Things I've Made Archives - Page 12 of 136 - Ashley Hackshaw / Lil Blue Boo

How to Cut Rounded Corners in Large Quantities

April 5, 2014 by Ashley Hackshaw

This is probably one of my most favorite tools. It’s a bulk paper cutter. It cuts rounded corners, diamond corners, etc. I use it to cut round corners on everything from postcards to business cards to invitations. It allows me to purchase the more economical square corners and round the corners myself.

I’m addicted to corner rounding.

The Akile Diamond Cutter:

A stack of about 750 postcards took me about 10 minutes to cut:

The cutter has guides that you can adjust so that the paper can be placed quickly into position each time for each stack:

Easy to press down (i.e. no blisters):

The clippings fall into a small container underneath the cutter. There’s a small drawer to hold different attachments and replacement rubber pads:

I’ve saved an enormous amount of expense by ordering printed items in bulk with square corners and then rounding the corners myself:

(My “Year at the Hemlock” cards…brand new and so pretty. I hand these out when people want to read why we are moving…makes the posts easy to find.)

This is how I made my cute little “Lil Journal Project” prompts:

Cute quotes on the back: [Read more…]

How to Antique and Age Wood Instantly for a Weathered Look

April 1, 2014 by Ashley Hackshaw

This is one of my favorite tricks that I use with home decor….a simple solution of white vinegar and steel wool. You can use it to age brand new wood to varying degrees depending on how the solution ages.

Supplies:
Wood
White Distilled Vinegar
0000 Steel Wool*

For the sign:
8″ Oil Board Stencils
Black spray paint

*I prefer the fine graded because it disintegrates faster.

To make the mixture you pour vinegar into a bowl or jar and add steel wool (without the soap kind!):

The trick is figuring out how long to age it. A solution left to age just 15 minutes will produce different effect than a solution left aging for hours, months or years.

Here is a solution left aging for 15 minutes where the vinegar has just started to disintegrate the steel wool. One or two coats of the mixture leaves just a light gray barn-wood like finish:

Leaving the solution to age a few more hours will produce a darker gray finish:

I keep varying solutions in jars because if you leave it long enough the steel wool disintegrates completely and the mixture is allowed to produce rust, adding a reddish brown tone.

Here’s a ten minute sign I made using a pre-cut piece of wood from the hardware store and 8″ Oil Board Stencils:

I spaced the letters out and taped them into place together: [Read more…]

How to Make Personalized Burlap Bags

March 10, 2014 by Ashley Hackshaw

Love burlap…and I love these burlap bags from Dharma Trading. I thought they’d make great gifts or even stylish reusable grocery bags:

Supplies:
Burlap or Jute Bags
Supersoft Transfer Paper
Ink Jet Printer
Iron

There are several ways you can personalize the bags:

1. Silk screening or freezer paper stencils. (see my Beach Bag Tote tutorial here)
2. Spray paint with stencils
3. Fabric applique
4. Transfer Paper

I chose transfer paper for these particular bags because I wante pretty detailed graphics and it takes way too much patience to hand cut a stencil for something like that.

First, I created this little “Groceries” graphic in Photoshop. If I’m making a graphic that prints out onto multiple pages I usually use Powerpoint to size and print it because it turns out easier to visualize and match up. I printed out the graphic onto Super Soft Transfer paper:

Transfer paper from Dharma Trading.

I carefully cut out my graphic and made sure the two sides matched up, placing them face down onto the burlap bag. Pressing a hot iron for a few minutes (careful not to burn the paper or bag!) transfers the image to the bag: [Read more…]