Handmade Holidays Blog Hop 2015

); Now lets get to my project!

As I was preparing for this project I knew I wanted to do something with these wine bottles I had, in a red and silver color scheme.  Why wine bottles?  Because this is a craft you can do to give as a gift or if you receive the gift of wine for the holidays, you can create this project with the bottles once you drink the wine.

I also thought it might be fun to do some accent pieces with the foam balls but when I started I did not really know where this project was going to end up.  Sometimes when I craft I need to just gather supplies I think I will use, and then let the project speak to me as it develops.

Supplies gathered:

Empty wine bottles - I specifically used ones where the labels were hard to get off, or that had images etched onto the bottle since those are difficult to use for spay painted wine bottle projects.

Assorted sizes of foam balls

Red and Silver pipe cleaners (you could use a long garland string instead)

Red bead necklaces

Box cutter

Glue

Make sure that your bottles are clean, and remove as much of the label as you can.  If there are metal pieces around the bottle, carefully cut those with a box cutter to remove them.

Put some glue around the top of the wine bottle and wrap the pipe cleaner around the bottle.  I originally was going to use Aleenes Turbo Tacky Glue but I found it was not drying fast enough and I had to hold the pipe cleaner in place until it dried so that it did not pop off of the wine bottle.  Then I remembered I had some Aleenes Quick Dry Fabric Fusion . . . this turned out to be the PERFECT adhesive for this project!  I dont know if it had anything to do with the fact that the fibers on the pipe cleaners were similar to fabric, or just because it dried so much faster, but if you are doing this project I highly recommend the Quick Dry Fabric Fusion.  It will make the whole project go so much faster and easier!

When I had gotten most of the neck of the bottle wrapped my husband came outside (thanks honey for taking some of these photos for me)  I mentioned to him that I originally wanted to do this project with one long garland piece but the Dollar Store I stopped at did not have any.  He asked why I did not just twist the ends of the pipe cleaners together to make my own garland-like strand . . . well, that would have just been too easy . . . why didnt I think of that!

So I sat down and started to twist the whole package of pipe cleaners into a long strand.  Cross two pipe cleaners . . . 

Twist . . . 

Smooth out the overlap so that you dont see where the two pieces join together.

Once the whole package was connected together, this is what I had . . . 

This made wrapping the rest of the bottle SO much easier!  I am not going to show you the finished bottle until the end of this post.  As I would wrap, I would just apply more glue to the bottle in small sections so that the glue would not dry before I finished wrapping the section.

Now . . . what to do with the foam balls.  Lets try wrapping those too!  I had some silver left, so I just stuck one end of the pipe cleaner into the foam ball to start.

Then I started to spiral the pipe cleaner around.  When it got to this point I thought it would have looked really cool if I would have spray painted the foam ball red, or covered it in red tissue paper first and then done a loose spiral like I have in the photo . . . oh well, next time.

Instead I wound the strand tightly, adding glue as I went along to secure it to the foam ball . . but I ran out of silver about half way through, so I twisted on some red to finish things off . . .

Okay, since I have a son who was born in 1993, the ball TOTALLY looked like a Pokemon ball to me, and I could not have that in my holiday display . . . so I did another ball in all red.

For some finishing touches I added some floral picks from the Dollar Store and one strand of beads wrapped loosely around one bottle.  I have a large glass jar at work and I might cover some more of the foam balls to put into that.

Here is the best part . . . well, the best part for me . . . we have a little niche in the wall of our family room.  When we moved into this house just over a year ago I knew I wanted to use it to display something special, and for the past year I have been searching for just the right item for this space.  I think that search may be over.  (sorry for the dark photo coming up next . . . remember, this is in the lower level of my home so the lighting is not great for photography)

I placed one of my favorite Mickey Mouse statues with these wine bottles and it fills the niche in the wall perfectly.  I think Mickey might need a project like this to go with every season.

I hope you enjoyed my project, and it inspired you to create something for your home.  Before you go, we are having a giveaway of over $600 in craft supplies to help you make this holiday handmade.

What an amazing prize package!

 Enter to win using the widget below:

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make sure to hop to the other blogs to see all of the amazing projects that have been created for this event, and show some love by commenting on their projects.  Check the list of links at the top of the post to see who is next in the line up and Happy Holidays!

#HandmadeHolidays2015

You can find this project on Pinterest by clicking HERE.

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Personalize Gifts with Cricut

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links. 

Want the ability to easily make a personalized wedding gift or perhaps some unique home décor? Then you might find Cricut electronic cutting machines to be the best DIY crafting tool since the sewing machine. 

