Free printable! Summer coloring books

Summer is almost gone!  This makes me sad, although Fall is my second favorite season of the year.

In a futile attempt to make Summer last a little bit longer, HERE you have some free printable Summer coloring books (both for kids and adults).  For the adult one, you have the option of 2 different covers; you can pick one, or you can make the two!

 

I made them three years ago, but today I discover by accident that I never offered the link for download.  Well, better late than never! 

As always, please feel free to print as many times as you like, make gifts for friends and family, and pass the file along to anyone (links back are nice too!).  Just please do not sell the file or your creations.  Thank you and enjoy! ♥   

 

Movie prop: The cryptex from The Da Vinci Code

I am an avid collector of movie memorabilia.  The strangest the gadget, the more I covet it, and if the movie happens to be one of my favorites, it is even better.  

I have talked here of Beetlejuice's Handbook for the Recently Deceased, the Jurassic Park cryocan, Lucian's necklace from the Underworld movies, the H2O Just add water locket, The Illusionist locket, Lana Lang's kryptonite necklace... Most of the time there is no official product, and I have to find an artist to make it, or buy it knowing it is a knock-off made by someone else.  I really don't care, as long as I have it in my hands.

This time the coveting came after we came back from Paris.  After visiting the Louvre, the church of the Saint-Sulpice and seeing the Arago medallion markers, I rewatched The Da Vinci Code.  And I found myself wanting to own my own cryptex.

Naturally, I knew the official replica made by the Noble Collection was out of question.  I cannot justify spending that much in a movie prop. It is true that it is absolutely gorgeous.  But no.  There is a smaller version that is more affordable, and may be something you may like to consider.  I myself was interested in this one, until I saw some reviews that said it was not very sturdy, and the rings and the opening mechanism did not work very well.

Instead, I went looking for a non-official version.  And I found it!  And for the price that I paid, I think it is a very worthy investment.  I chose the white ring version, as it is the one most similar to the movie prop.

 

This is a knock-off, but it is very well made, EXCEPT for the fact that it has 6 rings of letters, instead of 5 like the original cryptex.  Can you believe I had not realized this until I tried to change the password combination?  But, you can bypass this problem if you use A-P-P-L-E-S, with an extra S that the movie riddle does not have.  

My cryptex is absolutely made of metal except for the letter rings, that are some kind of plastic, although you would not guess it by looking at them.  It is heavy, and big!  It measures about 14 cm long, and it opens!

It comes in a gift box, with a card (in case it is for a gift), with a screwdriver, 2 screws, 2 black cord necklaces and a pair of The One ring from The Lord of the Rings, one smaller in silver and one larger in yellow gold.  Naturally, they are not real pieces of jewelry.  And instructions for how to change the opening combination.

 

See how bit it is!

You can open it, of course

 

 

I will not use the rings (neither will my husband).  The important thing was that I wanted to have inside the cryptex the final clue, but obviously it did not come with it.  A pity, truly, that even the official one lacks that detail. But!  I can make my own.

 

I searched the web for pictures of the clue prop, and I found several that were good.  Here is a still of the movie in which you can see it:

 

I took the biggest one, cleaned it and enhanced the lettering in Photoshop.  Then I removed the background color and printed it on parchment paper.   Then I added a red edge made with printable cotton paper, and glued it with double-sided tape to the clue.  Here is the result:

 

LOL, you can see my mermaid leggings!

I curved it with the help of a brush

I love how well it looks!  I am so happy with my cryptex, it will go to the shelf with the rest of the movie props I have.

 

 

If you would like to have your own cryptex clue, HERE is a free printable for you to make it.  As always, please feel free to print as many times as you like, and pass the file along to anyone (links back are nice too!).  Just please do not sell the file or your creations.  Thank you and enjoy! ♥  

Free printable! Tuna can pack of three

Remember that post in which I made some tiny tuna cans with wrappers?

Here is the new and better version: tuna pack of three!

Same as I did with the individual wrappers, I scanned the life size version of the 3-can-packet, cleaned it, reduced it and printed it to wrap 3 tiny silver tuna cans:

 The wrap measures barely 2 cm:

 

 

I am in love!  If you want to make this project, here you can find the tiny cans, and here you can get the free printable to download and print.  Bear in mind you need 3 cans for each wrapper.  And if you don't want to buy them, you can make the cans with polymer clay or foamboard.

