Make a Pop-Up Card Starring Your Friend!

What's better than getting a pop-up card?

Getting a personalized pop-up card!

When the neighbors threw a party to celebrate four of the girls' birthdays, I made them these special cards, based on my Oompa Loompa card.

With your friend's picture, you can make a birthday card, I love you, just because, thank you... anything!

How can you do it? First download these three pdfs:

Extras:


Outside:
   

Inside:
 

Print these three pdfs onto two pieces of cardstock. The "Extras" file is printed on one piece. Print "Outside" on one sheet, turn it over, then print "Inside" on the other side.

Take a bone and score the Inside piece where it will fold, along the dotted line. Trim the Inside/Outside piece using the crop marks printed on the "Inside" piece. Fold along the score with the blue starburst on the inside.

Cut out one of the labels on the light grey lines (pick the one you want, either "Happy Birthday" or the blank one that you can write your own sentiment on).

Score the rectangular strip on the Extras sheet on the dotted lines. This will be the support for the pop-up. Cut it out and fold along the scores to form a rectangular "box."

Apply glue to sections "C" and "D" and adhere to the inside of the card, as shown below, lining up the crease with the crease of the card.

Hold down the rectangular piece as shown (side "B" will have no glue on it (yet) and will be held down flat on the card. Side "A" and the blank side will be facing up. Apply glue to side "A" then fold the card shut. When you open it, the rectangular piece should be in a box-like shape as shown on the lower right photo.

Open the card nearly flat so that you can easily apply glue to side "B."

Now you can attach the cut out photo of the person of your choice to the rectangular support (make sure to test to make sure that it is not so tall that it sticks out the top when the card is folded).

Here's the same card with my friends, Don and John on the inside -- aren't they cute?

Adhere the label on the front with pop-dots, so that it stands out from the card a bit.

I love pop-dots...

Enjoy!

Make a Mini-Book with a Greeting Card!

When I received this gorgeous card from Eliza Wheeler, of Wheeler Studios, from a card exchange I'd organized last year, I knew that I had to save it for something special.

I finally found what I was looking for in an online tutorial that cleverly showed how to make a cute little booklet out of a letterpress card.

Here's my version:

Gather up these items: a cute card, a paper awl (to punch holes), some twine and some plain paper. Some binder clips are handy.

Cut your paper to the same size as your unfolded card. Fold in half, creasing the fold well. As I'm a little anal, I trimmed the paper down about a 1/4" off the top and and 1/8th" off the side (to give a tidy 1/8th" clearance all the way around).

Insert your paper "guts" into your card and center it. Use the binder clips on either side to hold it in place.

Use the paper awl to punch three holes in the spine of your booklet (one in the center and the other two perhaps and inch from each end).

Thread your needle with your twine. If you'd like to use baker's twine (which is so adorable!), Annie42's Etsy shop is a terrific source for it! (and she's super nice!)

Sew your booklet this way: Starting on the outside, push your needle through the center hole. Then poke your needle through the bottom hole to the outside again. Poke your needle through the top hole to get back to the inside. Poke back through the center hole. Both thread ends should now be hanging on the outside through this center hole.

(for a more thorough explanation of this binding technique, check this link)

Make sure that each twine hangs on opposite sides of the middle twine and tighten it up. Tie a bow or make a square knot and trim the ends. You can trim it close or leave a bow or even hang beads on the twine.

(if you prefer the ends of the twine to be on the inside, just start on the inside of the booklet)

Enjoy!

Let's Get Fit Together!

Today's tutorial and free download is a fitness log!

All right, a fitness log might seem to be an odd choice of a download for a crafty blog, but given my recent post of putting some balance in my life, it actually feels just perfect to me. Life is not all about the latest clever card-making technique, after all!

One thing that always helps me keep on track, fitness-wise is if I have to log what I do. The fact that I'll have to record a big goose egg under exercise for a day is one way to motivate me right out the door for a quick walk. I've been working out diligently for about two months now and I'm ready to share this with you!

First, download these two pdfs:

• Fitness Log Pages
• Fitness Motivation Pages

You're more than welcome to download them and print as many as you need for your own use, to share with friends or whatever! I do ask that you not sell them, of course, or make a product for use in resale (that would just be rude!).

Print one copy of the Motivation Pages and as many copies of the Fitness Log Pages that you think you'll need. Perhaps start out with eight sheets -- this will get you through 32 days and a month seems like a good start. Plus it makes a cute-sized book.

