Christmas

Nutcracker Party Shirt

January 10, 2019 by Jessica 2 Comments

This Christmas was such a fun one! My girls had a blast really being able to enjoy time with so much family. I wanted to do some special things and one thing I did was create this nutcracker party shirt for all the littles on my husband’s side. We are starting to do a Christmas movie theme each year and went with The Nutcracker since the new movie had just come out. Time didn’t allow us to actually go see the movie, but it’s on our list. I created this design using the design feature for my Cricut Explore. It was really easy to create and now they have a one of a kind shirt just for them.

It had been a while since I had created a shirt using iron on vinyl. I didn’t realize some of the new products that are now more easily available. I gave the Siser Easywood HTV in green a try (I found it at Michael’s). It was my best experience with heat transfer vinyl yet! It went on so easy and smooth. I was impressed. I guess I’m a little behind on the new and amazing things as usual hahaha. If you want to make your own and have a Cricut cutting machine, you can find the graphic I made here. You will need to log into your account to see it. Just resize according to your needs.

My two girls are already talking about what next year’s theme might be… I’m thinking maybe a Rudolph one…. Although I might have to persuade miss J into doing this again as she’s hitting an age where she’s not necessarily into wearing matching shirts with her cousins 🙂 lol

Paper Ball Ornament DIY

December 17, 2018 by Jessica Leave a Comment

Last Christmas I made a whole bunch of these paper ball ornaments to add some cheerful color to the trees in our church foyer. We didn’t have much to decorate the trees with, so I wanted to make something and this is what I came up with. It cost hardly anything since I had most of the cardstock already and they really make such a fun impact. I also saved time by using my Cricut cutting machine, but it’s totally doable without one.

The paper ball ornaments also hold up well for being made of cardstock. I saved a handful of these to take pictures of and they have been in a moving box inside a storage unit that was not air conditioned for six months. They were still fantastic! So if you store them loosely in a box I bet they can last a few years. Also, a tip for anyone looking for some large scale decor… I noticed all of these present boxes and those large snowflakes at a local clothing store (Gap). I asked the store managers if they saved these or threw them away and that if they just got rid of them I would happily take them and reuse them. They called me at the end of the season and said I could come get it all. How awesome is that? They were so excited it would be used again and we used them for quite a few years.

To make your own paper ball ornament you will need:

Cardstock (I used an 8.5″ x 11″ piece per ball and made extra smaller circles with the extra for garland)
Ornament Hangers or String
Scissors or Cutting Machine (you can find the 8.5″ x 11″ template I made for my Cricut here)
Hot Glue Gun & Glue Sticks

Start by cutting out four circles that are 4″ in size. You can increase or decrease the size depending on your preference. If you don’t have a cutting machine, you can use a round cup for a template to trace on the paper.

Then you will need to fold each one in half.

Run a bead of hot glue done the center of one of the folded pieces.

Place another folded circle on the glue and hold in place until it is cooled down.

Then put glue on one of the other folded circles and place on the seam of the two already glued together. Hold in place until cooled.

Turn the three glued ones over and add glue to the last folded circle to go on the other side (See picture above on how it should look all glued together).

You can then add your choice of hanging option and then fluff out the circles so it looks full. Above is a picture of using an ornament hanger. You can straighten out one end of an ornament hook and glue it down one of the seams.

Or you can use string, fishing line, or yarn to hang it. For those options I suggest glueing one end on one seam and then the other end in the opposite seam so it hangs evenly.

If you happen to have 12″ x 12″ pieces of cardstock, you can get quite a lot of circles out of it. I used the extra space on the paper to make smaller circles which I sewed together to make a garland.

It was a great addition to this backdrop I made and allowed it to fit in perfectly with the trees.

Make sure to share if you create any. I would love to see 🙂

Jess

Craft, Snack, and Be Merry Workshop

December 16, 2017 by Jessica Leave a Comment

Craft, Snack, and Be Merry Workshop | happy together
Last weekend I hosted my Craft, Snack, and Be Merry Workshop. It was so much fun and to add to the fun it actually snowed the morning of this workshop! It never snows here in Southwest Louisiana so it was quite a surprise. The locals told me the last time it actually snowed like this was twenty something years ago. It was also the first time my two daughters were able to experience snow and that was a whole magical thing to watch in and of itself. So with snow on the ground (but not the roads thankfully), I prepared for my guests and we even made them gumbo and hot chocolate (from scratch!) to enjoy during the craft night.

Craft, Snack, and Be Merry Workshop | happy together
I kept the decor simple since our home was already decorated for Christmas. I made a simple sign with some card stock using my Cricut machine and used paper decorations that I have picked up over the years when I see them on sale. I highly recommend doing that if you host lots of parties. Then you have a stash you can always grab from. I laid out each space with the sign they would be painting, their supplies, and fabric covered plastic candy canes with their names on it.

