Paper Crafts - A Pumpkin And A Princess

Paper Hot Air Balloon

May 9, 2013 5 Comments

Hey guys, I have a cute Silhouette project to share with you today! Back in January while attending the CHA show I was able to get a sneak peek at the Silhouette products that are being released this year, since then I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the chipboard sheets. Here’s an easy paper hot air balloon tutorial using the new chipboard sheets and scrapbook paper.

Paper Hot Air Balloon

If you’re a die cutting machine user you know that chipboard is too thick to cut, but Silhouette has created a chipboard that’s great for cutting with your machine.

Here’s how you can easily make your own paper hot air balloon:

What you need:

-Silhouette Chipboard

-scrapbook paper

-adhesive

-ribbon

-twine

paper hot air balloon

Step one: Using the Silhouette software cut 6 hot air balloons out of chipboard. Then cut 3 of each patterned paper.

paper hot air balloon

Step two: glue a piece of patterned paper onto each chipboard piece. Fold in half (the machine creates a perforated center which makes this step super easy to align correctly).

Step three: glue the pieces together so that the chipboard side isn’t exposed on any of the pieces. I found it easy to glue three pieces together twice then glue those two pieces together.

Step four: hot glue ribbon, rick rack, or decorative trim along to hot air balloon to cover the exposed “seams.” Use twine or thread to hang the balloon and then you’re done! Easy peasy, right?

The paper hot air balloon is very study and perfect for a nursery or party decor.

DIY Paper Hot Air Balloon

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Filed Under: Crafts, Paper Crafts, Silhouette Cameo Tagged With: paper hot air balloon, papercrafts, Silhouette Cameo

DIY Paper Flowers {without a die cutting machine}

April 30, 2013 35 Comments

With Mother’s Day quickly approaching it’s time to start thinking about gifts and ideas for the special mother’s in your life. Today I’m going to show you how easy it is to make paper flowers without a die cutting machine. It’s no secret that I enjoy using my die cutting machines, but I still like using punches just as much as I used to! These flowers are made with a punch, layered to create an ombre effect, and finished with a button in the center. You can use the paper flowers in a bouquet, centerpiece for your Mother’s Day brunch, or to wear as a boutonniere.

Easy paper flower tutorial

DIY paper flowers without a die cutting machine

paper

punches in various styles

button

tape runner

hot glue

DIY Paper Flowers Tutorial

Step one: Punch two strips of paper for each color (each flower has six strips of paper total). The lighter the paper the easier it is to repeatedly punch, but unfortunately also makes a flimsier flower. I used heavy cardstock for my flowers.

Step two: Slightly overlap one strip on top of the other for each color. I used a tape runner to glue them together.

Step three: Using a low-temp hot glue gun glue the first strip in a circular pattern. Keep wrapping the paper around, gluing every couple of inches. Then repeat with the next two strips, starting where the previous strip ended.

Step four: Glue a button in the center, the more it sparkles the better. :)

Step five (optional): hand cut leaves and glue to the back of the flower. Glue a felt circle onto the flower and add a pin on top.

DIY Paper Flowers Tutorial

Now you have pretty paper flowers to add to your gift wrap or to wear this Mother’s Day!

Easy DIY Paper Flowers

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Filed Under: Crafts, Paper Crafts Tagged With: DIY Paper Flowers, ombre, paper flowers without a die cutting machine, papercrafts

Embossed Happy Birthday Gift Tag

April 28, 2013 7 Comments

Hey, hey friends! It’s taken me a lot longer to recover from SNAP than I thought it would. I still have so much to share about the conference! We went to Disneyland for three days then the next day headed to SNAP for four and I think it took a toll on my immune system, because let’s face it..that’s a lot of people to come in contact with! I’m feeling so much better and ready to get back to sharing some fun things with you this week. Today I have a quick and easy craft to share that you can literally make in minutes. This embossed Happy Birthday gift tag is a great way to embellish a gift and personalize for the special recipient.

Happy Birthday Gift Tags

The first thing I did was take a plain white gift tag and letterpress Happy Birthday on it. For some reason out of all the stamps I have I couldn’t find a Happy Birthday stamp. If you have a stamp use that to make it even easier.

how to make embossed Happy Birthday gift tags

For the cake I used the new Detailz Dies from Lifestyle Crafts. The cake came with the Party Die Set along with a cute pennant banner and candle. With these new dies you can die cut, emboss, and stencil all-in-one! I love the detail embossing gives to my papercraft projects, you can see it in the picture below.

Embossed gift tags

I like simple and white space but it was a little too plain for me, so I added the yellow trim on the bottom and a pink bow on top. I also placed adhesive pearls on the cake for added detail.