Cut all the sheets in half one way and then in half again. If you want to keep things simple, you can just staple the sheets together on one end, adding in a front and back cover to make it a little fancy. Another thing I've done is take the whole stack to Kinkos and have them bind it into a little book with spiral binding -- super cute! But today I'll show you how to make a cute cover from the comfort of your own home with just some cardstock and a stapler.

You'll need two pieces of card stock. Cut your cover to be 4.25" x 5.5" -- in this case, this is my yellow cardstock.

Cut the other (green) piece to be 4.25" wide and about 7" long (it will be cut down shorter than this).

Score the green cardstock 5.5" down and fold on this score. Line your stack of paper up against the fold and mark the thickness of the stack of your pages. Score the cardstock again at this mark. Make another score 1/4" away from this last score. Cut the end of the cardstock another 1/4" away from THAT score.

This sounds a lot more complicated than it is. Just look at the photo on the far right in the middle row: the first score is 5.5" in, then another score the height of the stack of paper, then another score 1/4" away from that and then cut 1/4" away from that.

Straighten your stack of pages. Put the cover (yellow) on top of the pages. Line the newly cut edge of the long cover with the left edge of the stack, on top of the yellow cover. Staple the entire stack close to the fold. Then fold the green cover over and around.

So cute! I love this kind of binding where the cover folds to hide the staples -- I used this technique on my own wedding invitations, a few years ago.

I'm a simple kind of gal, so I've left mine as it is, but I know a lot of you papercrafting lovers would enjoy embellishing your cover to your heart's content.

How to use it: the motivation pages are meant to keep your focus on your goals and remind you of why you're doing this.

Where I'm going is the page you'll fill up with your goals (I want to lose 20 pounds! I want to get in shape to run a 5k in the fall! I want to fit into my skinny jeans again! I want to walk into my class reunion and make heads turn!). Put it all in -- be as descriptive and detailed as you possibly can make it -- you want to make it more enticing than, say cheesecake!

Where I've been is where you'll note what you want to leave behind (I couldn't keep up with my nine-year old biking. I outgrew every pair of jeans in the house.). Again, pour yourself out here!

I will is what you'll be doing to achieve your goals. Instead of saying you want to lose X pounds here, this is where you put in how you will get there (I will do a 10-minute mini workout every morning before work and a 30-minute run on alternate days after work. I will pack a healthy lunch and snacks for work every day. I will allow myself no more than 100 calories worth of indulgence a day (even if that's just one bite of something decadent). I know I will fall off the bandwagon occasionally and if that happens, I'll get right back on again!).

I won't will be where you'll list all the potential stumbling blocks that have plagued previous efforts (I won't snack after 7pm. I won't eat the leftovers off the kids' plates. I won't defeat myself with negative thinking.).

The Fitness Log Pages

Use the fitness log pages as you wish, but try to log every single day. For me, weight loss is trying to keep my calories in lower while maximizing the calories out, so that's how I've organized things.

I put in a space for a mini workout (this could be a set of tricep dips off my desk chair at work) in addition to cardio and weight training. I log my minutes, but you can do as you like!

One of my biggest hobgoblins is evening snacking. I put in a spot where I'd have to mark whether or not I succumbed to this particular issue. Just having this there would make me hesitate about dipping that spoon into the ice cream...

I put in a generic temptation notation for you to use as you wish.

However you use it, the important thing is to use it! Keep it with you always (in your purse, handy with a pen -- if you find yourself early for an appointment, walk around the block and then log that extra walking time!).

I hope you like this download! Enjoy! If you use this or would like to share your own fitness goals and ideas, I'd love to hear from you -- please leave a comment!

Cupid Pillow Box Download and Tutorial

I never realized how easy pillow boxes were to make until I'd checked out a tutorial. Then I had to make my own and share it with you!

First, download the pdf here.

Download the pdf here.

Cut around the box on the solid lines. Carefully score on the dotted lines (using a ruler on the straight lines helps).

Fold along the straight lines. Apply glue to the flap (it's good to get it in the corners).

Carefully fold on the curved lines, folding the sides with the finger hole in first.

Be sure to stuff with little treats, like chocolate truffles or maybe something a little blingier to make your Valentine's Day!

Enjoy!

For an extra special Valentine, check out this coordinating card at my Etsy shop!

