Sparkly Joy Altered Letters

Good morning, Scrappin' Friends! I'm Wendy Coffman from Stamping Rules, and I'm here to share this glittery holiday display today. I got these cool paper mache letters which I painted with layers of grey and silver acylic paint. The front of the letters I coated with lots of silver glitter, just some standard chunky kid glitter. Then I got to work with the Mod Podge, pasting on hexagons I cut with my Cricut machine. After all the hexagons were attached and trimmed around the letters I did a final coat of Mod Podge and coated the letters with a clear chunky plastic glitter. 

Here you can see the final coating of what I always call kid glitter because it's uber chunky. It adds a lot of sparkle but still let's your paper shine through! I topped off each letter with a snowflake embellishment I built out of glitter paper cricut cuts and some rhinestone brads that I've been hoarding for just this kind of special project. I finished off my bling with a sparkle flourish for each letter. I adhered the flourishes with lots of Liquid Glass, which dried clear so it didn't interfere with the sparkle of the letters. For the parts of the flourish that were not actually attached to the letters I just flipped the whole thing over and coated the sticky part of the flourish with more Liquid Glass so it wouldn't attract hair or dust. I can't wait to add these letters to my holiday mantel!

If you'd like to see more pics of this project, and links to my craft sources, please visit me over at Stamping Rules. Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Canvas

Hi everyone!  It's Practical Scrapper Leslii Wagner here today to share a Christmas wall hanging I recently made to use as a decoration in my own home.

I had seen a sign on Pinterest that I loved using words to form a Christmas Tree and wanted to do this same sign, but with my own touches.

I started with a 12x12 canvas and then Mod Podged a 12x12 paper directly on to the canvas.  I tend to use Mod Podge quite often when making altered projects and I continue to get good results.

My next step was to cut out the words. I chose a red glitter paper and  I used my Cricut Expression and Type Candy Font cartridge.  With the Cricut set to 1 3/4", I cut the words using all capital letters.  The words then had to be placed on the canvas.  Unfortunately, due to the back of the glitter paper having such a smooth, non-absorbant back side, I couldn't use Mod Podge.  I chose to turn the letters into stickers instead using my Zyron sticker maker.  I found the center of my canvas, started with the word Christmas, and then worked my way up from there.

I wanted to do something a little special for the star so I cut another star 1/4" larger in a light gold glitter paper and then layered the red star on top.  I used the same gold paper to make a border.  I then finished my canvas by randomly adding green gems to the "tree".

I hope I am helping to get you into the Christmas spirit!

Practical Scrapper Leslii

Last Minute Gift Idea!

 Practical Scrapper Krissy Clark McKee here today, and I want to talk to you about Christmas gifts.  Specifically, I want to talk to you about that moment when your stomach sinks almost every year because you realize you forgot to get your favorite Aunt Betty (our Cousin Jim or Sorority Sister Susie) a gift.  And you know what that means - it means a two hour trip to the mall, and that's just to find a parking spot!  Well, I discovered this solution last Christmas, and I loved it so much, I am bringing it back this year. 

 

What is it?  Well, it's a cd case - really, that's it.  But if you just happen to have blank cds on hand (and we always do), it makes a wonderfully personal yet inexpensive homemade gift that your family and friends are sure to "ooh and ahh" over.  You can share favorite recipes, send a year's worth of family photos, or send along your favorite holiday songs to brighten someone's day.  And the best part is - you get to stay home in your pajama pants AND play with your craft supplies at the same time!  As an added bonus, cd cases are small and easy to mail.

This is how I made my gift cd case.  First, I cut my papers to the size of the front of the cd cover and simply glued them to the top of the case.  I did not glue them inside the cover because 1) I like to have a second piece of paper inside and 2) if the paper is on top of the case, it allows you the freedom to have more three dimensional covers, such as with this 3-D Christmas Tree, which is really a Silhouette cutting file designed by Lori Whitlock.  Lori makes excellant cutting files, and her website includes links to her YouTube tutorials (including one for this tree ornament), which are easy to understand and follow along.

I "decorated" my Christmas tree with baker's twine, a small tag, a jingle bell, and a star at the top.  I also used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out a large snowflake for the background, which I lightly covered with silver Stickles to give it a little sparkle.

Next, I covered the inside of my CD case.  Once again, I cut my paper to the size of the inside of the case.  I added a little glue to the back so it wouldn't come loose.  I kept it simple and included a small tag holder and tag that contains a handwritten note.  Alternate ideas include adding a play list, a table of contents, a photo, anything you want as long as it is relatively flat. 

And that's it - mission accomplished AND you managed to avoid the Christmas-traffic craziness!

**Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

December 18th--Snowman Shaker Card

Hello Fellow Crafters!
Christa here and today, I want to share with you a quick video tutorial on making this really cute shaker Snowman card.