There are two machines that Cricut currently offers on their site:

• Cricut Explore One™
• Cricut Explore Air™

Cricut Explore One™ 

Cricut Explore One™ is a simple design-and-cut system. It’s versatile, easy to use, cuts very precisely, and is also incredibly affordable. With its irresistibly low price and limitless cutting potential, the Explore One is perfect for a new or beginning crafter. Here are a few notable features of the Explore One: 

Materials – All Cricut machines can cut an unbelievable variety of materials, for example:

• Paper
• Vinyl
• Iron-on
• Craft materials
• Upcycled materials
• Fabric
• Plastic
• Thick materials

Precision - Features Cut Smart™ technology, which allows you to cut a wide range of shapes and sizes with exceptional precision, from ¼" tall up to 11½" wide x 23½" tall. 

Smart Set® Dial - Each machine features a Smart Set® dial, which sets your settings (e.g. speed, pressure, etc.) for you so you don’t have to keep track of them. You just select the material that youre using on the Smart Set® dial and the machines Cut Smart® technology will deliver a clean, professional cut. 

Images and Fonts - You can upload your own images and fonts for free on all three Cricut cutting machines.

Cartridges - Both machines work with any Cricut cartridge and have the capability to hold all of your cartridges “virtually” in the cloud within your Cricut Design Space online software. So once you’ve loaded a cartridge, you’ll have it everywhere you go. 

Cricut’s Design Space™ and iPad® app - All Cricut Explore machines work hand-in-hand with Cricut’s Design Space™ (for PC, Mac®, iPad®, and iPhone®) that you get access to for free. 

Cricut Explore Air™

The Explore Air is the whole kit ‘n caboodle. It offers all the impressive features mentioned for the Explore One, but two key things set it apart:

1. It has a dual carriage for cutting and writing or cutting and scoring in one step. If you do a lot of paper crafting, this is the machine for you!
2. It has built-in Bluetooth® capability. You just use Cricut’s free iPad app and design anything you want from your iPad, just like you would on your home computer, but with the convenience of being able to take your projects with you anywhere. Then, you can just wirelessly send your project from your iPad to your Explore Air to bring it to life.

Now that you know a lot more about how Cricut Explore® machines work, I’ll focus next week’s post on how you can design here, there and everywhere with Cricut Design Space. You’ll be blown away by how easy it is.

Until then … Happy crafting! 

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Bling Blog Hop

Welcome to the Bling Blog Hop featuring the Marisa Pawelko line of rhinestone sticker sheets from The Buckle Boutique!

If you love projects that sparkle, then you are in for a treat!  Today we have a line up of some amazing crafters who will be showing you a variety of project ideas that you can create with The Modern Surrealist Line of Rhinestone Sticker Sheets!

Just like the Classic Color line, these rhinestone sticker sheets can be cut with scissors, a craft knife and a variety of die cutting machines!  This means you can cut these beautiful colors and patterns into any shape you want to create custom embellishments for your projects!

We launched this new line at CHA 2015, and we had so much fun and were so happy to hear the positive feedback from everyone!

I had so much fun making this banner to show off the new bright neon colors.

We had a make and take with Marisa, and there is a video of that at The Buckle Boutiques blog today.  If you have not seen it, use the link below to go back to the beginning of this hop so that you can see ALL of the projects!

Some of the people who were at the make and take got creative, and instead of creating a cuff bracelet they embellished their cell phones.  This one uses one of the images from the Sugar Skulls pattern. 

I had to get into the act too by adding some bling to my sandals.  This was so easy to do.  I just cut 4 strips of rhinestones the same width as the strap of my sandal from the Graffiti print sheet and peeled off the backing.  Then I lined it up with the strap and pressed it in place.   I had these sandals embellished in a matter of minutes!

A lot of people did not believe me that this was from the Graffiti print sheet, since once it was cut down into strips it reads more like a fun, colorful pattern rather than Graffiti.  Here is a close up.

The other great thing . . . because of ALL of the colors in this pattern, these shoes matched every shirt I had brought with to wear on the trip!  

Another project I created used the colorful animal print from the Tween Quad sheet.  This sheet has 4 fabulous patterns in one sheet . . . more bling for your buck!

This was SO EASY to make, and it was a great way to use an empty wine bottle for a crafting project.  The full project tutorial can be found HERE.  And since this only used one pattern from the Tween Quad sheet, I could make 3 more with the other patterns to give as gifts.

What about card making?  Yep, these rhinestone sticker sheets are great for that too!  In a matter of minutes, I was able to create this shaped card with a rhinestone number 5 on it, for my nephews 5th birthday.  This is made from the paint splatter pattern, which is another pattern on the Tween Quad sheet.  For the full project tutorial, just click HERE.

