Quick Tricks: Easy water-resistant bottle labels

As it seems that Moose Flu is not so easily gotten rid of, today’s post is a quick and easy craft. In fact, it is so easy that it can be done while in a groggy, fever-induced state. How’s that for an endorsement?

As many before us, Moose and I have been captured by the siren’s call that is Costco. As a result, we have been known to buy olive oil in two litre containers. Since I’m tired of having that huge jug on our counter, I decided to use an old condiment bottle instead. To jazz up the bottle a bit, a label seemed in order. But how to make a label that wouldn’t get ruined by any spilled drops of oil or any random cooking splatters? The answer came in the form of self-laminating sheets from our local office supply store. Now the bottle is adorned with a water resistant label that can be wiped off as needed.

Supplies:

·      Sheet of white text paper

·      Sheet of self-laminating film (example here)

Equipment:

·      Computer

·      Printer

·      Paper trimmer

Directions:

1.     Measure the circumference of your bottle to determine how long the label should be. Determine the height you’d like your label to be and subtract one inch.

2.     Using the measurements from step one, create a label on your computer with design software (or Word). Print the label.

3.     Use a paper trimmer to cut the label to size. Trim the self-laminating sheet so that it is one inch higher and one inch longer than the paper label.

4.     Peel the liner from the self-laminating sheet, exposing the adhesive. Place the paper label face down on the adhesive, making sure the paper is centered (there should be a 1/2” border of adhesive all around the paper).

5.     Carefully wrap the label around the bottle.

That’s it! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to fall back into bed. Seeing as I have no plans to allow the devious Moose Flu to keep me incapacitated for much longer, I’ll see you all again on Monday *knocks on wood*.

A little brightness goes a long way...

After battling it out with Moose Flu for the past few days, I decided a little pick-me-up to get back on the Card Tricks track was in order. Enter this bright and cheery little thank you card, complete with polka dots on a pretty pink background.

This card was hand cut with a stocking stuffer Moose (the husband - see this post for the reason why) gave me this year, a Slice Precision Paper Cutter with ceramic blade. It took me some time to get used to using this knife, but I can already tell that it is going to have a prominent place in my toolbox from now on.

Supplies:

·      Sheet of 8 1/2” x 11” pink card stock

·      Sheet of 8 1/2” x 11” white text paper

·      Piece of polka dot patterned card stock (big enough to cover the words “Thank You” on the front of your card – I used a 4” x 3” piece)

Equipment:

·      Computer

·      Printer

·      Paper trimmer

·      Bone folder

·      Pencil

·      Cutting mat

·      Utility/craft knife

·      Glue runner

·      Glue stick

Directions:

1.     Open a new document in Word or a design layout program. Create a text box in the upper left hand corner, no bigger than 4 1/2” x 3 1/4”. Type in the words “Thank You” in a blocky, simple font (I used Verdana, but any sans serif font will do). Centre the text and resize it to fit the box. Print the document on to the white text paper.

2.     Trim the white paper to create a box around the text, with about 1/2” to 1” white space around the text. Trim the rest of the paper to create a card liner, measuring 4 1/2” x 7 1/2”.

3.     Cut the pink card stock in half with the paper trimmer to get two pieces, measuring 5 1/2 x 8 1/2”. Put one away with your other scraps to be used in future projects.

4.     Use the bone folder to fold the other piece of pink card stock into a 4 1/4” x 5 1/2” card. Fold the card liner in half as well.

5.     Open the pink card stock and place on a cutting mat. Centre the “Thank You” text on the front panel of the card. Use a pencil to trace around the letters so that you end up with impressions of the letters on the pink card stock.

6.     Use the knife to carefully cut out the letters, using the impressions as guides. Remember to cut out the centres of the letters “a” and “o”. Set them aside in a safe place so that you can easily find them later.

7.     Position the patterned card stock on the inside of the front panel with the pattern showing through the cut out letters. Move the card stock around until you are happy with the way the pattern is showing through. Use the glue runner to attach the patterned card stock in place (be careful to not put glue where the cut out letters are – the glue may be transparent, but it will remain tacky).

8.     Glue the centres of the “a” and the “o” in their positions on the front of the card.

9.     Attach the card liner to the inside of the card with the glue runner (technique here).

As you can see, I didn’t worry about tracing or cutting out the letters perfectly. I thought it looked better with a little bit of freehand. You can be as precise or carefree as you like, depending on what look you like best.

That’s all for today, folks! Hope you all are having a wonderful year so far. See you on Friday!

The Moose Flu strikes again

Moose paper punch by Punch Bunch, available at The Moose Store.

Weeks ago, in the middle of the night, my husband began making the most disturbing sounds - horrible racking coughs that led me to begin calling him by the endearing nickname of "Moose" (a nickname he himself has adopted and used to identify himself by... I love it). This cough has persisted and is only now beginning to go away.

After hearing this story and witnessing for herself just how uncannily like a moose my dear husband sounded, our friend and Heinous Hats writer/creator, Caela, fell victim to an illness she has deemed "Moose Flu". And now, after weeks of evading the beast, I, too, have been felled by the mighty beast.

The Moose Flu shows no mercy - no matter how careful you are, it will strike you down when you least suspect it. And so, dear Internets, off to bed I go, where my body shall attempt to overcome the formidable moose and his baby moose calf underlings.

Here's hoping my bout of Moose Flu is brief and that Card Tricks will return to its regularly scheduled program on Wednesday.