CraZy TACKz Kid to the Rescue!

Need some organizing ideas for different rooms in the house?  For most kids, the little odds and ends of jewelry, bracelets, belts, glasses, etc. tend to get strewn around or put in tangled piles or worse yet...fall behind the furniture.

We have a CraZy TACKz solution...well, actually more than one, but we are going to show you one more fun craft project today that can help get these doo-dads organized.

This is a 12 x 12" square of (soft) wood that I found at my Craft Warehouse store.  It can also be found at Ben Franklin's Craft Stores.  The idea was, that once you push the tackz into the board, they will not be coming out.  Unlike the bulletin board designs, the tackz here will not be moved around.

First, the board was given a base coat of paint.  I chose a Lavender Americana paint by DecoArt.  I will share my method of getting the "peace sign" on the plaque.  All of the circular components are just that!  Circles of cardstock memory papers, layered to achieve the effect you see.  The strips of paper were cut and fitted to the top circle to make the peace sign.  I used my paper cutter and cut 1" strips.  Once all of the glue dried, I added some shading by "floating" a darker shade of orange around the inside edges of the peace sign and the lavender to the lighter paper as shown.  This can also be achieved with chalk instead of paint.  I then applied a coat of Decoupage medium to the entire piece and let it dry completely.

Now for the really fun part!  I purchased a package of dimensional stickers and used these to decorate my plaque.  I punched a 1/16" hole in the middle of each sticker that I chose, then carefully pushed it into the plaque with the CraZy TACKz.  Using a thumb on each side of the tackz stopper helps to push it in evenly. 

Do you wonder how the TACKz got the glitter?  I will tell you about decorating your CraZy TACKz at the end of today's Blog.  Next, I want to show you a screen shot from the commercial that was recently shot for CraZy TACKz featuring the CraZy TACKz Kid.  She shows up when there is a problem and offers the solution of CraZy TACKz!

 Does this look like the typical dresser top of an average kid?  Well, here is CraZy TACKz to the rescue!

Ta-dah!  "CraZy TACKz" and the "CraZy TACKz Kid" have saved the day!

CraZy TACKz!  a Tack with a Hook!  We help you "Hook it up!"

I will be bringing you some more screen shots in the near future.  This being a brand new product, there is a lot of motion in place to get it introduced.  Next, I will tell you about how much I LOVE decorating CraZy TACKz and with supervision, this is a fun project for older kids.  Number #1...I start with a 1" thick circle of Styrofoam brand foam.  This is important because you will need to have the foam to stick the CraZy TACKz in when you are done painting or decorating it.  I love the sound and feel of pushing the Tackz into the foam, but I am weird....so what can I say....?

Next, I carefully open the package and push all of my TACKz into the foam.

You will need some Dimensional Medium and there are several brands out there to choose from.  Dimensional Magic is one brand made by Plaid, there is Glossy accents by Ranger, and I am certain one or two other makers.  (Ask for some help at the store if you need it...)  For the glitter, I shop in the Rubber Stamping section of the store because I prefer the very "fine" glitters.

When you are ready to apply glitter to your TACKz, you will need a couple of paper plates, (not foam because the glitter will stick to it).  Pick up a TACKz by the hook, evenly apply dimensional medium to the clear stopper.

Sprinkle the glitter over the TACKz, shake a little and place into the foam to dry.  If doing multiple colors, work with one color at a time so you don't mix up your glitters.  You can use these glittered CraZy TACKz by themselves, or with a cute sticker or die-cut.  I have lots of examples in past Blogs and will be showing new examples in Blogs to come!  Stay tuned.

Again, if you need any more instruction than what I have given here, please send me an e-mail.  I will be happy to help answer any questions and want you to be successful with creating your project!

HAPPY CRAFTING,

Marilyn

Design Consultant

for CraZy TACKz

www.marilyngossett.com

marilyn@crazytackz.com

www.crazytackz.com

New Generation CraZy TACKz coming soon!

