Print & Cut: New Home Card

One feature of the Cameo that I really like over the Cricut X is the Print & Cut feature.  That lets me just print shapes in my printer and then cut them in the Cameo.  It's so much easier for tiny embellishments; you don't have to buy 6 different colors of card stock for tiny things.  Just print on white & you're good to go!

Here are the tiny details on a house card I made for my sister.  I printed it just as you see here.

Cell phone photo of my screen, since I never remember that I can do screenshots.

The Cameo scans the Registration Marks and cuts your design!

The inside of the shutters was cut as well; just had to be poked out.

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So for this house, the brown house itself was a 12x12 piece of brown card stock that I happened to have but everything else was made with Print & Cut.

Glue not dry.

The guide wanted me to add a brad for the door knob, but I may just glue a jewel on there at some point.

More decor...

With a brand new Cameo, a large room all to myself for crafting, and Halloween around the corner, I've been happily staying busy!

For the bar, I made a half dozen paper flowers in fall prints.  I had bought the mason jar for a Halloween eyeball thing, but ended up sticking the flowers in there.  I'm not really a mason jar person; I needed a glass jar in general to store fake eyeballs for a display, but I think the mason jar works here anyway.

 

 

One of the office windows now has "BOO" boxes that I can stick a flameless votive in, and a 3D spooky tree shadowbox

 

 

 

I bought this lantern cut not realizing just how teeny weenie it is.  Right now it's in the living room window. 

 

 

 

And just a few minutes ago, I finished my Pinterest-inspired wreath!  Two 6' boas, a styrofoam wreath, 6 ping pong balls, 6 googly eyes, and a hot glue gun.

 







Halloween & Fall Decor Projects

My Silhouette Cameo is here!!!

My laptop is heading off to get that missing "O" key repaired, so I spent all afternoon playing with the Cameo & software while I could.  

The first thing I did was take some pretty grey & orange paisley paper and cut a new control panel background, which you can see above.

Next I cut out these two cartons, which will be part of a display.  The other parts will be mason jars filled with eyeballs, spiders, etc.

Then I did the first half of our mantel.  The tree took forever to put together!  The tombstone is actually a favor box pattern.  The basket and the 3D pumpkins were both much easier than I was expecting.  I think that is my favorite craft from today!

I still have the rest of the mantel, a mantel banner, the mason jars of stuff, a wreath, and whatever else inspires me!

Good things are coming...

I love my Cricut X, but guess what bandwagon I finally jumped on...

It will be here this week!  A big thanks to my hubby, who buys me gifts he knows I'm coveting, even when there's no occasion!

Meanwhile, I've already downloaded Silhouette Design Studio and have about a half dozen projects just waiting for the Cameo to get here.  Halloween decor, bedroom accents, labels, cards, fall decor...and even better, I officially have a craft room now too!

Happy weekend!

Pretty in Pink Jell-O Shots

Tomorrow is the annual Pretty in Pink tournament at my country club.  There's a golf tournament, a silent auction, a luncheon, and some fun games & contests.  I will be the girl running the beverage cart, so if you need a drink- bottled water or something harder- look for me!

My dad asked me if I knew how to make Jell-O shots.  Um...college wasn't THAT long ago!  He asked me to make pink ones and he will donate all the proceeds from the sales of the pink Jell-O shots on top of all the other donations.

We already had disposable shot glasses and Vodka.  Lots of Vodka- it's my dad's favorite drink.  I picked up 5 packets of Strawberry Jell-O mix for 48 cents each.  We think I ended up using $8 in Vodka and $5 in shot glasses so just under $18 and we made 100 shots.  At $2 each, we're hoping to donate $200 extra by the end of tomorrow's tournament.

My super easy Jell-O shot recipe:
1 packet of 3oz Jell-O mix
6 ounces of water
6 ounces of Vodka*

*I've read wonderful things about using coconut rum, etc, to compliment the Jell-O flavor.  My favorite one is mixing watermelon Jell-O with Midori!  Doesn't that just sound Jolly Rancher Delicious to you?  So there's room for experimentation with the alcohol type.

Bring 6 oz water (which, FYI, is 3/4 cup) to boil.  Add in Jell-O mix and stir until dissolved.  Pour 6 oz (again, 3/4 cup!) Vodka into a pitcher.  Add the Jell-O mixture to the pitcher of Vodka and mix well.  Pour into shot glasses.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours but preferably overnight.

Taking the added step of using a pitcher makes them much easier to pour into tiny disposable shot glasses.

Pitcher- the spout is under the handle of the spatula

I'd also like to add, spread your Jell-O shot containers on a baking tray first.  Then pour.  Then carefully pick the whole tray up and stick it in your fridge.

We have 92 golfers signed up and I made 100 Jell-O shots.  We'll probably have some extra people at the luncheon, so let's hope I can sell these all and donate $200 for the cure!