I hope you enjoy it!



I hope the holidays find you happy, healthy and CREATIVE!

ChristaPin It **Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

December 17th--Snowman Ornament

Practical Scrapper Kerri here again to bring you another last minute gift idea or decoration for your own tree.  My favorite thing to decorate with during the holidays is snowmen.  I have them everywhere (but not many as my mother).  I decided I wanted to create my own snowmen  ornaments this year.  Here's what I came up with...

I really love how he came out and this was a complete experiment making him. The base of the ornament is a 3" smooth Styrofoam ball.  I had some help making the hat for the snowman.  The hats were an ornament kit from Oriental Trade, but I will give you the measurements so that you can re-create your own. 

1- 2" black felt circle

1-strip of black felt that is 2 and 1/4" X 36" ( it doesn't haven't to be this long your hat just won't be as wide for the hat top-- this you will roll around your thumb and pull your thumb out from the center when done rolling it out.

1- 1/2" strip of red cut to length to fit the hat top ( mine was about 6")

2 felt holly leaves

3 red buttons

1 foam snowflake

1 piece of red ribbon (used to hang ornament)

Above you will see a picture of what I used to create my textured snow on the Styrofoam ball. Now this was one of the messiest things I've done in awhile, but I wanted that textured look and was quite with this it.  It was a complete experiment and wasn't even sure if this combination would work.

  I started out by rubbing to the two foam circles together to shred it.  Then I sprayed a piece of cardboard with the "Snow" for windows holding the can real close to the cardboard (it almost looks like shaving cream when it comes out).  I just poured and added (about 2 tablespoons) some Mod Podge to it.  Added in the shredded foam, mixed, and rolled  my smooth Styrofoam ball into the mixture.  I then sprinkled with glitter.  I carefully used a heat tool to dry it to touch (it will melt if you get the heat tool too close). To top it off, I added some black gems for eyes and mouth, cut a nose out of some orange foam, and a piece of Christmas material for the scarf.  Hot glued everything together and there you have it!  Hope you enjoyed my little snowman ornament! 

~Kerri



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One of a kind Christmas Ornaments

 Do you need a fun craft to do with your kiddos when Christmas break starts?  These ornaments could easily be decorated by kids or by you!  I picked up these plain plastic ornaments from a craft store.  I have three kids and each year we give them a new ornaments - so for this year I made them each a different one that says "Joy" using Momenta letters and the shape bubbles from Epiphany Crafts.    I then added a little glitter into each one that matched the colors I had used.

 -Christine

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Paper Garland by Audrey

Hello everyone! I have a simple garland for you to make today which you make with your die cutting machine or just some punches and a sewing machine! 


I first saw this tutorial by Ronda Pallizzari about a year ago-
http://rondapalazzari.typepad.com/helpmeronda/2010/11/ferris-bueller-youre-my-hero.html
She gives some great instructions and details on her blog.

I did the same thing, except I used different sized circles and some snowflakes. I cut everything out on my Cricut and it went really fast!!! My snowflakes are 2 1/2", and the circles are 1.75" and 1".



When putting your shapes together, make sure like patterns are touching on the inside if you are going to match your patterns. But you could also just have your patterns all mixed up, too. 




These garlands are SOOOO pretty when strung up! They would probably even look nice on a tree!


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December 10th-- Snowman Soup

Hi Everyone, Practical Scrapper Kerri here, to bring you another great gift idea for our Christmas feature.  Today I'd like to share with you all my altered to go insulated coffee cups.  I found these to go cups at my local Joann's in their bargain bins for $2.50 each ( and I used my coupon to over the holiday to get another 20% off ).  These cups I made for my kids' teachers to go with the other little gift I made for them. 

These were super easy to make!  When I got the cups they had another piece of paper in them.  I traced them on my favorite paper (Crate Paper -Snow Day Collection) and embellished with the matching chipboard, cardstock cut outs, and cardstock borders.

Here's a look at just one of the cups up close. Next, I filled each cup with a package of hot chocolate mix, a bag of mini marshmallows, and added a Wilton peppermint swirl candy cane which you can see down below.

Finally, I made my little "snowman soup" tag.  Now, there are a couple of different poems out there for "snowman soup", but I picked the one I liked best and printed it out. Here's an up close picture of the tag which reads:

Was told you've been real good this year

Always glad to hear it!

With freezing weather drawing near,

You'll need to warm the spirit!

So here's a little Snowman Soup

complete with stirring stick.

Add hot water, sip it slow,

It's sure to do the trick!

Again, these are super quick and easy gifts that are great for teachers, secret Santa exchanges, friends, or just anyone that you want warm their spirit this holiday season.  Thanks for stopping in and don't forget, only 14 more shopping days left, and we have 10 more days of ideas for you!

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