Toilet Paper Roll Mini Album

Today I made my first mini album made with recycled toilet paper rolls. I learned a lot along the way and I'll share my instructions with you.

1. Flatten the rolls. Easy enough right? Well they didn't flatten as much as I thought they did. I ran them through my Texture Boutique twice and used a bone folder on them several times and they still bow. Maybe if I'd left them under some books for a day or two they'd be okay, but I wasn't that patient. They did seem to flatten slightly more after adding the paper.

2. I cut each roll with my paper cutter (guilloutine style) to 4 inches to make them uniform in length.

3. I cut the paper to cover them at 5 inches wide by 6 inches long.

4. If you have a Xyron machine I strongly suggest you use it. I did the first roll this way but ran out. This was by far the easiest. I also used a tacky glue, but it's a little messier and more time consuming. Then I tried Zips glue lines which I thought worked pretty well until I found out that the glue lines were exactly where I needed to punch my holes.

5. After you have the paper securely attached all the way around the tubes, make small notches in the corners to make tab-like shapes of the extra paper on the ends. It will make it easier to push the paper around to the inside of the tube giving you a nice finished edge.

6. Use the bone folder to go over all of your edges again to make them crisp.

7. Now use your Crop-O-Dile to punch holes where your binder rings will go. I punched the first tube first, then laid it over the second tube and used my paper piercer to mark where the holes will be on the second. This saved a lot of time measuring, and I knew that all of the holes would line up.

8. I didn't have eyelets that were large enough to accomodate the binder rings, so I cut out cute "reinforcers" from Bazzill cardstock and glued them over the holes. I found these on the Plantin Schoolbook Cricut cartridge.
















9 . I also cut the tags for the pockets from Plantin. I doubled up Bazzill and patterned cardstock to make them sturdier.

10. Embellish as you wish. I added a title and little birdie to the front and ribbons to the tags to make them easier to pull out. I still need to embellish the pages and add some finishing touches but this should give you some general direction.

Etsy Holiday Boot Camp Pledge

I, Chris Stonebraker, pledge to participate in the Etsy Success Holiday Boot Camp to the best of my abilities. I vow to check in every week, do my homework and support my fellow Holiday Boot Campers. I will read the weekly newsletters and blog posts, check in on the weekly forum thread, read the weekly blog post, check off the checklists and salute the mascot. I promise to share what I've learned with those who need it, support my fellow Etsy indiepreneurs and, most of all, have a positive and persistent attitude. I understand that together we can spread the word about our handmade and vintage goods, making this holiday season a more unique and meaningful one to gift givers and give-ees everywhere!

Home Decor with Contact Paper and the Cricut

As soon as the Summer In Paris Cricut cartridge came out, I knew I had to have it just so I could use it with vinyl to decorate my living room which is Paris themed. I had read on a message board that Contact paper worked just as well as the vinyl, was much cheaper, and could be found at the dollar store. I looked at our local dollar store, but they only had rolls in polka dots and a bad light colored wood grain print! I also looked at Target, but they had the same designs. I was looking for a chocolate brown, and finally found a roll at Ace Hardware. It's also a wood grain, but darker and when it's cut into detailed designs it actually has a cool look to it. I wasn't sure what settings to put my Cricut on, so I looked online. There was a lot of different information so I just chose one to be a starting point. It worked on the very first try perfectly! Start with a fresh blade, set the depth to 6, speed 3 and pressure 2. Put the contact paper on the mat with the backing to the mat and vinyl side up. At this setting it cuts just right through the vinyl but leaves the backing intact. The Eiffel Tower and "Bienvenue" were cut from the Summer in Paris cartridge, and the fleur de lis were cut from the Wild Card cartridge.

Color Challenge Card

I made this card yesterday for a color challenge on http://twohappystampers.blogspot.com/. I love the colors and wouldn't normally have put them together without this challenge.