The embossed happy birthday gift tag was perfect for my nieces birthday gift and took maybe 5-10 minutes to make!

Happy Birthday Gift Tags

You can save 20% on all Lifestyle Crafts products by using the code “Pumpkin” at checkout!

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As an affiliate Lifestyle Crafts provided me with products to review. As always all opinions are my own.

Filed Under: Crafts, Paper Crafts Tagged With: Gift Tags, Happy Birthday tag, Lifestyle Crafts

Graduation Party Ideas

April 17, 2013 4 Comments

Graduation season is quickly approaching and its time to start thinking about graduation parties! Whether you know someone graduating from preschool or high school, this Chalkboard Place Setting is the perfect addition to any graduation party. Today I’m sharing an easy chalkboard placemat tutorial that can also be used as a chalkboard photo prop.

Chalkboard Placemat Tutorial

Creating a chalkboard placemat was easy to do with the We R Memory Keepers Classic Wreath Lucky 8 punch.The Lucky 8 punches come in 10 different styles, each one creating a decorative design along the border of your paper. They work great with any size paper and can be used for scrapbook layouts, mini albums, in frames, or to create a chalkboard place setting.

Lucky 8 punch review

The lucky 8 punch allows you to create 3 designs by controlling the tabs on the top of the punch. You can choose to punch only the border, only the decorative design, or the border and design together.

Chalkboard Placemat Tutorial

To make a chalkboard placemat and place setting I used:

-chalkboard paper

-graduation hat favor box

-Classic Wreath Lucky 8 punch

I created two chalkboard placemats, one with only the border and one with the border and design. I used chalkboard to outline the border one of the placemats. To use the Lucky 8 punch you align each side the with edge and punch all four sides. Then you flip the paper over and punch the remaining four sections. The best part about the placemats is that they double as chalkboard photo props! That is of course if they stay clean, no messy eaters allowed here! ;)

Chalkboard Placemat

Chalkboard Placemat Tutorial

We R Memory Keepers wants to give one reader a Lucky 8 punch of their own! To enter use the rafflectopter widget below.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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We R Memory Keepers provided me with the Lucky 8 punch to review. As always, all opinions are my own. Giveaway ends 4/25 and winner will be notified by 4/27. Winner will have 48hrs to claim prize before a new winner is selected. This giveaway is not affiliated or endorsed by facebook.

Filed Under: Crafts, DIY, Paper Crafts, Parties Tagged With: chalkboard crafts, chalkboard placemat tutorial, Graduation Party Ideas

DIY Envelopes

April 2, 2013 18 Comments

DIY Envelopes

Making your own envelopes is a great way to coordinate handmade cards with personalized envelopes. At CHA I was able to demo the new Envelope Punch Board By We R Memory Keepers and knew that this was a tool I had to share with you. It allows you to make envelopes for any card size in a matter of minutes.

How to make an envelope

The envelope punch board is very easy to use whether you’re a long time paper crafter or not, this tool will help you make your own envelopes in a snap. As an added bonus the back of the “punch” on the board is a corner rounder as well. The board comes with a bone folder and a storage insert so that you can always have it on hand when making envelopes or other paper crafting projects.

How to make an envelope

There’s a measurement chart printed on the board allowing you to easily find the right size of the envelope to fit with your card.

How to make an envelope

Step One

Begin by trimming your paper to your desired size following the charts measurements. To make an envelope that fits a 5×5 card I trimmed my paper to 8 1/8 x 8 1/8 and used the score line of 4 1/8.

Step Two

Align your paper on the score line (mine was 4 1/8) and punch the paper. Use your bone folder that came with the board to score your paper.

Step Three

Turn your paper counterclockwise and align your score line with the blue point. Punch and score again. You will continue to do this for each side, making sure the score lines are lining up correctly.

Step Four

Fold your paper and use a tape runner to glue the bottom pieces together.

Step Five

Embellish your envelope! I’m really liking this gold glitter tape lately and its perfect for wrapping along the bottom of envelopes.

My favorite size is the small gift card envelope, its perfect for birthdays and celebrations! If you’re like me and love handmade cards then you’ll enjoy this tool. As of right now they are currently sold out but it will be available at the end of April. :)

How to make an envelope

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Disclosure: We R Memory Keepers provided me with the envelope punch board to facilitate this review. All opinions and pictures are my own.

Filed Under: Crafts, Paper Crafts

Spring Paper Flower Wreath {Dear Lizzy 5th & Frolic}

March 20, 2013 28 Comments

Now that Spring is officially here it was time to create a Spring Wreath to Welcome guests as they walk up to our door. I also may or may not have had my heart grapevine wreath still up. ahem. My vision for this Spring paper flower wreath was bright, colorful, and with a little bit of a whimsy twist. Using items from the new Dear Lizzy 5th & Frolic line now available at Jo-Ann I was able to turn my vision into a pretty Spring wreath that I adore.