(It's part of my Three Reasons series cards -- you turn the wheel and write in three reasons in the spots: 1, 2, 3 -- they're a lot of fun to fill in!)

Valentine CardEnvelopes

Check out these lovely cardenvelopes (free to download!) at the wonderful Natalie Jost blog!

I love how generous the crafting community is and I got sooo much lovely attention for my Busy Little Silhouette Pop-Up Card Download that I hope to be able to do more this year -- it is a nice way to pay things forward.

I've been thinking of tagging 2010 the year of generosity (contributing to HeartsforHaiti has been so wonderful, for instance, and I contribute to several school auctions and other worthy non-profits), but am still mulling things over.

Busy Little Silhouette Card Tutorial

One of my favorite blogs is Cathe Holden's Just Something I Made blog. I've mentioned it before -- it's a treasure trove of wonderful ideas, inspiration and generous downloads.

One recent download was a series of old-fashioned busy day silhouettes. Cathe asked what we might do with them, so I took that as a challenge. And, of course, being me, it had to be a pop-up card!

What do you think?

In the spirit of Cathe's generosity, I'm paying this one forward! Download the pdf to make this card!

Print the pdf out on light card stock.

Make a card base by cutting a letter-sized piece of darker, contrasting cardstock in half and folding that in half to make a standard folded A2 card base (5.5" x 4.25").

Carefully cut out the shapes on the cardstock (dotted lines indicate folds). Gently fold on dotted lines and table legs where they meet the floor.

Apply glue to the back of the rectangular piece (avoiding the parts that are folded away). Adhere to the card base, lining up the top of the rectangle with the fold line (allow a millimeter or two of space from the actual fold so that the card can fold easily).

Repeat for the rounded piece, making sure that the two sides mirror each other.

Glue the upper part of the figure and the top of the table together, carefully matching the pieces.

Voila!

Tutorial: Personalized Tacks

I decided I wanted to make tacks for my coworkers for Christmas. They look soooo cute displayed on a piece of leftover bulletin board cork cut to fit inside an Altoid's tin.

The red border of the front of the tin is ready-made for holiday embellishment!

Anyone who's ever made these flattened glass fridge magnets or tacks knows how incredibly simple it is. The hardest part for me was finding nice clear flat marbles -- I used to get them from the craft store or even the dollar store, but lately all I've found there are opalescent or riddled with pock marks.

I finally found some nice ones at a local floral supply store.

My 1/2" circle punch is sure handy for punching out the photos (you can cut out with scissors but it sure does take a lot longer!)

Here you see the different stages. On the left, just a plain, flat glass marble.

Next step: add a small drop of Diamond Glaze (what a wonderful adhesive!).

Press your photograph face down into the drop, pressing down so that some gooshes out of the edges (then you know it's covered the whole photo).

Add another drop of Diamond Glaze.

Press down the tack.

That's it!

It's so simple I did them all in one quick crafty evening. What made this gift a little extra special was the presentation. I cut the cork to fit the inside of the Altoids tin. The tin would be an equally cute way to gift refrigerator magnets made with this same technique.

Enjoy!

T-Shirt Shrug

Check out this adorable little shrug made from an old t-shirt!

I'm not much of a seamstress but I think even I can do this cute little number!

Find all the instructions at the CutOutandKeep blog!

Scrabble Tile Necklace Tutorial!

I have ALWAYS thought those nifty Scrabble tile necklaces were super cool! Now, finally, are very complete instructions on how you can make them yourself from the Makes and Takes site!

Very cool!

Another Chair Makeover

Encouraged by my success with redoing an old, dilapidated chair I've had for decades in my appropriately title "I Heart Spray Paint" post, I decided to redo another chair that had been languishing in our basement, too gross to actually allow guests to rest their posteriors upon.

Plus, I could use some leftover spray paint and fabric, which really appeals to my inner scrooge.

Again, very pleased with the result! I put the pretty picture right at the top because it's the nicest one. The middle shot shows the chair with it's lovely rusted rip in its deteriorating vinyl top.

The bottom shot shows how it looked all pulled apart. I just carefully unscrewed anything I could unscrew and everything came apart quite nicely.

I sanded the frame down a bit and then applied my lovely apple green paint all over. I used the old chair cover as a rough pattern to cut out my fabric. The padding was all squished down, so I added extra from an old arm chair headed to the dump.

