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paper Piranha Plant flowers

paper piranha plants

Valentine’s Day – that saccharine celebration of specifically defined romance – is approaching! I’m always trying to think of something new and a little different to post for this holiday. Last year it was a paper Fire Flower bouquet, for those who are feeling done with roses.

This year I offer another Mario tribute, reimagined in 3D paper form. These are flowers that won’t wilt, and know how to bite back: the elegant and snippy Piranha Plant. Because really, what says true love better than something that will bite your nose off if you get too close? Read the full post »

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by on January 23, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in Decorations, Flowers, Geeky Goodness, Holiday/seasonal, Paper Goods
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Posted by Tally on January 23, 2014

http://tallystreasury.com/2014/01/paper-piranha-plant-flowers/

the making of 65 kobold plushies

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Back in the spring of 2013, I agreed to make a large number (large by the standards of things that are handmade, anyway) of plush kobolds for 9th Level Games, who were Kickstarting a deluxe edition printing of their popular game Kobolds Ate My Baby.

In December, the kobolds were finally shipped out, to terrorize homes around the world. Here’s a look at what happened between April and December, at just how those 65 small fuzzy kobolds came into the world. Read the full post »

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by on January 17, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in Behind the Scenes, Geeky Goodness, Plushies, Sewing
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Posted by Tally on January 17, 2014

http://tallystreasury.com/2014/01/the-making-of-65-kobold-plushies/

recycled wrapping paper thank you cards

IMG_5607 copy

While the pre-Christmas season is one of scouring Pinterest for gift ideas and mad dashes to the mall to do your shopping, the post-Christmas season is one of recovering from too many sweets, boxing up old unused items for the goodwill, and writing thank you cards.

As a kid, I was held to the rule that thank you cards must be sent to anyone who gave me a gift and was not able to see me open it in person (and thus receive a verbal thank you). Every family does things a little differently, but I try to adhere to this practice, even if my thank yous are sometimes a few months late now that my mother isn’t hovering over me two days after Christmas to make sure I get them done.

Being me, I add a special splash of insanity by wanting to send handmade thank you cards. The trick there is to find a card design that can be fairly quickly mass produced. Last year I messed with stamping and patterned paper shapes. This year I found a way to make simple but pretty ornament themed cards that also made use of leftover wrapping paper.

Read the full post »

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by on January 10, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in Cards, Gifting, Holiday/seasonal, Paper Goods
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Posted by Tally on January 10, 2014

http://tallystreasury.com/2014/01/recycled-wrapping-paper-thank-you-cards/

recycled collage-style wrapping paper

wrapping paper

Happy 2014 everyone! I hope you all had a lovely holiday however you celebrated it, and are feeling hopeful and inspired about the new year.

We spent Christmas with my parents, in the Kansas town I grew up in, for the very last time. My folks are moving north at last, back across the border into Canada, so it’s possible that I will never see what I still consider my hometown again, at least not for a very long time. I’m still trying to piece together my feelings about that, and I have a blog post in the works that covers some of those feelings as well as a bit of a look at the house I grew up in, which I think demonstrates where much of this crafting habit of mine first sprouted…

But more on that later. For now, I’m looking ahead, into the new year. In fact, I’m looking really far ahead into 2014. All the way to next December. You remember how November and December got right away from me this year, what with our Desert Bus for Hope fundraiser followed so quickly by Christmas? Well I have vowed not to let things get so out of control next year, and to that end I’m starting to make preparations now.

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by on January 2, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in Decorations, Holiday/seasonal, Paper Goods, Wrappings & containers
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Posted by Tally on January 2, 2014

http://tallystreasury.com/2014/01/recycled-collage-style-wrapping-paper/

DIY stamped gift boxes (with windows!)

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Christmas is upon us! In fact I’ve been so busy getting ready for it and travelling for it and mowing down yummy cookies for it that I completely forgot to write an introduction to this blog post. Oh, and I took some time out to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas and to stomp about in the snow and… look, I’ve been really busy doing super important things, ok?

And now it’s time to wrap all the presents that I finally managed to find and buy and stuff into my suitcase. These boxes are a lovely way to wrap small gifts, and if you put a little see-through window in them they’re especially great for gifting goodies. Change up the decoration on them to make boxes not just for Christmas but perhaps for birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Easter treats and more.

Read the full post »

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by on December 24, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Paper Goods, Wrappings & containers
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Posted by Tally on December 24, 2013

http://tallystreasury.com/2013/12/diy-stamped-gift-boxes-with-windows/

a quick & removeable way to hang ornaments & pretty much anything else

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Hey internet! I’m here to show you this one weird trick for making your Christmas tree look totally perfect!

My gosh I loathe those ads.

Ok so it’s not actually that weird, and it’s not really a trick, just, well, a thing you can do, and it is absolutely in no way guaranteed to endow your Christmas tree with any particular level of perfection. But it’s really useful, for Christmas ornaments and all kinds of other things.

I was doing a bunch of these last week to string some ornaments I made as a gift, and I suddenly wondered “Hey, does everyone know how to do this? Because it’s pretty handy.”

And then I thought I’d do a quick write-up of it, just in case someone else out there would find it useful.

Read the full post »

9 Comments
by on December 20, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Bonus updates, Decorations, Holiday/seasonal, Household goods & decorations, Ornaments
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Posted by Tally on December 20, 2013

http://tallystreasury.com/2013/12/a-quick-removeable-way-to-hang-ornaments-pretty-much-anything-else/

embossed paper “beach ball” ornaments

paper beach ball ornaments

Well this is a bit embarrassing. Last time I put a proper tutorial up on this blog, it was Halloween season. And now it’s the Christmas season, with a big huge lapse of DIY silence in between. I’m afraid that with my day job, commission work and additional Desert Bus for Hope responsibilities this year, something had to give, and that turned out to be the blog.

On the bright side, Desert Bus raised over $500,000 this year, so that’s a whole lot of toys and games that’ll be going to improve the lives of sick kids and their families.

I do hope though that this will be the first, last and only such lengthy blog lapse – I’ve actually already started saving up posts for next Halloween and Christmas season, in the hopes of having things ready to post when the fall of 2014 attacks my schedule. In the meantime, my profuse apologies, and let’s get on with Christmas prep. Because oh holy night, Batman, it is coming up fast!

If your tree is a little sparse, or if you’re looking for a small simply gift idea, and especially if (like me) you still have previous years’ Christmas scrapbook paper (or old Christmas cards) hanging around, you might want to try your hand at these elegant little paper ornaments.

Read the full post »

29 Comments
by on December 12, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Holiday/seasonal, Ornaments, Paper Goods
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Posted by Tally on December 12, 2013

http://tallystreasury.com/2013/12/paper-beach-ball-style-ornaments/

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