Spring is around the corner and we have been busy around our house trying to get started organizing things around here after the long Winter. For us right now this means organizing some new bookshelves we painted for our office. These mostly hold John’s books, and he has been moving some off of my bookshelf which is in the entryway of our house. I came across some inexpensive clear file folders which I thought would be wonderful for holding all of my photocopied music and loose scores which I have a LOT of, not to mention all of my favorite magazines that I want to keep in which I have been published. So this prompted me to think about how to make these Plain Jane plastic holders more appealing for my space. I could have gone and bought the new designer ones in the store, but…
#1: They are expensive
#2: They are great for now, but what about when they go out of style?
#3: Will I get the “perfect” colors I need?
So come with me as we explore a great way to use your stamps in your home, and something you can change out easily when you get bored…oh and how much fun would this be to hold your cardstock?!
You will need the following supplies:
Stamps: Damask Designs
Paper: True Black, Stamper’s Select White, Spring Rain cardstock
Ink: Spring Rain
Ribbon: True Black Stitched Grosgrain, True Black Twill
Punches: Marvy Super Jumbo and MegaCircle Scalloped Punches
Other: Plastic FIle Folder (Preferably one with a flat front. This was from Rubbermaid. I bought it at Wal Mart. Fiskars Cutting Wheel With scalloped blade, favorite adhesive (I used red-lined tape, but you can also use scor- tape)
First cut your Stamper’s Select White cardstock to 3×11 inches. (This will cover most of the front panel, but not all of it, so you will need a coordinating color for the top and bottom of your file folder.)
Begin by stamping your Damask Designs backround stamp. I start at the bottom and move my way up. I always start on the same place on the stamp, so when the file folders are lined up on the bookshelf, it will look as close to a continual pattern as possible.
Using your cutting wheel and cutting mat, roll wheel to create a scalloped border and then cut. You will need a 3×2 inch piece for the top and a 1 inch piece for the bottom.
Before adding the border pieces, add your True Black Grosgrain ribbon (but only go slightly under where the bottom of your border is. You do not want it to look lumpy.) Add your top and bottom borders.
Then I took my Spring Rain cardstock and using the “Arial” font on my computer, typed the names of the files I wanted to create. I made sure to leave enough space around each word for punching. This is extremely important! If you are unsure, do a test run on typing paper! Then I punched the titles out using the smaller punch, and to keep my accent colors, I used the larger punch with True Black card stock. To add a finishing touch, I chose the True Black Twill ribbon to tie bows and adhere them with a large glue dot. Now I have the perfect colors to match my blue walls in the entryway. A color that otherwise may have been hard to find in a pre-bought folder, but was so simple to create using all of the Papertrey Ink colors to choose from.
I chose the black as an accent because I also have many performing folders which are black. Try and pay attention to other colors around the environment you want to enhance to aid and assist you in your color choices.
(click to enlarge all photos)
While they may not align “perfectly”, they are very close, which is why it is important to try and start in the same place on your stamp at the beginning of your stamping. The best part about this, is that it was pennies to create, and you can always start again if you choose to redo your decor! What will YOU do with Papertrey to enhance YOUR home? I would love to know!! For more Papertrey Inspiration in home decor, you can visit my sidebar in my {Hemidemisemiqauver Home} section! Have a great day! OH…and I ALMOST forgot! Wait until you see one of the new Timeless Templates coming out from Lauren this month! It will be a perfect way to complement this project!!
This is really cool. I love how you fixed it up. that is so neat.
Very nice, may have to get me some and give it a try.
I think you deserve a Nobel Peace Prize!!! This is a magnificent idea…especially for those of us that are OCD, lol. It’s the truth though, it brings less clutter to the eye and it’s beautiful. TFS, TFS, TFS, TFS!
Great tip – beautiful. I have a whole shelf of these magazine holders and it never occurred to me to decorate them and turn them the other way.
Thanks for the inspiration!
Well how cute is that??? I love this idea. Thanks!
Such a great idea to cover our “stuff” and make it look pretty!! LOVE IT~
Love it. What glue did you use?
Barbara C
So darn cute!
Wow!! What a great idea, I might just have to steel your idea. TFS.
This is the coolest idea! Thanks for sharing.
Beautiful AND functional! Great idea!
Lovely way to use my favorite things…cardstock, ribbon, punches….ooo la la!! Thanks for the inspiration!
I love the idea! Thank you for sharing.
Fabulous idea. I love the damask stamp and tags. These should be featured on HGTV!
Hey – - Terrific!
I was planning on doing the SAME thing to get a grip on all my papers – - but didn’t quite know how I was going to co-ordinate it! I plan on using large floral labels like you have, but I needed to ‘gel’ a scheme together on how to put it all together – - and this WORKS PERFECTLY!!!!
Thanks for the inspiration!
Lovely!!!
What an absoluetly fantastic idea!! And they look like you spent a lot of money to get them!! Very creative!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this! Thanks so much for sharing! I made some today!!
They look so classy!!
Very attractive idea! I can adapt it for my shelves. Thank you for sharing.
Do you ever sleep? Or just sit around and think up the coolest ideas ever? I love love love it!
THis post really inspired me. I needed to change my storage becasue it was taking up too much counter space in my craft room. What a timely blog!! I rushed to Wal-Mart, got my files and got everything reorganized in a day for under $50 (I bought spare storage for my growing collection of PTI papers!) Thanks for sharing your creativity!
I am absolutely speechless! Would you please come to my house and help me now?
I’m convinced there is no limit to your creativity. They look great!
i’ts so cute and “pratique” !
Thank you so much for sharing this clever idea with all of us.. My it will be nice to look at and still be so functional. Easy to follow…so good show…
Thanks
pat