Craft, Snack, and Be Merry Workshop | happy together
Once everyone arrived, we snacked some and then got to work. There were three projects: a Christmas countdown sign, oyster shell ornaments, and water color gift tags with pom poms. While the sign and ornaments were a “do it just like me” kind of project, the water color tags allowed them to be creative and make them however they wanted. I loved seeing everyone’s creativity and I enjoyed sharing with them skills they hadn’t learned before.

Craft, Snack, and Be Merry Workshop | happy together
I’m so thankful for these ladies that support and encourage me in my crafting endeavors. They make these type of events so worth it! -jess

Craft, Snack, and Be Merry Craft Workshop

November 10, 2017 by Jessica Leave a Comment

Craft, Snack, and Be Merry Craft Workshop | happy together
Christmas is just around the corner! If you live in the Southwest Louisiana area, I am hosting a ladies night out Christmas craft workshop “Craft, Snack, and Be Merry” that you are invited to attend. It will be held on Friday, December 8, 2017, at 6:30 pm in Sulphur, LA. The address of where it will take place will be sent once your ticket is purchased. Each participant will create three projects: a hand painted Christmas countdown sign, a gilded oyster shell ornament, and water color gift tags with mini pom-poms. All supplies are provided and there will be snacks too. The cost is $35 + processing fees and you can register here. There are limited tickets available, so make sure to get yours today if you plan on attending. I look forward to doing some Christmas crafting with y’all. -jess

DIY Pie Pan Package and Personalized Picture Frames

December 14, 2015 by Jessica 2 Comments

This post is sponsored by Cricut. See further down for full disclosure.

I find it really fun to create gifts and was looking forward to participating in a Secret DIY Santa Gift Exchange that is being hosted by Cricut. For each person who signed up, we were given the name of another blogger to come up with a special diy just for them that involved using our Cricut Explore machine. I created a gift package from a pie pan, personalized picture frames for the fridge, and a gift card holder for my giftee, Mariah of Giggles Galore.

I was thrilled when I saw her name because I know her blog and love it. I mean really, look at a few of these recent diy’s she’s shared on her blog lately.

Rustic + Glam Hot Cocoa Bar Cart; DIY Distressed Wooden Chalkboard; Chocolate Spider Cookies

Mariah shares a ton of stuff from recipes to parties and as she says on her blog she’s “an event stylist, creative consultant, blogger, social butterfly and multi-tasking mom.” Make sure to visit her blog to see a lot more creative goodness.

Winter Wonderland Party by Giggles Galore

Winter Onederland

Now for how to make your own pie pan package. It’s really simple to do and takes barely any time at all. You will need:

Pie Pan
Spray Paint (optional)
Cardstock (I used the Candy Shop pad)
Cricut Explore and Accessories
Glue (I used tacky glue, but hot glue would work too)

If you like, spray paint your pie pan. Just remember that you can’t put food in that isn’t packaged if you do paint.

Create a circle in Design Space that is the same size as the pie pan top. Make sure it is a cut file. Add any other design of choice on top that is in the written choice. You can find this specific file I created (for a 8 3/4″ pan size) here.

Use your Explore to cut and draw this file.

When it’s all done it will look like this.

The second part of this gift are these personalized picture frames. I found the refrigerator magnet frames at Target and knew they would be cute with some extra additions added to them.

To make your own you will need:

Frames
Vinyl (I used the Vinyl Sampler in Brights )
Cricut Explore and Accessories
Transfer Tape

You can find the three designs I used here: “you’re like, really pretty.”, confetti, and leaves. I simply used images in the Design Space library. That’s one of the great things about using these machines. I might not be able to create an image from scratch, but I can usually find pieces of what I want and put them together with what is already available. Once you have your design ready, use your Cricut to cut it out. I added the square cut around each design after I did the first one to make it easy to see what you needed. You can just peel off the unneeded area like above,

or you can cut out the area and then peel it. Whichever is easier for you. If anything has a hard time not staying put, use your tools to help hold things in place.

Next get your transfer tape.

Cut out a piece that is large enough to cover the area of the design. Peel off the backing and place the sticky side on top of the design. Rub over it with tool or something like an old gift card to make sure it really sticks to the transfer tape.

Grab a picture frame.

Place the transfer tape with vinyl right side up. Then place the frame on the side facing down that doesn’t have the magnet.

Rub over it again to help ensure it stays put when pulling off the paper.

Slowly pull off the paper and if anything doesn’t stick, just lay that area down flat again and rub over it again. If that doesn’t work, gently use the hook tool to help it unstick from the transfer tape onto the frame.

And I just had to add one more little thing so a little gift card to Target. I also created this little gift card holder using the Candy Shop card stock and this template. Then I glued the green to the blue for each side and then sewed both sides together leaving the one end open. It was such fun creating for a fellow craft blogger. I hope that this inspires you to create something special this month for a friend or family member.

I parterned with Cricut for this post and received compensation for doing so. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting businesses that support Happy Together.