I found these...

Contact paper! Apparently, people use this for lining in cabinets and such,

but the clear stuff, I use for laminating. 

There is so many uses for contact paper!

I have seen wood print contact paper at WalMart too, but $8...

GA! I'm so cheap. 

Anyway, I saw this and my brain got turning. 

I remembered I had this roll of paper.... I know!

(Oh you guys are going to love me!!)

I'm going to make some backdrops. 

Oh yeah!

I stared with the edges, and lined it up as best as I could. 

If you just leave the contact paper on the roll and pull the flimsy white stuff off slowly, 

you shouldn't get any bubbles. 

Just go slow and a few inches at a time. 

Then I went down the center.

All done! 

Here's the rundown:

12 rolls of contact paper

White Paper on hand

which made 2 backdrops

and 2 flooring drops

Total: $12

I just saved myself over $500!

I call that a win.

Here are the backdrops in action!

Please excuse what my daughter is wearing and her hair, oh, and the rubber band.

I let her get dressed by herself, and I was too lazy to tame that wild mane!

See how awesome! I don't have any baseboards, but I just couldn't wait to show you!

Looks pretty good right?

If you look closely you can see where the pattern doesn't line up, but come on $3??

There is a downside to them, 

but I think it would be the same with professional backdrops, 

they need to be completely flat. 

As you can see by my daughters feet, 

that is where the tile changes to carpet, so there's a tiny bump. 

I don't find this a huge deal for what I paid for them.

Also, the light green backdrop, 

if the background is in focus, 

you can see the lines, where is over laps. 

Again, I don't find this a big deal, I'll just blur the backgrounds!

Easy!

I-cord

Back to School! 

YEAH!

Oh wait... that really doesn't effect me. 

I have a 3 year old.

humm...

Back to school does mean, 

Fall or  

Autumn. 

Which means, yarn crafts!

Knitting and crocheting. 

It is still WAY too hot to have a bunch of yarn sitting on my lap, 

so sadly I did make these last year, 

but just finished them last week! 

If you know anything about knitting, 

I'm sure you have heard of I-cords. 

Here is a great tutorial over at the Purl Bee, if you want to learn.

It is really pretty easy.

I whipped up these cords in no time.  

I sewed on ribbon on the end of the I-cord. 

Cut a hole in a couple scrap pieces of leather, 

and hand sewed the leather in half.  

They are a pretty easy accessory

for the coming cold months! 

The only difference with the small white bracelet, 

is the addition of grommets and a jewelry clasp. 

Tin Foil Wreath

Do you believe me that this is made of tin foil?

Well it is, 

and I am going to show you how. 

Here's what you need. 

All of this stuff is probably laying around your house,

just waiting to be turned into something exciting!

First start off with a pretty good length of foil.

I used a high-tech devise to get a circle. 

A Frisbee!

Really anything can be used to get it round:

a plate, a ball, a drawing of a circle, 

or you can just eye it. 

I added a few layers of foil, 

until it was about 1" thick.

 I might have had a little too much fun with picnik!

I then added some crushed paper, 

to make it thicker and lighter.

Then added another couple layers of foil.

TA-DA!

You have just made a Tin Foil Wreath. 

Have fun making your own! 

Personalize to what you like. 

Here's what I did:

Gather up your materials.

A flower paper punch. 

(I actually borrowed my sisters)

Brad nails

(I used these instead of pins, 

because I had them on hand, 

and they are SUPER cheap)

and a tin foil wreath.

Shape the flowers. 

I used another high-tech device here too.

Needle nosed pliers. 

(I was using my finger nail, but 

after about the first 50, 

it hurt.) 

Add the flowers. 

My fingers really hurt after I finished. 

Sometimes I actually used a little craft hammer I have

to put in the nails.

(Who knew paper could be so hard to poke a hole in!)

I added a ribbon and bow, 

made with hot glue. 

All done.

If you wanted, 

I'm sure you could wrap the wreath in fabric or spray paint it 

to cover the silver foil,

but I like the foil shining through. 

I think it makes it look fancy, 

with the silver shining through. 

Plus it matches the silver brad nails!

I'm excited to see what you have done, 

post it on the Bandy Canyon Flickr Group.

Jute Decor Balls

Probably not what you thought. 

I am finally trying to fill my tall glass vases, 

that I have had for about a year now.  

When I was cleaning my daughters toys I found this tennis ball. 

Then I thought of this tutorial from V&Co.

I only had 1 small tennis ball, 

but it's a start! 

I found this jute line

in the hardware department of WalMart. 

It was tons cheaper than any thing you would find in the craft department.  

Ta-DA!!

Now I just have to make about 5 more. 

I think I might take a stroll by the tennis courts,

and dig in some bushes. 

Will that make me look homeless?

Up to lots of good...

Lately it seems that everyone has been asking me, 

"How are you feeling?"

"Are you okay"

"Is everything alright?"

It has been driving me crazy. 

I was starting to believe that there should be something wrong. 

But I think I have figured it out. 

When I am not creating I am different. 

I am not sure how to describe it. 

So, "different" will have to do. 

I have taken it as a sign, 

and have started to create like a mad woman. 

Here is a glimpse at what I have been making these past few days. 

my new bag

I'm not sure I am going to tell you what this is quite yet.

I have been experimenting with some lace.

I will show what these are in a few days, 

once I finish tweaking them to my liking. 

Until then.....

Pentel Pastel Fabric Dye Sticks

So I got these cool fabric dye pastels from CSN stores. 

Look at the pretty colors!!

Anyway,

I ordered these Monday, and got them on Tuesday.

Seriously! That is some FAST shipping.

Which is awesome!

Especially since, I don't live in a huge city, actually I live in a little tiny 

'blink and you miss it' kind of town.

So I started to have some fun with these pastels.  

I know my designs are magical. 

I was trying to blend them, 

like pastels usually do, 

these pastels, don't really blend well with your finger... 

But the colors are bight and fun.  

All the instructions say to do,

is color your designs, 

put paper over them and iron. 

So I did.  

Here's what they look like after.  

Just the same.... 

No blending of any sort. 

But check this out. 

When I took another scrap of white cotton and rubbed it over the design,

Color came off. 

Hummmm.....

I washed them, and rubbed some more white cotton over the design.

The same thing happened. 

Just to be clear, I wasn't scrubbing this super vigorously. 

But just lightly running my hand across the design, 

I didn't get any dye on my hands.

I think I would probably use these for:

Wall hangings,

small craft projects where I could but a sealer over the colors,

and

home decor projects that aren't touched a lot. 

That being said, I really do the love the colors, 

but the baby rompers, 

I had planned to use these on 

will have to wait for something else.  

Dollar Store Wreath

I have been very inspired with what people have been doing with dollar store wreaths, 

so I decided to add my idea to the pool!

Here is what I did...

the fabric was left over from making valances for my kitchen. 

They are about 1 1/4" wide by 45 long. I used 2 of them for the wreath.

Some hot gluing later

Took some coordinating scraps

And tied them around the wreath

TA-DA!

Easy, simple wreath. It is hanging over my kitchen sink, and I love it!

 Have fun!

Petal skirt

I found this tutorial on Craftastical and thought I would try....

So I made the petal skirt, this first was just an experiment, because I am not a huge fan of the color scheme, but I think it's fun and so does my daughter. She was asleep when I finished so I don't have any pictures of her wearing it.