Besides the beautiful colors, I think the thing I like the most about these rhinestone sticker sheets is the fact that I can quickly and easily create shaped embellishments.  With traditional rhinestones I would need to line up all of those loose stones, glue them down one by one . . . that would take forever!  Since these come in one full sheet that you can cut with scissors, a craft knife or a die cutting machine, you can create these amazing shapes in a no time!

Hop along to all of the other blogs to see even more projects with these amazing rhinestone sticker sheets.  And make sure to stop by The Buckle Boutique to purchase your own rhinestone sticker sheets so you can add some sparkle and bling to your next project!

Blog Hop Line Up:

The Buckle Boutique Blog

Marisa

Elena

Vicki 

Jennifer

Suzann

Margot

Tanner

Shawn

Follow The Buckle Boutique
Blog  //  Facebook  //  Twitter  //  Pinterest

Shop The Buckle Boutique at our Main Store and Etsy

Tips and videos for cutting our rhinestone sticker sheets can be found HERE

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See You at CHA Blog Hop

Welcome to the See You at CHA Blog Hop

This year I am really looking forward to getting out of the booth and getting to see the show, demos and make n take projects.  Normally I am in The Buckle Boutiques booth from the time the doors open and by the time my day is done all I can think about is getting something to eat, relaxing a little and then getting to bed so I can be ready for the next day.  The closest I ever got to "seeing the show" was the year my daughter attended and I was able to see the show through her eye via her photos and videos.  

This year, since The Buckle Boutique will not be having a booth so I plan to really take in as much as I can.  My project for today includes products from launched at past shows from several different companies.

I started with the Lawn Fawn stamps, and cut shapes from some mustard yellow cardstock and then stamped the images with brown ink.  I like to do 2 or 3 images at once so that I will have the others ready for future projects.

I am using a kraft colored card for the base, and decided to use a safari print paper from Bo Bunny and layered it with orange cardstock.  Since I knew I would want to layer the stamped image on the same color of paper, I cut circles out of the center of the piece I was going to use for the layers of the background.  This is a great way to use the same color, but not waste as much paper . . . no one will ever see these circles since they will be covered by the patterned paper.

Now you can see how the circle were hidden by the patterned paper.  You can also see a problem I ran into . . . I was distracted by something and did not cut my layered pieces the right size.  See how they are bigger than the card.  No problem!  I just call this an Opportunity for Embellishment.  

I simply cut the entire piece into two pieces . . . 

Then I attached one piece to the card base . . .

Then I attached the second piece to the card base slightly overlapping the pieces to make a seam.  Now the layered pieces have the proper border spacing around the outside edge and look like they were cut the correct size to start with, when really there is a seam where they overlap. 

Here is a closer view of the seam.  Now, I could have just left it like this.  The seam is not really obvious due to the type of pattern on the paper, but I wanted to totally hide the seam.

I used some black rhinestone sticker sheets from The Buckle Boutique and cut it to the size of the card.

Thats right . . . just cut this sheet to whatever size you need.  I like to use my Westscott non-stick scissors when cutting the rhinestone sticker sheets.  Since the sticker sheets have adhesive on the back the Westscott non-stick scissors work the best so that you dont end up with "gunk" on your scissors from the adhesive.

After I cut the piece to the right size I removed the backing from the sticker sheet to expose the adhesive and attached it to the card.  I love the sparkle, but also how quick and easy these sticker sheets are to use!  Can you imagine how much time it would take to line up individual rhinestones like this and stick them on to the card? 

Last but not least, I added the circle with the lion I colored in with my Spectrum Noir markers.  I also stamped a circular stitching line around the outside edge of the circle.

And here is the finished card.  I plan to use this for my nephews birthday.

As a crafter, I am always looking for products that will work with and complement other products I already own.  Just like with this card, CHA is a time to explore the products that all of the companies have to offer and then find ways to have them complement each other.

Before you go, make sure to sign up to win the $500+ Visa Gift card we are giving away!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make sure to head over to the CHA blog for the full listing of the Blog Hop participants!

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Cricut Deals

Here are some Cricut deals for you.  Just click on the links below.
 

Get 35% off Digital at Cricut with code 35DIGITAL

Get 10% off on Cricut.com with code DOORBUSTERS

Get free shipping on all orders at Cricut with code FREESHIPNOV

Re-released retired cartridges now available at Cricut!

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Cricut for Mothers Day

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links. 

Looking for the perfect gift for a crafty mom for Mothers Day? Well look no further than Cricut! Their incredible Explore Air™ machine takes cutting, writing, and scoring to a whole new level. Itll be the Mothers Day gift that keeps on giving!

