Apologies if you have already received this post via email... I did post it a few days ago, but Blogger seems to have lost it, as it never actually made it to my blog! So I'm reposting :)
I mentioned in my previous post about Mother's Day that I actually got an opportunity to get my craft on and make something! So as promised, here is my step by step…. Before I go any further, if you like the look of this and would like to try it, I would strongly encourage you NOT to do as I do, but to do as I say…. Head on over to this tutorial at Infarrantly Creative (where I got the idea in the first place) and use Becky's instead! It is far, far superior! And if you're the crafty type, check out her blog while you're there... there are literally hundreds of inspirational ideas.
Well unfortunately for me, I did not read her tutorial before embarking on this project, just pieced it all together myself from my memory of the finished product, so my step by step, and the end product, are quite different to hers!!
Firstly I went through (in my head) all the things we regularly buy when we go grocery shopping, and made myself a list. I typed this up on my PC, and decided I would just make my shopping pad a standard A4 (as it would be easier for reprinting if it was a standard size).
We have a couple of fairly large Australia Post boxes hanging around. I couldn't bring myself to throw them away, because I just knew they'd come in handy for something - and they did! So I started with one of those:
Then I cut the tape on it and flattened it all out. I laid the paper on it thinking I would need a backing for it plus a bit to go over the top to screw the lists in with. I discovered that I could get 4 shopping list holders out of one box (with the crease already there for the fold over bit at the top - bonus!) So this is how I laid them out:
Then I started cutting until I had this:
And then cut it in half lengthways and trimmed it all off so it was even and neat on all sides.
I covered the whole thing in scrapbooking paper that I already had in my arsenal at home. I notice that in Becky's tutorial she used glue - I have found in the past (with the craft glue I have) that unless its really thick scrapbooking paper, it does warp a bit with glue - so I deciced to use double sided tape which I already had on hand (since my paper was quite thin).
I then covered the top and put my lists in. After this I held them together while Boofy drilled two holes through the whole thing at the top. My first attempt at this was a bit dodgy…. And things were unravelling!! I did finish it (and I love it… from a distance!) But I also made a second one - so here is where I am going to start switching photos on you! This was my second attempt, where I got wise and clamped it before drilling!! Lol… Once drilled I then put the screw posts in (which I got from Riot Art & Craft) and screwed it all together.
I got some of this adhesive magnetic tape (also from Riot Art & Craft):
And stuck two strips along the back - one at the top and one at the bottom. I also did as Becky suggested and stick a bit of magnet to a pen.
So here is how my first attempt looks on the fridge...
And my second attempt...
Quite good I think, as long as you don't look too closely!! Lol…. I also had an idea about giving it as a gift… You can get little flash drives really cheaply now, so I put the MS Word file with the shopping list on a flash drive and wrapped the whole thing in ribbon (it didn't occur to me at the time, but you could also put it on a disk). I know my shopping list is not going to suit everyone (as others have their own regular purchases) so I just put 10 shopping lists on the pad, then the recipient can modify the list themselves, and print their own list that is more specific to their tastes. Here's how it looked when I was finished:
Once I'd finished and cleaned up, I decided to go back to Becky's original tutorial… which leads us to the point where I absolutely KICK myself!!! Because this is the point where I discovered that the cardboard part only need be a little bit at the top - it doesn't need to be an A4+ sized affair covering the whole back…. D'OH!! This project would have been SO much easier if I'd have read this properly before I started….
So the moral of the story is… when someone posts a tutorial on the internet with the step by step, they have probably already made whatever mistakes there are to make (although if you've read Becky's site before, you'll know she makes fantastic things out of all sorts of stuff - so I'd hazard that I might have made some new mistakes in this instance!!!) … But generally speaking, you don't need to go making mistakes for yourself, just follow the awesome tutorial someone went to the trouble to post in great detail, and don't be a cowboy!!! :)
Anyway, crafting made for a nice Mother's Day morning - and I enjoyed it regardless!! Plus I'll always look at my crazy prototype on my fridge and laugh!! And a certain someone who shall remain nameless will be receiving my 2nd attempt as a gift, and I do apologise in advance (you will know who you are shortly!!!) She is a wonderful woman who I love lots and lots, so hopefully we will laugh about how dodgy it is, and take bets on how long it will last… (Loser has to make the winner a more durable one!! Lol)
Bye for now :)
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