Commercials in the works for CraZy TACKz

Whew!  The last week has been a whirlwind on my very handy Die-cut machine!  We are working on all the seasons for some commercials for CraZy TACKz and had to come up with some designs reflecting each season!  Not all are readily available at our local party stores this time of year.  Because I believe that CraZy TACKz and Crafting go hand-in-hand, I am going to feature some of the garlands and vignettes that we created to set the stage!  The first pictures are the vignette of snowmen and snowflakes for our Christmas Holiday theme.  Look how cool this tackz works to hang everything up! We can hang multiple items on this one tack with a hook if we want to.  The next photos are the completed vignette.  If you look closely, you will see a black cat in the mirror.  Bad luck just doesn't go with Christmas...so we will just appreciate him for the naughty cat he is...climbing on the kitchen nook table!  His name is "Terror".  I am sure you have heard about self-fulfilling prophecies?  Case in point with this kitty.

This picture is just to show placement.  It does not have all of the mechanics of the design "hidden" as they would be for the actual holiday.  I added some ribbon and 1" silver and pearl Christmas balls to the garland to finish it (after the photo was taken). For the actual holiday, I would add some greenery or other pretties to give it a proper finish!

Here is another close-up of the die-cut decorations.  CraZy TACKz are the way to go when hanging up all of your holiday decorations.  Our commercials will reflect this when the CraZy TACKz Kid makes an appearance and saves the day!  Stay tuned for more!

Halloween! This Holiday is right around the corner.  Did you know that this is 2nd only to Christmas in Retail?  As you can see, CTZ to the rescue again!

 Valentine's Day is a ways away..but we are filming it now.  See the hooks coming out of the hearts?  You can hang your balloons and streamers from those hooks.  Forget about tape, staples and plain old tacks.  This tack with a hook is the quick and handy fix.

Next up.....Happy Birthday!

We are hanging balloons and ribbons from the hooks here too!

Last up is the 4th of July.  We can celebrate our freedom everyday in this great country we live in.  God Bless America!  Every day is a blessing.

The American flag will hang above the garland...and balloons will be hung from the hooks.  Stay tuned for more.  This is just one element of the CraZy TACKz commercial.  These die-cut decorations are on there way to Austin, Texas today.  They will be used in seasonal commercials and I will let you in on the finished product as soon as we get it all done!  Fun stuff!

If you have any questions about the tools I used to create these designs, I would be glad to share information to help you have success with your own projects.  Just send me an e-mail at marilyn@crazytackz.com

Until next time,

Happy Crafting!

Marilyn

Creative Consultant

for CraZy Tackz

www.marilyngossett.com

www.crazytackz.com

Our CraZy TACKz Photo Shoot!

Here we are.....hamming it up for our CraZy TACKz photo shoot!  This is my daughter Lauren, an aesthetician by trade and a mighty fine make-up artist.  We toned it way down for these pictures, because we want to pay homage to the 2nd most popular Holiday in Retail but let our audience know that the star of the show would be the CraZy TACKz.  These photos will be used for the display headers in stores who sell CraZy TACKz.  Of course, I will not be making an appearance in the pictures as far as I know....this one was just for fun.

Lauren was getting in character here.  We were doing light checks and working with a white background because we plan on layering the pictures for the actual posters.  Our photographer was no other than Mr. Brian Lea of Lea Media.  He has been in the biz for many years and it was a pleasure working with him.  We haven't touched up any photos yet.  I am working from the proofs here!  I still think they are great!

Look here at "A Tack with a Hook"!  We can "hook you up" to accomplish all of your Halloween decorating with no mess and no fuss!

Yep, this is the little "Invention" that will remove all the frustration of taping, stapling and nailing!  Just look at some more pictures on here to see how!

We used a set of 7" die-cut shapes that I cut out with my personal die-cut machine.  The Bat and Cat were my own patterns because I didn't have a die for them!  Anyway, you can see a close-up here of how we pushed the tack into the wall and next you will see how we used the "Hook".

I got a little ahead of myself here.  The next photo shows the die-cuts before we added the garland.