 

As always, please feel free to print as many times as you like, gift them to friends and pass the file along to anyone (links back are nice too!).  Just please do not sell the file or your creations.  Thank you and enjoy! ♥

 

People in this scene really like their tuna!

 

A long forgotten project: the Handbook for the Recently Deceased. And free printable!

I watched Beetlejuice when it first came out on cinemas in 1988.  I was a teenager at the time, and I remember vividly how much I felt in sync with Lidia, and how I would have loved to live in the Maitlands' home.  My dad bought me the VHS when it came out; I watched it so many times I could have recited the dialogue by heart.  Later I bought myself the DVD, and kept watching until Beetlejuice Beetlejuice came out last year.  

I was delighted when I saw all the merchandise pop up for the new movie - we did not have such things in the eighties!  I had wanted the Handbook for the Recently Deceased from the first moment.  But it was impossible to find it then.  And later, some replicas appeared, but they were valued in hundreds of dollars that I did not want to spend.  Most of them were blank journals with the original front and back cover, but they cost so much I was put off by the prices.

But I was so lucky that my husband got one for me for Christmas!  It was official merch, and it cost about $20 dollars.  The beloved book from my childhood was finally in my hands!

And that reminded me, that a long time ago, I had bought a printable to make my own Handbook for the Recently Deceased book box.  To do that, I purchased a book shadow box from Tim Holz - I think now it has been discontinued (this was in 2019!).  It looked like this:

 

A regular book box to embelish made of paper mâché

 

The inside little boxes are removable, which was great, because I wanted it to store inside my DVD copy of Beetlejuice.  A kind of personal limited edition, if you may.  But for some reason, even though I started the project anxiously, it got relegated to the back burner.  Well, now it was the time to retake it!

The image I bought to act as the cover was bigger, so it had to be manually adjusted in an image program.  I measured carefully and adjusted it to the precise size needed to cover the box.  I printed it professionally in A3 size.  It only took two tries to make it fit pefectly.  Since the box had been in storage for long, the part that holded the inside boxes came unglued, which was perfect.  It was super easy to just cover the outside with the printing, and it looked great!

So wondefully spooky!

I removed the inside boxes, and I was ready to store all my treasures:

 

If you would like to get the paper props, you can find them on Etsy.  I got mine from Paul Elder Designs, but he no longer offers them.  Instead, you can go to Legendary Tales Edit to get a whole bunch of Beetlejuice curiosities.  And from my part, I am happy to offer you the Take-Your-Turn numbers HERE. *Update*  I also made business cards with the Maitland Hardware shop info.  I hope you like them!

I hope you enjoy having your own Beetlejuice numbers!  Feel free to print as many as you like, and pass the file along to anyone; links back are nice too.  Just please do not sell the file.  Thank you very much, and enjoy! ♥ 

Free printable! Titanic notepad stationery

I have just finished reading a book called "El misterioso caso del impostor del Titanic" (The mysterious case of the Titanic imposter), by Carmen Posadas.  I am afraid it is written in Spanish, but if you can read Spanish, I highly recommend it.  It was so intense I finished it in barely 4 days!  My mother recommended it, and I was glad I listened.

I am not going to review it, or write a synopsis - you can research that for yourself.  But I have always been a fan of the Titanic, and I have been studying and reading about it since I discovered its history.  In this era in which recreations are possible, you can find plates, mugs, cups and saucers, towels, tickets, even stationery that are replicas of those that were used in that magnificent ship.

Well, to celebrate the book, I made a free printable for you: a sheet so you can make your own Titanic notepad:

It's very easy to make a notepad out of these sheets.  I will provide instructions, or you can watch this great video to learn the method.

First, gather all your necessary materials:

- Titanic sheets - I usually print 10; that way you get a 40 pages notepad.  You can do more or less, your choice.  Print them in regular copy paper.

- A piece of cardboard - I use 1mm cardboard; that's the same as cereal boxes or soda packets.

- White glue and a brush, or a palette, for extending it.  If you have PVA glue or Mod Podge it works as well.

- A couple of clamps.

- A pencil, ruler and scissors, or X-Acto knife.

