paper Archives - Scissors & Spatulas

Decorated Halloween Branches

I kept my Halloween decorations to a minimum this year since our house is currently on the market. Did I tell y’all that, by the way? Yes, the house went on the market! Anyway, as much as I love decorating for Halloween (and fall in general), I kept it minimal for staging purposes. I hate my house being staged. It doesn’t feel like my house.

But I did create this little vignette on my kitchen sideboard.
The weather here in SC has been gorgeous! I sent the boys into the woods in our back yard and asked them to find me some big branches. Of course this was not a difficult task for them! They love collecting sticks!

I spray painted the branches with some black spray paint I had in the garage.

During the process of turning and drying each side, I made the “ornaments.” I already had made some of these rosettes for a holiday craft party I had for the neighbors. I used Stampin Up designer series paper, punches and the Designer Rosette Bigz Cutting Die to create the accordion folded rosettes. (order rosette die here) I basically layered the different pieces using the coordinating papers from Stampin Up. (They make it so easy!)

I used Howlstooth and Scaringbone designer series paper for these two. I LOVE this paper! It is darling for Fall and halloween, but can also be used any time of the year! You can order it here.

These next two are made from Stampin Up’s Wicked Fun designer series paper, which, by the way, is on clearance for an excellent deal! Order it here.

This ornament also uses the Lifestyle Crafts Lattice Doily cutting die.

I also used this skeleton cutting die from Lifestyle Crafts Tricks ‘n Treats collection.

Once I started assembling it, I realized that it would be a great activity for the boys!

So I cut two more sets and told them to see if they could build a skeleton.

I let them do it on their own first and I was pretty surprised at how well they did! But then I let them use mine as a model to glue their pieces to the paper.

My skeleton got some ribbon and some distressing and was hung on my tree with the rosettes.

And here are all the “ornaments” all together on the branches.

My little corner of Halloween!

Hey, have you entered to win the Designed Beginnings store credit? You could win a $40 store credit to use on anything you want! Don’t miss out! YOu have until Friday, October 19 to enter! Just click here.

Parker’s Lego Birthday

Last Saturday we celebrated Parker Reese’s third birthday. It’s hard to believe my sweet little monkey is three already!

The child’s two favorite things are Legos and Star Wars so Of course he chose a Lego themed party. I was actually pretty excited about this. I knew it would be a fun (and easy) theme to work with.

I started with Lego invitations that I found on Pinterest. I created the invitation using the Silhouette software. I downloaded a Lego font that I found on the Internet and just changed the color of the letters and I used a wooden stamp for the party information. I cut red, yellow and blue card stock into rectangles (about 3×5 inches) and used a 1-inch punch for the circles. Dimensionals were used under the circles to give it the 3-D look.

The decorations were simple. I bought lots of red, yellow and blue balloons and tied them around the room. I made this banner using my silhouette, some lego scrapbook paper I found at the craft store and an image I found online.

The table spread was also simple. I used a big Lego head in the center of the table and tied lots of balloons to it (they hadn’t arrived yet when I took the photo). I added some color using vases of candy (blue Sixlets, Twizzlers and Lemonheads) and, of course, Legos!

I really wish I had gotten a better picture of the cake. It was three sections (red, yellow and blue) stacked. My friend Cristy (who made Parker’s adorable hay bale cake last year)

I was lucky enough to find someone local that did Lego parties. Bricks 4 Kidz was great! During the party, the kids got to build they’re own mini figuring, participate in races, games, scavenger hunts and more!

For party favors I ordered a bunch of lego candy (2 lbs!) and random Lego pieces (500!).
Each child got to take home a candy favor. I used cellophane bags and the Lego paper to make the candy favors.

I had hubby and the boys custom build each child a figure using the Lego pieces. They turned out pretty interesting! The kids also got to take home their mini figurine they created during the party.

Happy third birthday to the kid who loves trying on my shoes,

loves making people laugh,

always keeps us on our toes,

but is still the sweetest little guy in the world!

Halloween Matchbox Treats

Yes, Halloween is right around the corner! Can you believe it? It is time to start thinking about those Halloween treats!
The Lifestyle Crafts Fall Core Collection 2 cutting dies have just been released!

And I’ve used two of these items to make the cute little Halloween treat boxes above!