Getting the fabric nice and taut on the seat was a little tricky -- normally, you can just staple everything down, but not with this metal-framed chair. After trying a few things, I sacrificed some old elastic and zig-zagged it across the frame, using safety pins so I wouldn't have to do much sewing. This made it reasonably flat when I put everything back together.

I think it looks quite nice next to the other made over chair! Now I just need to find a junky old table to put between them...

I Heart Spray Paint

I've only had this chair for a couple of decades. Literally.

In my twenties, I picked it up for $5 at Salvation Army. At the time, I spray painted all my furniture black (like a ton of would-be hipsters, I went through a "black phase"), so that's what happened to this piece.

It managed to move from place to place with me, getting more and more dilapidated. Tad recently wrapped the cushions with an old tablecloth to hide the dinginess.

In a recent home improvement frenzy, I spray painted the frame the same lovely apple green with which I've been treating all my crafty nook makeover furnishings.

I picked up the lovely outdoor fabric from Joann's -- doesn't it look great on that green? Lacking the sewing skills to figure out how to sew a zipper on the cushions or to properly mold a case around the roundey corners, I simply wrapped the fabric around the cushions and sewed it on.

What do you think? I LOVE my cheerful new chair!

Don't Take Any Wooden Nickels...

...Unless they're as cute as these. Check out this wonderful tutorial by Cathe Holden of the FABULOUS "Just Something I Made" blog.

How have I lived this long in cyberspace before discovering this great site?

Love all the amazing tutorials, inspiration and great design!

Spray Painting 101

I am always thrilled at what a fresh coat of paint will do to a dingy, thrift-store cast-off. And spray paint makes things amazingly easy.

I found a decent wooden bookcase at Goodwill for a crazy $10. It is solid-wood construction (not particle board) and has a little curvey detailing at the top that made me love it.

In my household, my husband and I have very different styles. He is very measured, precise, reads instructions and follows them to the letter. I tend to take directions as general guidelines and am somewhat creative in my interpretation.

Both are strengths. For instance, if dinner has to be on the table in a short amount of time, we both know that I can do it a lot quicker than he. On the other hand, if something really needs to be done right, we also know that he has the patience to do it.

I say this because when it comes to painting, we do things quite differently and as this blog post is titled "Spray Painting 101" I thought I should mention both methods.

If I were to paint a thrift store find, this is what I'd do:

• Remove all labels and clean and dry the item
• Take some sandpaper and rub quickly over the entire item, to roughen up the surface so that the paint has something to adhere to
• Shake up the desired spray paint the minimum amount of time that it says on the directions
• Paint, going over the entire surface fairly randomly at first, allowing a few minutes in between coats to allow the previous layer to dry a bit. Continue to come back, filling in bare spots
• Allow to dry overnight and then begin to use my new, wonderfully refreshed object

This is my husband's method:

• Remove all labels and clean and dry the item
• Sandpaper the entire item thoroughly, to roughen up the surface so that the paint has something to adhere to
• Prime the object, if deemed necessary (it wasn't for the bookcase)
• Shake up the spray paint at least the maximum amount of time directed on the label
• Paint the item in a very methodical manner, covering each surface with a series of parallel strokes
• Allow each coat to dry thoroughly, sanding lightly between coats
• Repeat until a very smooth surface is achieved
• Allow the item to dry for at least a few days, if not a week, before using it

Now, both of these methods have their strengths, of course. I suspect most people are somewhere in between us. I have my method because I am somewhat impatient and it works beautifully about 98% of the time and I have a finished item in about a few hours. These shelves fell into that small minority of projects that needed a little more than my usual slapdash style.

Two things happened:

If you look at the photos above (click on the photo to enlarge it), you can see a close up of where the paint started to crackle on me. Very annoying! This happened when I was putting the final, beautiful coat of soft yellow on the top, so it was puzzling as to why it was happening then and not the entire time I was coating the thing. In any case, talking with husband and father-in-law, the problem seems to be a chemical reaction between the spray paint and the varnish on the bookcase that somehow didn't happen til after the initial coats had completely dried.

I kept on sanding JUST the part that crackled and repainting it in hopes that this would work again (trying to coat it with primer at one point), but the problem simply continued.

My husband, who won MAJOR points for stepping in, finally took matters into his own hands and thoroughly sanded the top down to the wood and repainted it for me while I was at work.

Yay!