You can use these for your Holiday lights.  Don't you think the die-cuts make for a more decorative background to hang your garland or lights from?  This will also work for any other Holiday you are decorating for.  Christmas is my favorite!  Imagine the possibilities!

Decorating for the classroom is another popular thing to do this time of the year.  These are some fun spiders made out of paper bags and wiggly eyes.  Imagine about 20 of these hanging from the ceiling for a class project.

Here is a close-up of the CraZy TACKz that we glued into the spider.  We put another one in the ceiling above it and hung it with clear filament...or fishing line. I call it the latter.... Eazy Peazy........

Here is a pumpkin.....also made out of a colored paper bag.  These are stuffed with tissue paper.  So easy and fun to make!

Here they are....hanging out.  See how easy it was for us to hang them from the ceiling!  No tape, stapling or nails required.  Just one teeny-tiny tackz hole! 

Well, this is it for today.  We had fun taking all of these pictures yesterday, even though Lauren was not a very willing model.  She would rather be doing the make-up behind the scenes.  I think it all turned out fine, and you just might see some of these photos on a CraZy TACKz banner in a store near you!  Don't worry, summer isn't over yet.  We won't make you think about Fall again until it actually gets here!

Happy Crafting,

Marilyn

www.marilyngossett.com

www.crazytackz.com

This little Ballerina Bulletin Board takes "1st Position"!

What do you get when you mix a bulletin board, stickers, ribbon, a little paint and some CraZy TACKz?  You get this sweet room decoration that you can hang hair bows, jewelry and keepsakes on!  So simple and so cute!  This is the "girly" project that I promised.  The sticker selection was so vast and there were so many awesome designs, that I decided to pick the sports theme for the last blog (football theme) and this little ballerina theme pack of stickers for today.  I will show you the process I went through to get to the finished piece.  The next picture shown is the bulletin board just out of it's package.  There are different sizes to choose from and I decided to use this smaller version at 11" x 17".

The frame on this is a little shiny, so I sanded it before I applied acrylic paint.  I used an emery board, but a little piece of sand paper would work great too.  Here it is after I applied the paint.

I used acrylic paint and a brush and painted the frame white, the cork board green. Did you know that cork board is made from wood?  I guess I thought cork grew ON trees.  Lol.  Next up is a picture showing the other supplies that I used to create this project.

I used 1-1/2" wire edged ribbon, ballerina themed stickers, some ribbon roses and of course, CraZy TACKz.  The next photos will show how I put them all together.

I gathered the edges of the ribbon by pulling the wire on each side and securing each ribbon tail. I used 1/2" sheer pink ribbon to tie the ribbon at intervals as seen in the photo given.  A glue gun came in handy to attach the ribbon to the frame.  I measured each side to make sure they were even. Satin ribbon roses were adhered with a low melt glue gun.

Here is the finished project.  All ready to hang little treasures on.  Hair ribbons and jewelry come to mind.  I used a wrist decoration that my daughter wore almost 20 years ago!  I take mom liberties every once in a while and use one of my daughter's old pictures in a design.  I don't think she will mind too much this time....

Here is one last view to give you a little closer look.  I applied glitter to the stopper on half of the CraZy TACKz.  For the remaining TACKz I punched a small hole in each small sticker and put the hook part of the tackz through the tiny hole. I then adhered the sticker to the stopper.  Refer to the photo for some visual instruction. 

That is my project for today.  As always, if you ever need a little more instruction than I give on here, or if you have any questions, please drop me a note and I will get back to you to offer any help that I can. 

marilyn@CraZyTACKz.com

If you would like to know where to get some CraZy TACKz, you can always visit the website and because they are SO NEW you can purchase them there at the retail price for a limited time.  If you can't find them at your retailer, let them know where they can find them!  CraZy TACKz should be coming to retail stores in your area very soon.

Happy Crafting,

Marilyn

Design Consultant

for CraZy TACKz

www.marilyngossett.com

www.crazytackz.com

CraZy for FOOTBALL!

