Rolodex In Artful Order: Paint Chip Crafts

I am a visual girl… I like to see things, pretty things, tactile things, organized things. I love color, paint chip crafts, office supplies, stationery, and art supplies.  I am not a tech-ie and don’t want to have everything including the kitchen sink in my computer files.

I like connection, hands-on to all my contacts, links, codes, passwords, URLs, user names, etc, etc, etc… I love the Rolodex system and this one I found on Brian and Kristen’s Photostream on Flickr makes my heart go pitter-patter.  Oooohhh la la … I want it…BAD!  It is handcrafted and so colorful.

I have always used a Rolodex, but since I started blogging, I needed a bigger one and found one that I think I can transform to look similar to the one I am drooling over above. Having something so pretty, neat, and organized and in my own style makes me want to work at my desk.

I could leave the Rolodex I found plain and boring, but by adding some stylish touches to it will elevate the time spent working at my desk into an extraordinary experience.

I found this Rolodex at a local discount store, but you can buy them on Amazon: Rolodex VIP Card File

 

Here is what my new Rolodex looked like right out of it’s clam-shell packaging.  Very business like and practical, not my style,  so I took it apart.  The little blue logo on the front comes off easily.

This is the base that holds the cards.

These are just your ordinary brown lunch bags that I ripped up to used to decoratively cover the base. You could use just about any paper to cover the base. Other options to consider – maps, pages from an old phone book, gift wrap, scrapbook paper,  fabric, paper place-mats from your favorite diner – let your imagination and personal style guide you.

I used a 1″ paint brush and Mod Podge to apply the ripped up lunch bags to the base.  I kept the runner for the cards free of the paper and Mod Podge so that the cards would still go up and down the runners smoothly.

and I let it dry for about an hour on a foam plate.

No, it is not a toaster!

This is the best part – when you create paint chip crafts – part of your project is free.  I went to the paint store and picked out paint chips in all my favorite colors to make the tabs.  They are the perfect weight of paper for making tabbed dividers.

I made 1,2,3 templates – right , middle, left tabs out of one of the Rolodex cards and taped a tab I made onto each one to use as tracing templates.

I found graph paper and colored index cards at Walmart for a few dollars to make some decorative cards like Brain and Kristen used.

I then sat in front of the TV and traced and cut until I had enough to fill my Rolodex.  :) I mixed the plain cards that came with the Rolodex with the colored and graph paper cards to place behind each lettered tab.

I then went to my junk jewel stash and found a belt buckle.

I made my monogram on my computer and sized it to fit in the inside circle of the buckle.  To protect it, I covered it with clear acetate that I cut from the clam-shell packaging the Rolodex was in and glued it to the back of the buckle.

And glued the monogram buckle to my new, colorful, and pretty Rolodex.

I used a piece of textured wallpaper on the front tab.

I am in love. Crafting with paint chip samples is fun.    Thank you Brian and Kristen for providing the inspiration.

Since I posted this 6 years ago, I wanted to show you how I improved upon my original paint chip crafts  design. I laminated the paint chips before cutting them into tab dividers.