- Optional: double-sided tape, and a magnet, or an adhesive magnetic strip.

1) Cut out all your Titanic sheets.  Cut inside the lines if you don't want any black showing.

These sheets have the logo a little off center.  That is already fixed in the printable

2) Use the ruler and pencil to trace a rectangle in the cardboard the same size as your Titanic sheets.  Hint: it measures 12 x 9.3 cm.  Cut it and set it aside for now.

3) Gather the Titanic sheets neatly, with all the borders aligned, and clip them with the clamps.  I use a scrap piece of board so the clamps won't mark the paper.

 

4) Use the palette or the brush to extend a thin layer of glue on the top edge of the clamped sheets.  Let it dry completely and repeat the process a total of 3 times.

5) When everything is completly dry, you can attach the sheets to the piece of cardboard you cut previously.  You can glue them with the glue, or you can use double-sided tape.  Naturally, you can skip this last step, but I prefer to do it so the notepad will be sturdier.  But again, it's up to you.  

 

Well, there you go!  A very nice Titanic notepad for your desk!

This is optional, but it is another idea for you to consider.  Use a piece of magnetic strip or a magnet, and glue it to the back of your notepad.  That way you can put it on your fridge or any metallic surface.  Use it as shopping list or to remind you of important stuff.

I hope you have lots of fun crafting these!  Feel free to print as many as you like, make gifts for friends and pass the file along to anyone; links back are nice too.  Just please do not sell the file or your creations.  Thank you very much, and enjoy! ♥

Scene: Ballet shop

This had been some time almost finished but a couple of days ago it finally was.  Since yesterday we were so busy with the Alien screen, I did not have time to take pictures.  But now is here!

A new scene that I absolutely love: the Ballet shop!

The logo is from an actual ballet shop in Murcia

I just love crafting these little shops!  A lovely scene so well contained, but with a lot of details and that I can actually hang in my wall, so it won't take up any shelf space.

The actual shop comes from Tienda de Casitas.  I find it so pretty, so affordable, and you can actually start decorating the same day you get it because, it just doesn't need anything else!  It opens on the back and it has a "glass" covering the window so nothing gets dusty.

Some things hidden behind the door

 

The tutu comes from Tienda de Casitas.  The hat boxes and the little pink boxes are from Zena Miniatures.

The ballet art posters on the wall come from Etsy.  The pointe shoes in the boxes and the ones in the dome are from Art of Mini.  In fact, they have a lovely section full of ballet items!  The converitble tights come also from Zena Miniatures.

The magazine holder I made myself, and you can find HERE the free printie to make ballet magazines.  The three nutcrackers are also from Art of Mini.  The mugs and the notepad I made myself.  Blue boxes from Zena Miniatures.

The nutcraker pillow came from La Belle Cuisine By Me; the rocking nutcraker was a gift from Nalladris; the suitcases are again from Art of Miniatures, available in the Ballet section; I made the DVDs myself with actual ballet DVD covers, as well as the ballet book (a gift from my husband); and you can get the ballet coloring books HERE.

I love how it came out!  

Free printable! Laboratory glove boxes

It is so much fun to gather graphics and put them together to make cool minis!

Today I am happy to be able to offer a printable with several glove boxes.  These are actual boxes that I have scanned from real ones we have in our lab (or used to have, because we change brands frequently).  I have cleaned them and scaled them down to 1:12 scale.

There is a piece of a real lab glove peeking out of the boxes

The blue ones we have now; the green one we used to have when we were at the University of Virginia (not included in the printable)

Notice that there are S and M size, and they are available open or closed.

There will be more printables coming as soon as I am finished with them.  There will be a bit a everything, from posters to signs  to packing labels, and of course, supplies boxes - like the brown ones in the shelf, that are of serological pippetes.

As always, please feel free to print as many times as you like, gift them to friends and pass the file along to anyone (links back are nice too!).  Just please do not sell the file or your creations.  Thank you and enjoy! ♥

A new addition to the beach hut, and free printable! Tuna can wrappers

This post is going to resonate specially with my fellow miniaturists from Spain, because it features a local famous brand for canned tuna. 

This project has been in the back burner for a long time.  First, because I changed my printer and had to learn how to use the scanner.  Second, because I could not get a good wrapper to scan.  Well, today, that changed!  