Can you believe it is almost time for school to start again?  Well, there is still a little time before the bell starts ringing, but the football players are starting to gear up for the new season!  Since it is my job to think up fun ways to use the brand new product "CraZy TACKz", I thought this might be a great piece for a bedroom or rec room wall to hang up those newspaper clippings, sports photos, as well as keys, sunglasses and whatever else one might want to hang from the hook of a CraZy TACKz.

Here is a close-up the TACKz, embellished with some stickers.  I made a trip to my local craft store and the following are the supplies that I picked up for this project:  A Cork board (bulletin board), a package of Football Themed Stickers, some Black Acrylic Paint, a package of Mini Football Helmets and Football Stickers and a sheet of Memory Paper with footballs on it.  There are so many incredible stickers to choose from that I also picked up some girly ones and I will be posting that project in another blog post coming soon.

Here is the bulletin board after I got it home.  I cut the footballs out of the memory paper and adhered them to a piece of black card stock.  I then cut each one out, leaving about a 1/16" border around the football.  I  punched a tiny hole in the center of each football and glued the CraZy TACKz to each football as shown.  I did the same with the tiny stickers, only I slipped each one over the hook portion of the TACKz and adhered it to the front of the stopper.  Then, I layed the stickers out on the bulletin board to get an idea about how I wanted it to look.  ***You could paint the border around the cork board first.....then lay out the stickers.  I painted the border Black and let it dry.  Then, re-arranged the stickers and CraZy TACKz on the board the way I wanted them.  Voila'!  Now you can hang it on the wall and keep everything that is small and easy to lose, handy! And... where you will be able to easily find it!  Case and point......car keys and sunglasses!

Here is another look at the finished project.  Did we score a touchdown with this one?  I think so!  This project is not only fun, quick and easy...it is also very useful!  Where do I find CraZy TACKz, you might wonder...?  They are so new that they are just getting introduced to the retail market.  For now, and for a limited time, you will be able to purchase CraZy TACKz on the website for the retail price.  You might also mention them to your local retailer, if they do not already carry them.

That is all for today.  As always, if you have any questions about how to complete this project, be sure to send me a note!  I will be happy to answer any questions and help you to successfully complete your project.  Let your imagination be your guide!  Once you see all of the themed stickers and die- cuts at your local craft store, you will probably come up with your own ideas!

Happy Crafting!

Marilyn

Design Consultant

for CraZy TACKz

www.marilyngossett.com

www.crazytackz.com

Check out this Display of CraZy TACKz ..."a Tack with a Hook"

Yes, it is a CraZy TACKz day!  I have been having a lot of fun crafting with this little "Tack with a Hook".  I knew there was some crafting potential when I first got to see them, but I am falling more and more in love with them every day!  See the picture of the display on the right?  You might imagine it in a Hardware store up by the cash register.  Well, I imagine it up by the cash register; BUT I imagine it at the cash register in a Craft Store where a customer just might make an impulse buy and end up with something very useful and FUN!  Although these are made for sticking directly into the wall, or whatever surface you might need it for, (Gordie, the inventor, used it to hang a flag in a tree on his property!).  There are many uses in a crafting application, especially to those of us who have lots and lots of memory crafting supplies.

Memory Papers, Cardstock, Paper Punches, Die Cut machines, Themed Die Cuts from the package, Glitter, are supplies on hand that I have found uses for.  I expect there are many ideas out there that have not even been tapped into yet as this is such a NEW PRODUCT!  I find the real beauty is in it's simplicity!  I would love to hear from you & post your ideas on here!

Here is another picture of the display.  The TACKz at the top of the display are just a few ways you can use these TACKz to decorate your bulletin board, or create a special place for your keys, etc.  **A little tip for storing your decorated TACKz....is to have a piece of Styrofoam brand foam in a circle, rectangle, etc., that will lay flat on your surface.  Stick the tack part into the foam and this will keep it secure while you are painting on it or just until you are ready to use it where you need it!  I personally like the feel of pushing the tackz into the foam....then I get to admire the handiwork!

Prior blog posts contain projects and photos of ways to use CraZy TACKz.

