crafts – Page 6 – A Southern Mother

O Holy Night Christmas Craft

asouthernmother

November 19, 2014

I have seen lots of pallet art projects and I was inspired to make something for my home. I loved the idea of making a christmas craft with pallets, but currently we are using all of our pallets as a walkway. We moved into the new house in September, and we don’t have grass. We are still unpacking boxes, and I haven’t been able to find my nativity scene figurines. I thought I would make a nativity themed piece of wall art from some leftover sassafras boards instead of pallets, along with some paint, a few battery operated tea lights, and my Cricut Explore.

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“Deerly” Beloved DIY Cake Topper with Cricut Explore

asouthernmother

September 22, 2014

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This post is sponsored by Cricut and is part of Design Space Star

Unique cake toppers can be hard to find, and they can also be expensive. I am currently planning my own wedding and bridal shower, and it has been challenging to find pieces that I fall in love with. My teammates for Cricut’s Design Space Star chose a “woodlands” party theme. I decided that would be a great opportunity to design a few potential pieces for my own wedding and bridal parties. I created a cake topper suitable for several occasions. It was inexpensive, quick, and different. This isn’t your typical “cookie cutter” cake topper.

Image files needed:

Stag
Doe
Heart
Banner
Laurel

Supplies:

Assorted heavy cardstock dependent on theme and color scheme
Wooden dowels
Glue
Cricut Explore
Cricut Design Space installed on your computer

Load the image files onto Cricut Design Space and cut them out on desired cardstock.

The length of your support dowel rods will be dependent on the thickness of your cake. I cut the dowel rods for my project 5 1/2 inches long. I began by gluing the stag and doe on the banner, taking care to center them as much as possible. I glued the laurel to the back of the banner, doe, and stag. I cut a small rectangular backing strip to fit across the back of the topper to cover the dowels. I glued the dowel to the back of the cake topper, and glued the rectangular backing over the dowels. I centered the heart and glued it to the front of the banner. I used a small book as a weight while the project dried.

Here are a few extra ideas and tips:

You could use a single stag or doe silhouette for a baby shower.
Metallic cardstock is beautiful in person but does not photograph well.

I have also created matching cupcake wrappers and thank you bags, and I will show you those in a later post.

Do you have any great DIY wedding or party ideas? I would love to know what you’re making.

Fashion & Aztec-nology with Cricut Explore and Design Space

asouthernmother

August 21, 2014

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I was giddy when FedEx dropped off my new Cricut Explore nearly 10 days ago. I am not a craft blogger but I love doing crafty projects. I have never owned a machine like Cricut, so I was excited to explore all of the features. The Cricut Explore is different than previous models, it doesn’t require cartridges (but you can use cartridges if you have them). You can buy projects or create projects using their software called Design Space.

I will openly admit, I get a little jealous when I see my girlfriends and their daughters dressed in “mommy & me” matching outfits. I have a son and there are very few unisex prints or designs that you can use. I decided it would be fun to coordinate our clothing on occasion before he was too old to refuse (he is 4.5, so my time is ticking away). My current fashion obsession is aztec and ikat print items. I thought it would be fun to create slightly matching shirts for Gabe and I using a general neutral pattern.

Not a flattering photo of me, but he sure does look cute!

Here is what you need:

Cricut cutting mat
good quality, pre-washed cotton shirt (or a thrift shop find denim jacket would be gorgeous too!)
Cricut iron-on vinyl
aztec print design image file
Cricut Explore
Cricut Design Space software
iron

I browsed around the internet looking for aztec print inspiration. Many of the prints I found were too busy for me (and I thought they were too intricate for a first project). Luckily I am handy in photoshop so I created a design and replicated it (I had a second project in mind).

I uploaded the design into Cricut Design Space. A program on the software will help you convert basic jpg files to vector files.

Once you have the image uploaded, you need to clean it up. You need to make sure that you click on all the white areas which will become void space in the design.

If you look at the image below, you can see that I have most of the image cleaned.

Once the image is completely cleaned you can resize it.

You need to place the iron-on vinyl shiny side down on your cutting mat and load it into the machine.

Make sure you click “mirror image” on the final page before you cut the image.

When the Cricut is finished cutting your design, unload the machine.

You need to weed out all the excess vinyl carefully, you don’t want to ruin an entire design because you pulled too fast or too hard.

Preheat your iron and then iron the shirt. You can measure your shirt (or other material) and center your design.

Iron-on your transfer according to manufacturers directions, and then peel off the clear backing.

I made a smaller one and added it to Gabe’s shirt sleeve.

If you notice the leather bracelet in the above photo on the right, I made that using the same pattern and my Cricut Explore. I just cut the design into a leather bracelet that I picked up from a local craft store, and then slightly stained the leather to accentuate the cuts. The possibilities are endless with the Cricut Explore.

It was a relatively quick and fun way to create a stylish pair of shirts for Gabe and I. I spent less than $20 in materials for both shirts and my bracelet.

If you are considering purchasing a Cricut Explore I highly recommend it. I have so many projects dreamed up that Cricut could help make a reality. Here is a sneak preview of my next project.