The Rectangular Matchbox Cutting Die was used to create the treat container. I chose some coordinating Halloween papers from Stampin’ Up! and ran them through the Big Shot with the matchbox die cut.

Here is box number 1…

This designer series paper I used for this box, Wicke Fun, is one of my favorite holiday papers! And it’s on clearance right now and are 50% off the regular price!! Get it here before they are gone! I also used the bat punch, also on clearance (order here) and the new rosettes die cut (order here).

Once the box is cut you fold it and put it together so it looks like this. The rosette die cuts and scores the paper. To create the rosette, you will fold (accordion style) the scored marks, glue the two end pieces and push the center inwards and fill the center with hot glue to secure. The circles and bat are punched and the white circle is stamped with using the Wicked Fun stamp set (order here).

I added a stip of matching card stock around the box. Before I attached it, I stapled coordinating ribbons. Don’t worry, the staple will be covered by the rosette!

Then I secured the rosette piece on the strip with hot glue.

Now for box number 2…

In addition to the matchbox die, I used the Lattice Doily Die, also from the new collection, for the second box.
I ran it through the Big Shot, using grey card stock.

The doily was then folded to fit around the box.
This designer series paper from Stampin Up! is Howlstooth & Scaringbone, the new Halloween collection. This collection is fun! It features orange and ivory polka dots, herringbone, stripes, orange chevron (TRENDY), grey & ivory polka dots, and a few other very “in” prints (order here).

Like the first box, I stapled coordinating ribbon to the doily piece before attaching it to the box (order here). The rosette was created like above. Now check out the cute googlie eyes on the mummy! I actually purchased this stamp from Michaels (in the dollar stamp bins) but you can find a similar stamp set here. And the adorable googly eyes have adhesive backing (order here).

A glue dot to attach “spooky” (from the Wicket Fun set) and hot glue to attach the rosette.

Ladies and gentlemen…
you have some adorable Halloween treat boxes!

And here is one other matchbox (not Halloween related) I created using the rectangular matchbox cutting die from Lifestyle Crafts.

Remember the Spooky Halloween Coffin I shared with you last week?

The Tricks-n-Treats dies are now for sale! There are a bunch of fun Halloween die cuts to choose from so be sure to take a look!

And don’t forget, you can save 20% by entering the code SCISSORS at checkout!!

Spooky Halloween Coffin

Lifestyle Crafts will be releasing their newest line of fall holiday die cuts on September 17. I have a little sneak peak for you of one of the dies from the Tricks ‘n Treats collection.

This spooky coffin was created from the QuicKutz coffin cutting die {not for sale until Sept 17}. Let me show you how I made it.
I started by measuring some designer series paper from Stampin’ Up! {view entire collection here}. What I love about SU’s designer paper is that it is heavy duty, like card stock, so you can use it for boxes, cards, etc. and it will hold up. It’s not flimsy like the paper you get at the craft store. This grey and ivory polkadot paper is from their newest Halloween collection, Howlstooth and Scaringbone {order here}.

After cutting the paper to size, I placed the paper and die in the cutting plates and ran it through the Big Shot {order here}. The die cuts some edges and perforates others.

The perforated edges are to be folded. The small tabs are where you will glue the sides together.

Two way glue works best for three-dimensional objects. It makes them sturdier. It comes in a green and white bottle and you can find it in the scrapbook adhesive section of the craft store or you can order here.

Once the top and bottom were glued, they looked like this.

Then I decided I wanted to emboss the top, so I had to peel it apart. I had this cute spiderweb embossing folder (order here) so I used it for the coffin lid.

And then I decided I needed to distress it with some ink (are you surprised?)

Now that the coffin was finished, I needed to dress it up. I used these two small tags, part of Lifestyle Crafts Label It Kits cutting dies.

Once cut, I used Stampin Up Wicked Cool stamp set {order here}. I stamped “Spooky” and then used the spider web to stamp in just the corners of the label. Then, of course, I distressed both tags with black ink.

I used double-sided adhesive to stick the tags together and then added a little rhinestone embellishment {order here}.

I tied two coordinating ribbons in a single knot and attached the tag to the coffin using a dimensional adhesive {order here}. If you’re not familiar with dimensionals, they are fat, double-sided adhesive pieces that leave a gap between the two pieces you are attaching. They add “dimension” to your project!

And that was it!

I added some crinkled orange paper which I cut myself using a scoring board and scissors.