We will be creating some project sheets and I will let you know when they are available.  In the meantime, here is one more idea for storing your embellished CraZy TACKz!  Yummy!

Here is a SWEET way to keep your embellished CraZy TACKz until you are ready to use them!  I covered a Styrofoam brand foam ball with shiny yarn by winding it around the ball until you would only see the yarn.  Then, adhered the ball to a resin cupcake baking cup.  ***Tip:  I would add a little bit of weight to the bottom of the cup to keep it more secure. 

Embellish your TACKz and insert them into the "cupcake" for safe keeping until you are ready to use them.  Not only do you have some handy TACKz, you also have a cute decoration.  By the way, "Kudos" to the people that started this trend, sweet treats are a popular icon in the Craft World these days.  You will see a lot of this type of thing around.  Here are some more photos for your inspiration.

I hope these have given you some inspiration today.  As always, if you have any questions about the projects shown and wonder just how to make them yourself, just send me a note and I will be happy to get back to you with some further instructions.

If you happen to click on the CraZy TACKz website, go to the bottom of the page and click on Inventor Bio to find out more about our CraZy TACKz inventor, Gordie Murphy.  There is an awesome video of him just kickin' it on his property.  You will enjoy this video!

If you can't find CraZy TACKz at your local retailer...(a good possibility because it is SO NEW...) for a limited time they can be purchased for Retail on the website...or, just ask your retailer to go there and purchase some!

Happy Crafting!

Marilyn

Design Consultant

for CraZy TACKz

www.marilyngossett.com

www.crazytackz.com

(be sure to check out the video!)

SIMPLY Crafting with CraZy TACKz

Good day!  Here's to another lovely summer day with just the right amount of sunshine and heat. 
I have been working on some marketing projects of late for brand new CraZy TACKz and I thought I would share some more ideas with you today. These are so much fun to make and very SIMPLE to make as well!

While putting together all of the hard copy materials for my packets that I send off to potential buyers, I thought of a hands-on way to let them have a close-up look at the simple and fun ways to use the TACKz.  I created a little "Mini Trunk Show", using a small wooden box and filling it with tiny projects using the TACKz.  I will attach some photos of the little boxes to let you see how they turned out.  I have been having lots of fun.  They are like little treasure chests....just open it up to see what is inside!

 If you are already a paper crafter, there is a very good chance that you will have a lot of the materials on hand to start decorating these little "tacks with a hook" right away!  Here is a list of the materials I used to embellish each TACKz:  Themed Die Cuts, Paper Punches, Cricut Machine Die Cuts, Chipboard Die Cuts, Memory papers, Cardstock, Glitter, Rhinestones, Dimensional Adhesive Medium, Acrylic Paints, Craft Glue, Other supplies:  Bulletin Board, Corkboard Sheets, Styrofoam brand Foam (for keeping the TACKz in while decorating them), Soft Wood Bases....(such as the boxes I put the little treasures in.....)  then you might need paintbrushes, waterbucket, paper towels, 1/16" paper punch, etc...

See the bird above and the clear TACKz in the wing?  Sometimes I will leave the stopper "plain" because I want the design behind to show through. My favorite way to customize my TACKz are to apply colored glitter to the clear "stopper".  The "stopper" is the clear circle between the hook and the tack. What might one use these decorated TACKz for, you might ask?  You can push them directly into the wall to hang up just about anything that will fit in the hook and doesn't weigh more than a couple of pounds!  You might want to hang jewelry, keys, etc., or you could use them on a bulletin board for decoration.  You can pin a photo up and hang something from the hook!
Double duty!  Sports themes, Hobbies, Garden...are just a few of the themes that would be fun to decorate around.

Well, that is about it for today.  As always, if you would like some further instruction to help you duplicate a project you see on here, just send me a note.  I would love to help you be successful by giving you the information you might need.  I am working on some more new projects, so come back soon to check them out!

Happy Crafting,

Marilyn
Design Consultant for
CraZy TACKz

www.marilyngossett.com

www.crazytackz.com