Get your photos out on display

 I found this old ladder this past summer in an antique/junk store.  It started it's life as a farm ladder (probably to a hay loft) and was twice it's current size.  The photo above is after my husband sanded and spray-painted it black.  

 I took one of my fall layouts and my fall bucket list layout, put them in page protectors and using the 3M velcro strips (in photo above) and applied them to the spine of the page protector.  So the spine of the page protector runs along the rung of the ladder.  This allows me to use the open side of the page protector to change out the layouts with the season or occasion.

 I then attached the page protectors to the back of the rungs with the other half of the 3M velcro strip.  

 Here's the top half of the ladder.  It's so hard to get a good photo this time of year.  Even out in the natural light.  It's been grey and overcast most of the day.

And the bottom part of the ladder.  I don't have a lot of table or display space in my home so this works really well for me as I have a few spots where I can lean it against an empty wall space.  It might also end up in my craft room which was my original intent.
This is another Pinterest project that I adapted for this purpose.  I am also going to use this for photos in the future as well.  I have some favorite photos that I plan to enlarge to 12 x 12.  
How do you display your layouts and photos?  

This is the Close To My Heart Designed Decor Black Frame.  Simply add your favorite photos, embellishments and/or notes/journaling, really, whatever you feel like. It's only limited by your imagination!

The bottom photo is a close-up of the lower half and the photo above that is a close-up of the upper half.

This was really simple to do and did not take much time.  The stamped card was made with Close To My Heart's September Stamp of the Month "Poster Tidings"

I'm making several of these as Christmas gifts this year.  I think these would also make great gifts for weddings and baby showers.

For more information or to order go to my online store http://craftycreativity.ctmh.com

Pumpkin lamps

These are the easiest Fall decorations to put together - 2 baby pumpkins, 2 Hurricane lamps (from AC Moore), 2 candles and 4-6 floral hooks (not sure what they are called but they are shaped like a U).  Its important to look your little pumpkins over carefully as they need to have an even base and top so they or the candles don't tip over.  I'll also try to find ones that don't have their "handle" as those are harder to break off then you would think!  My husband pushes the hooks in for me while I hold the hurricane lamp where I want it on the pumpkin.  I think you can see the top of the hook in the 2nd photo. 

Photo board

This was a simple project to make-mostly gluing chipboard pieces after placing ribbons in various places. The lacing to connect each of the boards was a little tricky as it should not be too loose or too tight.

Picture Frames

These make great gift ideas. You can get plain wooden frames from any of the craft stores - I only paid a couple of dollars for these. I used Deco Art'sPaper Perfect which needs a palette knife (they sell one) to spread out onto your surface - it was really easy. While it was still damp (not wet) I placed the flowers I had on hand in the corners and let dry. This works best on a warm, dry day with low humidity. It takes several hours to a full day to dry depending on how thick you apply the Paper Perfect. You can also add glitter, fibers, etc to customize your project. If you want to make a custom sheet of paper for your project just spread the Paper Perfect on a sheet of wax paper and let dry. Pretty neat stuff!

More Uppercase Living projects

Here are a few other projects I did awhile back with Uppercase Living expressions. For those that have not used vinyl before to create home decor items a great way to start would be to order some small expressions like the snowflakes above to play with before starting to work with larger items. Then move on to larger items or make your own with your Cricut.

Here are a few of the Uppercase Living projects I did while I was a consultant with U.L. Now that I have my Cricut Expression and Gypsy I can create projects like this on my own. The Uppercase Living website though has some great accessories that accent the projects as well as display stands and hangers. It's a great place for inspiration as well.