The skeleton came from a Dollar Tree garland.

Be sure to check out Lifestyle Crafts new fall cutting dies! Tricks ‘n Treats and Cornucopia will be for sale September 17.

Easy As Pie Gift Box

I wanted to share with you these cute little “Easy as Pie” boxes I made as a make and take a few months ago.

The box was cut using Lifestyle Crafts’ dessert box die cut. You use the die to cut the paper of your choice. I used one of my favorite Stampin’ Up! designer series papers, Summer Smooches {order here}, with coordinating card stock {order here}. The die cut will also create perforated edges which you will fold. Then you just glue the sides together to create the top and bottom pieces of your box! Easy as pie!

To decorate the tops of my box, I used Stampin’ Ups Summer Smooches fabric {order here}. In case you didn’t know, Stampin’ Up! has adorable coordinating fabrics for most of their designer series papers. You get three coordinating fabrics in a set for only $9.95. Check them out here.
Anyway, I used the Fun Flowers die to cut paper and fabric flowers {order die here}. I layered the flowers so that the petals were staggered, added a smaller punched flower and used a coordinating brad {order here} to attach them.

I made little tags for each box and stamped “sweet treats” on each tag. This stamp came from a set called Teeny Tiny Wishes. It has just about every greeting you can think of {order here}. I tied a simple ribbon to each tag and looped it around the brad.

I ended up using some ink to distress the edges of my boxes. I just think it adds a little something extra and always makes it look better.

I love this dessert box die cut! Check out more ideas for Lifestyle Crafts die cuts on their blog and Pinterest page.

Back to School Gift Ideas with AstroBrights Paper

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Astrobrights Papers by Neenah Paper. All opinions are 100% mine.

Have your kiddos gone back to school yet? Our summer officially ended when my boys went back to school this past Friday. And although it stinks to say good-bye to summer, good-bye to the beach and pool and the late summer nights, WE are all excited about the new school year.

Being a former teacher myself, I love to show teacher appreciation and I’ve tried to pass this along to my boys. I l try as often as I can to make little gifts, treats or cards for the boys’ teachers to show my gratitude for all they do. And at the beginning of the year, I know they need supplies. So gift cards (Walmart, Target, Dollar Tree, Walgreens, etc) are the best thing you can give them!

So I knew exactly what we were going to do with this lovely batch of AstroBrights sent to me int he mail.

I was going to create some cute gift card holders.

I found some darling “scholarly” designer paper to coordinate with the AstroBrights paper.

The first project with a little pocket on the front to hold the gift card.

I used my Silhouette CAMEO to cut the pocket and the ticket.

The rest of the pieces are cut to fit and punched. The layout if very similar to my popsicle card.

The little pocket has preferrated edges that you fold which are glued to the surface of the card.

Here is the card once the pieces are secured. I found some coordinating bright turquoise blue baker’s twine to loop through the tag.

The gift card fits perfectly on the tag and right inside the pocket! {In case you are wondering, I’m not giving them an ITunes gift card! It’s the only one I had on hand.}

The next is a cute little gift card box. I can’t take credit for designing this one. We made it in Stamp Club and my demonstrator, Angie Guy, created it.

I started by cutting the faces of the box and the decorative flowers. These were all cut using Stampin Up! dies.

Next I had to create the box that holds the cards. You do this by cutting a sheet of 5 1/2″ x 6″ paper. Score the 6″ side at 1″ and 5″. Score the 5 1/2″ side at 2 1/2″ & 3 1/2″ Then cut slits as shown below.

Then the scored edges are folded and creased with a bone folder and glued together to make a box that is open at one end.

Large 4″ and 3.5″ scalloped circles were cut with my Silhouette CAMEO. I used the same color as the face of the box and the designer paper. I also added a rhinestone embellishment in the center of the small, layered flowers.

After gluing the two large scallop circles together, lay them over the top of the box and gently crease a mark for each of the box faces. After the creases have been made, use a bone folder to finish the folds. Attach the inner side of the scallops to the back side of the box.

Then you just attach the smaller flowers to the front of the box and use velcro with adhesive backing to hold the closed.

Check them out…

Fun and bright! What a great way to celebrate back to school!

Want your paper announcements and projects to get noticed? Want your newletters, flyers and brochures to stand out from the others in that pile of papers? AstroBrights paper is the solution!