The second problem I had was because I wanted to paint the back of the bookcase a soft green, so I masked off the sides of the bookcase. When I removed the masking tape, though, large swathes of the yellow paint came off with the tape.

This probably happened because I didn't spend enough time on the sanding step, to roughen up the original surface enough so that paint could properly adhere to it.

So, live and learn! My bookcase is all done now and I've moved it into my corner. There are parts of the paint job that aren't perfect, but they aren't very noticeable...

The four weeks for my Crafty Space Makeover Challenge ends next week. I promise photos of the entire space!

Rolled Scallop Rose Tutorial

Check out this pretty paper rose. It's easier to make than you'd think, just read up on the tutorial at the Inspirational Tips, Techniques and Tutorials Blog!

Make a Moss Terrarium

Moss terrariums are a wonderful way to bring a bit of nature indoors. These lush, moist habitats are just fascinating to watch and, best of all, are easy enough to care for that even those of us with black thumbs can manage!

This is a simple activity that you can get your kids to help you with making this a really wonderful idea for a Father's Day gift (and if you're thinking of gifting one of these, don't forget to include a card from the etsygreetings team)

Here's what you'll need for this activity:

A selection of moss. I just walked around my house and found several different varieties. It's fun to mix different shades and textures -- some moss is made up of tiny ferns, some has tiny shoots sprouting off of it, some forms itself into soft roundish "pill0ws."

Rocks. Again, I found mine around the house.

A wide-mouthed clear glass jar. Raid your recycling for an old mayonnaise jar or something similar. I've also purchased some lovely jars from Goodwill for just a few bucks.

Charcoal. Various tutorials I've read mention that you can purchase activated charcoal from the pet supply shop, however my husband claims that the charcoal we use for grilling is the same thing.

Sphagnum Moss (or something similar to keep the soil on top of the stones). I pulled mine off an old hanging planter.

Potting soil.

Here's what to do: Wash your jar and rinse out well. Add stones to the bottom for drainage. On top of the stones, add in a layer of sphagnum moss to keep the dirt separate from the stones.

Mix up some potting soil with some crushed charcoal (my eight-year-old twins loved breaking up the charcoal briquettes with a hammer for this activity). The charcoal filters the water and keeps your terrarium smelling sweet. Moisten the mixture and add in a layer to your jar. It doesn't have to be deep -- just cover the sphagnum moss. For interest, you can mound the dirt in some areas to make little hills.

Now comes the fun part: Add your moss! Press it down firmly so that it is anchored on the dirt. If you like, you can add in some miniature figurines (mushrooms, wildlife) or pretty stones or shells for interest. Mine is now inhabited by a sweet little stick bug ("Sticky"), donated by my boys.

When everything's in place, mist it thoroughly. It should always remain moist inside, with condensation on the inside.

With the lid on, the terrarium should be fairly self-sustaining, perfect for those of us who like nature but aren't particularly handy at keeping plants alive. You should be able to keep it alive with just a gentle misting every 2-3 weeks.

Enjoy!

MollyLee

www.mollylee.etsy.com

Brighten Up Your Desk Space!

If you're like me, you spend a lot of time in a drab, featureless cubicle.

Bland grey walls, blah, boring desk.

But it doesn't have to be that way!

The topic of one of my favorite podcasts, CraftyPod (the podcast that's all about making stuff with tons of great information for the crafty entrepeneur) was "Craft Up Your Cubicle: Projects for your workspace" (CraftyPod #27, 6/1/2006). It was all about how to bring some crafty goodness in to brighten your dreary little desk space.

Among the wonderful ideas was one about how to turn your pens into a gorgeous bouquet of flowers.

(this is not a new idea and you can find many tutorials on the topic -- at the same time, I read about it in the Big Ass Book of Crafts)

This is what you need:

• A handful of pens
• Some colorful silk flowers (I bought two beautiful mixed bunches at Michaels, which was having a sale, for only $3.50 each -- I used two and made two sets, one for my mother-in-law for Mother's Day)
• Floral tape
• A wide-mouthed vase to act as a pen holder
• Possibly some wirecutters

This project is so simple that even an eight-year old can do it. In fact, one of my eight-year old twins wrapped the bouquet shown above.

Simply clip the stems to the desired length, then wrap the floral tape to secure the pens and flowers snugly together.

It's that easy!

If your flowers are hard to arrange in your vase, a handful of floral accent marbles can help them stand up tall.