Sock Bun vs Bun Maker

I loving doing a sock bun, but I don't love the sock.  It tends to unroll, it's a bit heavy, and if my hair is damp, I half expect to see mold in that thing when I take it out.  It's kind of gross, really.

Also, it only made an "okay" bun.  It was usually a bit messy and uneven.

While I was at Sally Beauty, I saw this.  It comes in several colors to match your hair (I was hunting for brown socks previously), it's mesh, really light, and it's all one piece so it won't unroll.

Oh and it's only $3 :)

I rolled a near perfect bun in less than 12 seconds using this thing.  It's great.  One feature I really like is that it's squishy.  After I roll my hair, if I missed a piece or a side is sticking out, I just kind of squeeze and tuck that piece into the roll.  The roll re-expands and holds the hair I tucked in.  No more touching up with bobby pins!

bright flash, squishy mesh

On Amazon you can even buy different sizes.  I have lots of hair and it's very thick and I haven't had a problem with what Sally's carries, but it's also not sized, so I can't compare it to any of the sized ones.  It's possible the sizes are for children's hair vs adults hair.  Also, it seems to be called a "chignon maker" or similar on Amazon if you're looking.

Here's my much improved, no bobby pin touch  up needed, lightweight yet super hold-worthy Bun Maker bun:

Compare to the first photo with a sock, it's a big difference!

Making Vanilla Extract, Day 6

I'm impatient.

I just HAD to check on my vanilla extract, even though I'm a minimum of 7 weeks away from it being "ready."

On Day 1, it looked like this.  Vodka with beans.

On Day 6, it looks more like this!

Not 100% clear any more!  And it smells a bit vanilla-y, rather than like a thermos of straight-up Grey Goose.

I'm off to the craft store to hunt for supplies to give this extract as gifts- appropriate bottles and cute label making supplies.

Happy crafting!

Making Vanilla Extract, Day 1

I'm doing so well on Christmas gifts that I'm getting a head start on the hand made gifts.  One of those is vanilla extract.  I know, it's all over Pinterest, and EVERYONE is probably going to be doing it for gifts, right?  Well, can you really ever have too much?  Since a lot of my gifts are baking accessories (Pampered Chef stoneware is the best!) I think a little bottle of home made vanilla extract will make a great accent gift.

What you need:

Vanilla Beans- I found this at two different grocery stores...but not Walmart.  They are with spices.  I paid $11/2-pack and got 2 packs.

Vodka- Seriously, if you're going to do this, do it right.  Use a nice vodka.  I used Grey Goose.

A container for now- preferably light proof, so I used a stainless steel thermos.

Containers for later- you don't need these ASAP.  You also still want these to be somewhat light proof; either brown, green, etc.  Here's some glass brown ones for 75 cents each.

Labels for your gifting containers- again, you don't need those right away, but you can get some label paper and find ideas like this one, this one, or even with vinyl like this.  I haven't made mine yet- future post! :)


What you need to do:

First, decide how much you want to make.  I wanted to make 2 cups.  The industry standard for vanilla extract is .8 beans/cup.  I decided to go with 2 beans per cup after doing a lot of research.  So I gathered up my vodka and poured two cups into the thermos.

2 cups + 2 beans/cup = 4 beans.

You need to slice each bean lengthwise to expose the seeds.  If you're like me...you took some time here to stop and smell the vanilla.  Drooooooool.

Stick the beans in your container, seal, and shake a bit.  Leave it in a dark place (I guess if you used a thermos like me that isn't 100% necessary, but I stuck it in my closet anyway) and wait at least 3 months before straining & decanting into separate bottles for gifts.  Shake it up once a week or so in the meantime.

I'll be updating the blog over the next few months as the mixture, well, mixes, and as I get bottles ordered & labels made.

Vodka bottle into drinking glass- WITHOUT fire!

Turning vodka and wine bottles into drinking glasses is a big repin on Pinterest lately.  However, it involves a string doused in nail polish remover and then set on fire.  Um, no thank you.

Why not just pick up this kit instead?

It's only $21.95 which is really a small price to pay for not having to set alcohol-doused strings on fire.

With this kit, you score a line across the bottle and then immerse the bottle in hot and cold water, at which point you can snap it apart at the score mark easily.

It also comes with everything you need to sand around the rim, making it nice and smooth.  I TRIED to find a sharp edge on this glass and couldn't!

Pinterest is fun for some things, but keep your safety in mind!

Bedazzled Car Emblem

I love Swarovski crystals.  Recently I went to a car show with my husband where nearly an entire Lexus was blinged out.  It was gaudy, but I loved it.  I wanted to do something similar on my fairly boring, beige, mommy-classic SUV.  I figured blinging out the emblem would be nice, but not over the top.

Plus, my emblem was sad and losing color in parts.

I bought Swarovski crystals in matching colors.  Size 3mm.  I actually overbought and have some packs to return, but my inital purchase was $37 in crystals and $2 in a super glue gel pen.

It's fairly easy to do.  Less than an hour of work (and an instagram filter) later...

Now it matches my sparkly license plate cover!