Dear Lizzy Fifth and Frolic

I recently received a box full of Dear Lizzy 5th & Frolic goodies to play with and knew right away that a wreath was high on my list. The Dear Lizzy line by American Crafts was designed by the amazingly talented Elizabeth Kartchner. She is my creative idol! I adore everything she makes and am always inspired by her creativity.

To make my Spring paper flower wreath I used:

Fabric from Jo-Ann

5th & Frolic paper

American Crafts cardstock paper

5th & Frolic brads

5th & Frolic banner

Styrofoam wreath form

Ribbon

I began by cutting my fabric into 2 inch wide strips that I wrapped around the wreath form.

Dear Lizzy 5th and Frolic

For the flowers I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut them out and the Dear Lizzy brads in the center. I hot glued the back of the brads onto the fabric. I really like the bright Spring-like colors of the paper and am thinking about adding a few more flowers to the wreath.

Spring Wreath

The garland paper is perhaps my favorite of them all! It’s a sheet of paper with a detachable pennant garland that has been sewn together. You simply pull the garland off the paper and cut as much as you need. I have plenty leftover that I plan to use in scrapbook layouts.

Pretty Paper Flowers

To continue with the Spring crafting I quickly made this cute little paper basket using 5th & Frolic paper. The bottom of the basket is decorated with American Crafts glitter tape, have you tried this stuff? Its awesome! It basically allows you to add some sparkle to your projects without all the mess. I also added a pretty bow from the 5th & Frolic line to the basket.

DIY Easter Basket

I have always been a fan of American Crafts products and the Dear Lizzy line is one of my favorites! The blues, pinks, greens, yellows with hints of gold are perfect for Spring and Summer paper crafts. You can find the line available at Jo-Ann stores and online.

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Disclosure: I received American Crafts products to facilitate my review. As always all opinions are my own.

Filed Under: Crafts, Paper Crafts, Spring Tagged With: American Crafts, Dear Lizzy 5th & Frolic, Paper Flower Wreath, Paper Flowers, Spring Wreath

Easter Carrot Treat Boxes

March 11, 2013 14 Comments

Its no secret that I’m slightly obsessed with the Target dollar spot. I have to say, they have really improved their selection over the last year. You can now find popular crafting supplies like bakers twine and treat boxes in the bins. I’ve shared several projects using items I have found for $1-3 in those Target bins. I had to share with you the latest craft project to add to the list..Easter Carrot treat boxes! Easter Crafts

This Easter craft is one of the easiest you’re going to find here because the box comes pre-cut for you, all you need to do is fold and peel off the tape covering. Its that simple!

Easter Crafts

Of course I had to put my own little embellishments on it. The packs actually come with green curling ribbon but I wasn’t a fan so I used ribbon from Hobby Lobby and a little Happy Easter tag to fancy them up a bit. For the tag I used a dollar stamp from Michaels and my favorite EK Success flourish punch. I made three loops out of ribbon and hot glued them onto the box. If you’re making these treat boxes with kids I recommend stapling the ribbon on or using tacky glue. Fill the boxes with jelly beans or whatever your favorite Easter candy is and hand them out at your next Easter gathering.

Easter Crafts

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Filed Under: Crafts, Crafts For Kids, Easter, Paper Crafts, Parties, Spring Tagged With: Carrot Treat Boxes, Easter Crafts

Pot of Gold Treats & Silhouette Portrait Giveaway!!!

February 28, 2013 14 Comments

Hey, hey crafty friends! We had such a great month with a lot of fun giveaways and I thought we could end the month with a BIG one! I’m SO excited to be giving away a Silhouette PORTRAIT to one YOU! I use my Silhouette Cameo all the time and I know whoever wins is going to LOVE their new Portrait machine. But before we get to the Silhouette Portrait Giveaway let me show you another cute St. Patrick’s Day craft.

St. Patrick's Day Crafts

Using my the Silhouette Cameo I made these adorable Pot of Gold treat containers. You guys have probably noticed that I love little holiday gift boxes and containers to give to the kids, so when I saw this shape in the Silhouette store I knew I had to try it out.

St. Patrick's Day Crafts

This was actually one of the easiest shapes I’ve worked with..its one simple cut and a few folds.

St. Patrick's Day Crafts

Once you have your shape cut, fold up on the perforated lines, glue the outer tabs to the shape, then embellish with bakers twine. St. Patrick's Day Crafts