One nice side-effect of this lovely arrangement is that it makes it a lot less likely that your coworkers will accidentally walk off with your pens.

Enjoy!

Looking to host a fun gathering? Consider a Crafternoon!

The crafternoon is a party where you get to make things. It might be completely unstructured (people bring whatever they happen to be currently working on to share with the group) or it can involve the entire group making the same project.

It's a wonderful way to build community and friendships and make some cool stuff at the same time.

In past years, I've hosted crafty parties in which we made rolled beeswax candles with lovely labels for holiday gifts, knit adorable felted flowers and made mini bound books.

I recently had a gathering in which we made very simple and lovely notecards.

I purchased some pre-cut cardstock that, when folded in half, fit nicely into the small envelopes I'd purchased. I also provided color-coordinated labels that I'd precut and pop-dots.

Completing the project was simple. Guests simply picked out pretty patterned card stock, folded them in half, found a label that worked well with the colors and attached them with pop dots.

A more elaborate project might have included other materials (ribbons, cut-outs, etc) to make more creative cards, but the simplicity of these cards was soothing and just perfect for a group of women looking to escape the ordinary bustle of their everyday lives.

Interested in this activity? Here's everything you need

• Download this pdf of my simple labels to cut out
• Purchase some coordinating matstacks (in my case: DCWV's Citrus matstack, 4.5" x 6.5") (these matstacks are available at Joann's, often on sale. In my case, I used a 40% off coupon)
• Provide pop-dots and envelopes

Ask your guests to bring some snacks and perhaps some wine, put on some crafty music and you've got yourself one top-notch Crafternoon!

Working on a Mother's Day Card

Remember the pop-up bouquet (aka, the Seven-Flower Pop-up) that I blogged about earlier? (see the earlier post for links on how to make it)

(if you're on FaceBook, click here to see the video)

I made a variation using some rose artwork I found on www.istockphoto.com. I was going to post some still images of it, but you really do need video for this one to get the full, surprising effect of a bouquet of flowers that seems to spring up impossibly large for such a small card.

I'll replace the blue astro-brite card stock with a pretty printed background. I just need to figure out what to put on the front to tease the recipient about the inside of the care (any creative wordsmiths out there with suggestions?).

But I'm very pleased with how this one is going!

Ikea Light Tent

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I ran out to Ikea to purchase some items to make a homemade light tent. Light tents, used to photograph small products, typically cost $100 or $200 if you buy a professional set.

This is the tutorial I followed: http://sodoityourself.com/the-ikea-hamper-light-tent/

And here's the skivvy:

The hamper that I purchased wasn't solid white nylon, as I'd expected it to be. It was, instead, mesh, so to make it work, I had to throw a white tablecloth over the whole thing. This allowed the light to bounce around the inside of the tent, creating nice, soft diffuse shadows.

I also found it awkward to shoot down the opening of the hamper, which limits your amount of real estate. As a lot of my cards need to be shot standing up, I needed to have a seamless background to photograph my objects against (not just a "floor").

What ended up working for me was to cut a hole in the side of the hamper and shoot from the side. I lay a piece of paper that curves nicely against the roundness of the hamper, creating a natural seamless background.

Something that I found terrifically disappointing was the fact that the flourescent light I used cast a colored light on everything.

Thinking that it would fix the problem, I immediately ran out and purchased some full-spectrum lightbulbs for some table lamps we weren't using any more, but same problem!

I know I can color-correct the images, but I really hadn't wanted to!

My photographer husband explained to me that unless I bought very expensive and extremely bright professional lights, I would need to correct the color.

Or I could adjust the white balance in my camera before I shot the photos. After consulting my camera's owners manual, I figured out how to do this, with much better results.

The final photographs still required a tiny bit of color adjustment after the fact, but still, not bad!

Final damage: $10 for the Ikea hamper, $10 for the Ikea Liesta flourescent light (on clearance right now). Additional needs: white tablecloth, piece of scrap foam core to be the "floor," white posterboard for my "seamless" (from Freddy's, $2).

I purchased the same things for my friend, Wendy, who had better luck with the original tutorial (Wendy just came out with the CUTEST dog collars and leashes to sell on etsy).

Read about her own light tent adventures here.

So my recommendation? Do it!

(and, while this may be totally unrelated, I'm already in the process of selling a set of the mermaid invitations that I reshot just a few days ago!)