For starters, it has built-in Bluetooth technology, which makes it wireless. That means that mom can take her projects wherever she goes and save her projects to the cloud. Its also compatible with Cricuts Design Space iPad app, so mom can lay all of her cuts in the Design Space and see everything shes cutting all at once on her iPad. Adios paper-based handbooks! 

Here are a few other neat notables of the Explore Air™ machine:

• It can cut over 60 different materials, including leather, balsa wood, fabric, vinyl, tissue paper, craft foam, and even silk! Mom just sets the dial to the material that she needs to cut and the machine keeps track of the settings.
• For cutting layers, mom can just print them on her printer and have the Explore Air™ cut it out.
• Fonts and images can be uploaded for free so projects can have writing on them that looks just like handwriting.

The Cricut Explore Air™ machine has an unbelievable amount of helpful, time-saving features. And if that werent impressive enough, Cricut is taking $50 off their Explore Air™, officially making this one of the best gifts to give crafty Moms this Mothers Day!

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Love Wins Blog Hop

Welcome to the Love Wins Blog Hop!

We wanted to celebrate the recent Supreme Court ruling allowing same sex marriage.  As everyone knows, the rainbow is the symbol used by LGBT supporters. Since one of our most popular products is our rainbow rhinestone sticker sheets we thought this just seemed like a perfect match.  

I love the way this turned out!  The bright pink is the perfect accent to the rainbow heart shape that I cut on my Cricut using my Create a Critter 2 cartridge.  Thats right . . . you can cut shapes out of our rhinestone sticker sheets!  The gems are made of a soft resin material so you can cut right through it.  It is a lot like cutting through those "jellie" shoes of the 80s.  I did a video that shows how to cut the product on your Cricut HERE.

For my next project I decided to make napkin rings.  These were super easy to make.  Just cut the rhinestone sticker sheet to size with your scissors, remove the adhesive backing and stick!

These would be a great way to dress up a dinner party, engagement party or even the wedding.

Some of the other Design Team members from The Buckle Boutique have created projects also, so make sure to hop over and see what they have created.  The full line up is below.

Love Wins Blog Hop Line Up
  The Buckle Boutique
  Patti
  Nancy
  Tammy
  Madge
  Shawn

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Disney Pixar Blog Hop

It has been WAY TOO LONG since our last Disney Pixar Blog Hop . . . but good things are worth the wait!

When I was setting things up for this blog hop I realized that our first one was in 2011 . . . some of the bloggers from the original line up are still with us years later.  We have become great friends and it is always great to share our love of all things Disney!

Okay, lets jump into what you came here for . . . DISNEY PROJECTS!

My daughter recently celebrated her 15th birthday.  Since she is a huge Donald Duck fan, I always try to make her a Donald Duck birthday card . . . it is getting harder and harder to come up with a brand new idea!  Then I saw a picture of some cupcakes from Walt Disney World and . . . 

This is what came from that cupcake inspiration!  How did I do it?  I started with a cupcake shaped card from the Sweet Treats Cricut cartridge.  For this card I cut it at 5" 

As you can see, the card shape I picked has a heart on the top of it . . . we will fix that in a little bit.  I did the card base in a soft gray color.

Next I cut all of the pieces for the cupcake.  Royal blue cupcake wrapper, to match the color of Donalds suit.  Yellow backing to give the look of the yellow stripes on the collar and cuffs of Donalds suit.  White frosting on the cupcake . . . for Donalds feathers of course. 

I cut the top of the yellow base cut off, since all I really needed was the cupcake wrapper portion.  Then I layered that behind the blue wrapper piece.

Perfect little stripes showing through the wrapper.  Now it is time to put this on the base.  Next step, the frosting.

Before I attached the frosting, I trimmed the curve of the top of the cupcake to remove the heart shape from the top.  If you want, you can use one of the other cupcake shaped cards so you dont need to trim the heart off . . . I just really liked the look of this cupcake.

Before we attach the frosting, lets put some swirls in it!  To do that I just ran the frosting top through the Cuttlebug and look . . . 

It looks like swirls of frosting.  Now to make the cupcake something that Donald would be proud of.  I used my Mickey and Friends Cricut Cartridge and cut the Donald Duck hat icon shape.  I believe I cut this one at 1 3/4".  I used the same soft gray that I used for the base of the card for the backing of Donalds hat, then I cut black and the same blue I used for the cupcake wrapper and layered them all of the perfect little topper on this cupcake.

Last but not least, the bright red bow on the front.  Perfect!

Now it is time for you to hop along and see the rest of the projects we have for you today.  The full hop line up is below.  Have a Magical Day!

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Disney Pixar Blog Hop Line Up

Shawn

Nancy

Lori

Ellen

Marisa

Kathy

Jenny

Jessica

Madge

Jenny

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