AstroBrights papers come in 23 brightly colored shades sure to stand out in the “crowd” of paper stacks.

And don’t miss your chance to enter the “Give a Brighter Year” sweepstakes!

Enter your favorite elementary school to win $30,000 in supplies! And, if they win, lucky you will also get $500! Talk about a win-win situation!

AstroBrights is also hosting “Make Something Astrobright” design challenge. This contest is designed to bring families together and encourage creativity. What will your family create with AstroBrights paper? There is a different challenge each week so be sure to check it out! You can enter both of these things by going to the AstroBrights paper Facebook page.

“Cool” Popsicles Card Using Lifestyle Crafts Pool Party Dies

Today Lifestyle Crafts released their newest line of QuicKutz Cutting Dies!!

The Pool Party Cutting Dies are so fun and perfect for summertime crafts and scrapbooking! Check them out…

As shown above, I used the popsicles to make a fun & friendly “You are cool” card.
I started with a plain white card and some Stampin’ Up scrap pieces of brightly colored paper and ribbon.

I used the quick cuts dies to cut my popsicles.

Next I used my Stampin’ Up! scalloped edge punch to create a border.

I used the Summer Smooches designer series paper to create my background. It wasn’t quite big enough so I split it in half since the entire center of the card would be covered. Then I added my scalloped border at the bottom.

I placed a white strip over the background and glued my popsicles and the sticks on top. Then I tied my teeny tiny Stampin’ Up ribbon into teeny tiny bows and used glue dots to attach them to the popsicles. This step took patience.

I knew I wanted to use a fun summer phrase, something about being cool, but didn’t think I had any stamps to do so. Then I remembered I had bought these from the dollar stamp bin at MIchaels. The center stamp says, “I think you are…” and the cute little image stamps have different words to complete that sentence.

I just used bits and pieces of the stamp to say, “You are cool.”

I punched it out with one of my smaller phrase punches and layered it with a slightly larger label punch. I attached these witha dimensional adhesive to add some dimension to the card.

Fun! I love these cute little die cuts!

And even though summer is winding down, it’s not too late to create some summer crafts! I’m sure you have dozens of summer vacation photos that need to be scrapbooked, right? These dies would be perfect! But they are limited edition so be sure to check out the Pool Party Dies now!
Lifestyle Crafts has also picked out some fun Core Collection that would complement the new Pool Party Collection perfectly! And they are on sale for 35% off!

Better yet, with my coupon code you can save an additional 20% making the total savings 55%!! So check out those dies and use the promo code SCISSORS at checkout!

Head on over to Lifestyle Crafts blog, their Facebook page and Pinterest to see more fun ideas using the Pool Party Dies and all their other stuff!

Summer Vacation Mini Album

We just returned from a fabulous weeklong vacation to Folly Beach, SC. I have tons of pictures document this trip and so I thought I’d make a mini album that will be easy to carry around so I can share with family and friends.

I started with a small notebook that I purchased from a dollar bin. {Michaels or Target, I believe.} Those dollar bins get me every time! Especially since now they all have adorable stationary and matching pens! I have an entire drawer full! So I was glad to finally use one for something!
I searched my stash and found some coordinating papers and ribbons.

I cut the papers into a variety of sizes in order to layer.

I ran the red paper through my Big Shot in a circle embossing folder.

So here are my pieces after I cut them to layer.

I thought this font {Quirky Alphabet from Stampin’ Up!} looked kind of beachy! I used Not Quite Navy ink to stamp “Folly” on a little wooden tag for added dimension, and “2012” on the paper flag.

You can distress the edges of paper by brushing the edges against the ink pad.

This helps make this little piece of paper pop against the larger background pieces.

I layered the pieces like so. {Please ignore the shell. I thought this was where I was going to put it but changed my mind and moved it in the next step.}

I cut the ribbon into similar size pieces.

Then tied them around the elastic band of the notebook. Then I glued the shell to the knot of the ribbon.

And that’s my $1 notebook turned mini-album!

I plan on using double-sided tape to attache the photos to the pages. I will also leave several pages blank to jot down memories of our trip and to document descriptions of the photos.

Adorable Treat Caddy for Movie Night

The boys absolutely love when I announce, “Tonight is movie night!” They run get the blanket, spread it out on the floor and claim their spot.
Typical movie night consists of pizza dinner in front of the TV. However, Lifestyle Crafts recently sent me this adorable treat carrier die cut, so I decided to surprise the boys with a special movie night treat.