Hubby had to help me to set the scanner to work remotely on my computer, but he is the best and he doesn't mind doing these things for me :)

The thing is, I found these tiny round cans in one of my suppliers' website:

Tiny adorable cans!

 

And as they point out, they look similar to tuna cans.  So I decided to buy 3, to make a set of a very well-known package of tuna cans.  They normally come in sets of 3, but recently they released them in an offer of just one at a very cheap price.  So instead of doing a set of 3, I am doing them one by one.

And so, today I finally was able to scan the carboard package, which looks like this:

Then I resized the image in Photoshop, and printed 3 copies to make the wrappings:

It measures only 0.7 cm in high!

It was fun to cut them, fold them and glue them around the cans:

I love them!

These are going to the beach hut, because it is always a good idea to have canned food, in case you get hungry at the beach!

They are tiny, but they look so real!

And also, since I was busy with the beach hut, I decided to glue the straw carpet to a piece of cardboard, because it was getting warped.  Now it looks just like new:

So, if you have around some tiny round cans, or you just want to order them from Tienda de Casitas, here is a link to the free printable with a lot of wrappers for you!  Of course, they will fit perfectly the ones I bought, but you can resize them if yours are a different size.  As always, please feel free to print as many times as you like, gift them to friends and pass the file along to anyone (links back are nice too!).  Just please do not sell the file or your creations.  Thank you and enjoy! ♥

Free printable! 2025 ballet calendar

It's that time of the year again in which we have to get calendars ready!  

Just finished this morning (because I am on holidays, and very happy!), here is a free printie with next year's calendar.  Once more, it is ballet theme, because ballet is awesome.  You have several background pictures, and the tear up 12 month calendar pages.  Made with the help of Print a Calendar website.

As always, please feel free to print as many times as you like, gift them to friends and pass the file along to anyone (links back are nice too!).  Just please do not sell the file or your creations.  Thank you and enjoy! ♥

Free printable! TVA stationery from the Loki TV series

I am a big fan of Loki.

When I heard they were doing a series about him I though, "Yay! Time for him to shine not in the shadow of his brother!".  At the end, I was not a big fan of the plot of the series.  But I was definitely a fan of all the cool stationery and paper stuff of the Time Variance Authority shown in the series!

My husband was as well, so he asked me to make for him something that he could have on his table and use for his every day work.  And I was more than happy to comply!

So I created these cool TVA notepads sheets, that I am more than happy to share with you!

It's very easy to make a notepad out of these sheets.  I will provide instructions, or you can check out this great video on how to make them.

First, gather all your necessary materials:

- TVA sheets - I usually print 10; that way you get a 40 pages notepad.  You can do more or less, your choice.  Print them in regular copy paper.

- A piece of cardboard - I used 1mm cardboard; that's the same as cereal boxes or soda packets.

- White glue and a brush, or a palette for extending it.  If you have PVA glue or Mod Podge it works as well.

- A couple of clamps.

- A pencil, ruler and scissors, or X-Acto knife.

- Optional: double-sided tape.

1) Cut out all your TVA sheets.  Cut inside the lines if you don't want any black showing.

2) Use the ruler and pencil to trace a rectangle in the cardboard the same size as your TVA sheets.  Hint: it measures 12 x 9.3 cm.  Cut it and set it aside for now.

3) Gather the TVA sheets neatly, with all the borders aligned, and clamp them with the clamps.  I use a scrap piece of board so the clamps won't mark the paper.

4) Use the palette or the brush to extend a thin layer of glue on the top edge of the clamped sheets.  Let it dry completely and repeat the process a total of 3 times.

5) When everything is completly dry, you can attach the sheets to the piece of cardboard you cut previously.  You can glue them with the glue, or you can use double-sided tape.  Naturally, you can skip this last step, but I prefer to do it so the notepad will be more sturdy.  But again, it's up to you.

Well, there you go!  A very nice TVA notepad for your desk!  I included two different sheets for your project, one in orange and one in black.  I copied two designs that appear in the ending credits of the show:

Orange pad

Black pad

I hope you have lots of fun crafting these!  Feel free to print as many as you like, make gifts for friends and pass the file along to anyone; links back are nice too.  Just please do not sell the file or your creations.  Thank you very much, and enjoy! ♥