Cork Tissue Box Cover {tutorial}

Hi all! Thanks so much for entering my giveaway! I've been thrilled with the turn out. 

Just wanted to write a quick post to show you my new cork tissue box cover, which I am displaying proudly (ha!) on my bathroom countertop. You might remember my recent tissue box cover here - that one was a little more labor intensive to say the least. This one took about 2 seconds.

All you have to do is cut the bottom out of a used (i.e., empty) tissue box. Try slipping it over another tissue box to see if you need to widen it or anything. I did just a little. I opened up one side and then taped the sides together but farther apart. 

Then, grab some cork contact paper (~$10 at Target), and trace the outline onto the cork. Cut out the outline and simply adhere it to all four edges. Make sure your top piece has an oval-shaped hole in the middle to pull the tissue through.

Also, it's kind of fun to pin a little note to one side. Mine says "bless you!" It made J laugh when he saw it. :D

P.S. That bird shown in the photo is a Dollar Tree bird that I spray painted Krylon Celery.

And I spray painted the pinecone vase filler with the same color. Love it!


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Polly Want A Crafter 

Wall Decal Made of Painted Contact Paper!

I was so thrilled about my wall decal tutorial being featured over at Beyond the Picket Fence that it motivated me to do another one last night. This time the decal was for a rather boring white wall in our living room. We have an accent wall in olive green, but the other two walls are white, and this one blank space in particular haunts me. It's kind of like I decorated the sides and corners of that wall, but I just had no idea what to do with the middle, which is why it was the perfect candidate for some experimental decal-ing. The experimental part is that I painted white contact paper with acrylic paint. 

And it worked!!! Couldn't believe it. I guess I imagined the paint wrinkling the contact paper or something. But it went on easily and dried in about 20 minutes. I think you could do it either way, but I chose to cut out the shapes first and then paint them. I think you waste less paint that way because you are only painting what you know you are going to use. 

Contact paper is so thin that it really just molds itself to the wall. It almost looks like I painted it directly on the wall, so I can see how this extra step of painting the contact paper and applying it to the wall would be a waste of time for some people. I'm a renter, though, so I am fond of projects like this that can easily be undone. And, by the way, the pieces are easily removable and replaceable - I had to move around some circles a couple of times before I liked it. 

So, the process can be kind of messy. he he! 

 Here is an in progress pic:

 The finished product!

Now that I know the painting contact paper method works, I think I need to spruce up my lab space at work with a few decals. I keep saying I'm going to make a tree, but geez that would take a while.... :) Guess I'm lazy.

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Cork lamp base! Yay!

I made this lamp base out of cork contact paper (Target has everything!), a lightbulb socket kit, cardboard tube from a paper towel roll, and some pebbles to give it a nice, sturdy base. 

I love the natural look of cork, so it's a nice touch I think. But if I ever decide to change it, I can easily pop the lightbulb socket out of the cardboard tube and re-use the cork contact paper (I didn't remove the backing or anything).


You can find a lovely tutorial for the cork lamp base that inspired this project, as posted on Design*Sponge, here. 

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Tutorial: How to make a birdie wall decal with contact paper

I've been looking around at my bare walls lately and thinking that they need some dressing up. So, what's the perfect solution? Wall decals, of course!

Birdie wall art, which is above the girls' dog bed next to my desk.

I have spent countless hours scouring the pages and pages of vinyl wall decals on Etsy, but I haven't been willing to part with $50 to $100 for something that I felt I could create myself. And the beauty of making it yourself is that you can make something that is unique and customized to fit with your space perfectly. And if you are impatient like I am, you can have this project up on your walls in a couple of hours from start to finish instead of waiting on the mail to deliver the one you bought online. Sweet. 

**First of all, just want to mention that I have seen this project idea before, but I cannot recall where.** 

Materials - contact paper (preferably a solid color) ($5.68); scissors ($2); X-Acto knife ($5)

Time - approx. 2 hrs

Step 1 - Draw your shapes onto the back of the contact paper. 

(Note: If you are interested in making the chick decal as shown here, then cut the shapes using the following dimensions (or adjust to make bigger or smaller while keeping the same height-width ratio): The big birdie is 21 cm wide x 13 cm tall, the medium sized birdie on the right is 16 cm x 10 cm, and the small one is 10 cm x 7.5 cm.)

Step 2 - Cut out the shapes.

Step 3 - Use the X-Acto knife to cut out the eyes. 

(Note: This was challenging, for me at least. If you find that you've accidentally given the little birdies angry expressions (ha ha), then just cut out some more contact paper and cover the eyes. It is hardly noticeable that you had to redo the eyes.)

Step 4 - Apply the contact paper shapes to the wall. The nice thing is that contact paper is removable, so you can reposition the shapes as many times as needed. 

Easy peasy!

Here is another decal I made for the half bath downstairs.

And here is a tree that I made to test out whether contact paper cutouts could pass as vinyl wall art.

Since I already posted one with my baby, Heidz, here is one of her sister, Jini, in front of the wall art. :)

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My wall decals were featured at Beyond The Picket Fence! Thank you!!!

Tutorial: How to make a unique paper lampshade

If you want a unique and pretty lampshade that also doesn't break the bank, then you should gather up 2 sheets of your favorite paper and make this cute paper lampshade. It will dress up any room and give it an edgy, non-traditional look. Not bad considering it will take you only 10 minutes and the materials are probably already in your house. Ready, get set, go!

Materials - 2 pieces of pretty 12 x 12 scrapbook paper (I found a big pack at Ross for $5); scissors ($2); clear tape ($1); clear Contact paper ($5.68); pencil ($0.50)


Time - 10 minutes


**Also, make sure the lamp base you are using has a lamp harp. The finial base is what will hold up the lampshade. Obviously, it would be a bad idea to have the lightbulb directly touching the clear contact paper.**


Oh and by the way, I had to Google all of those terms (i.e., lamp harp and finial base). In case you're like I was and don't know all of the technical terms, here is a diagram I got from this website.

Tutorial: How to cover a file cabinet with contact paper

A file cabinet is a great organization tool and a necessity for most people, but let's face it. It's a big eyesore! Some people buy their file cabinets from secondhand stores, so they are typically pretty beaten up. Mine was actually brand new when I got it, but it came in this ugly putty color. I recently decided that I needed to do something about it. So, I covered it in woodgrain looking contact paper to make it fit in better with the bedroom decor. Here is how I did it:

But first, here is a before picture (except that I had already covered one drawer):

Materials - Contact paper ($5.68) (I used woodgrain, but I also think a crisp white would have looked nice.);    scissors ($2); plastic card, like a store rewards card, to smooth out bubbles (free); screwdriver ($1); X-Acto knife ($5); tape measure ($2)

Time - Approximately 6 hours (but I was a contact paper newbie)