Isn’t this treat caddy adorable?! Where did I get it? It’s a Lifestyle Crafts cutting die.
Lifestyle Crafts recently released their Fall Core Collection 2012 dies. Check them out. . .

I immediately had my eye on the treat carrier and the tickets and I knew exactly what I was going to do with them.
I started with this stuff. The circus paper I’ve had. I think I found it at Michaels. I grabbed some coordinating paper and one of my popcorn boxes.

Making the treat carrier was pretty easy.
If you don’t have and/or are not familiar with a die cut tool, you NEED one! These things are so useful! This is the handle piece of the box. You need to cut two.

You simply layer the cutting mat, paper, die cut and another mat on top and run it through the tool.

You do the same with the box edge die, also cutting two.

And the banner.

When it’s all done, you will have several pieces that look like this.

The die not only cuts the paper, but it also perforates areas that are to be folded. Once folded, your pieces will look like this.

Now it’s time to put it together. The next few steps are not the “correct” way to assemble these boxes. I realized this after I had done some gluing. But it still worked fine.
I used double-sided tape to attache the two handles with the “feet” pointing outward.

Next I lined the inside flaps of the edge pieces with glue. I LOVE this two-way glue. It’s super sticky and works great for cardstock projects like this.

Glue these edges under the “feet” of the handle pieces. (Here is where I noticed that before adhering the two handle pieces, I should have tucked the back edge flaps of this piece inside. I ended up just attaching them to the outside of the handle piece. No biggie, you won’t be able to see it since it will be filled with snacks).

Then I added the banner.

Now to fill the box!
I was thrilled that my popcorn boxes fit perfectly in this little caddy! I used the design on the backside of the circus paper to decorate face of the box. Then added a coordinating strip and stamped “popcorn” on white cardstock. I also used the same stripe cardstock to cover a juice box.

I had an idea for the tickets as well. Same process using the ticket die cut.

Jackson has been really into reading (or attempting to read) lately. So I thought it would be fun to let him read this. . .

Of course he needed some help, he’s only 4! But he loves trying to read! 🙂
Then end result. . .

A fun movie night at home with happy kids and yummy snacks!

Be sure to check out Lifestyle Crafts Cutting Dies, including the new Fall Core Collection. And if you need some ideas, check out their blog.

Lifestyle Crafts It Kits & Alphabets

Today Lifestyle Crafts released its newest line the It Kits Dies. The It kits are core collection products (meaning they will be around for a while) and the kits are great for someone just starting out not only because each kit offers a variety, but because they also come with the digital files which lets you cut It Kits shapes on your digital die cutting machine as well as your manual die cutting machine. You can’t get any better than that!

I used the Label It Kit and the Edge It Kit dies to create a couple projects I want to share.

Aren’t these great?! The Label It Kit has just about every size and shape label you can think of! And the Edge It Kit dies are so much easier than punching borders!
I’ll start with the “Thank You” card. I started the card with some basic shapes using Stampin Up! paper. Then I added a border to the bottom using the last border pictured in the Edge It Kit.

Next I used this Label It die along with an oval that fit inside. This would serve as the backdrop for the words.

The words were cut using Lifestyle Crafts brand new 4×4 alphabet dies for the letters.

For this project I used the Parade font die.

I also got the Sugar Cookie font which I think is darling! I’ll share that project soon!

This is the first time I’ve used a die to cut letters and I love the way they turned out.

lifestyle craft label it kit parade alphabet

I also made a cute little clip inspired by a stamp I found at Michael’s for only $1. I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed the little dollar bin full of stamps and inks, but I can’t stay away from them!

I found this adorable “You are my Sunshine” stamp and thought it would work perfectly with this sun-shape from the Label It Kit. I inked only the words in Melon Mambo from Stampin’ Up! and Daffodil Delight for the sunshine. Then I cut the sun out and attached it to the Label It cut out.

I attached the label to a clothes pin, clipped it to a tin bucket ($1 from the Dollar Spot at Target) and tied a ribbon around the bucket.

I thought this would be a cute gift and you could put some little summer items inside the bucket!

Lastly, I used the Label It Kit to decorate some lolly pops. I used the sunshine cut-out along with a circle that fits inside and a small tag.

And also this vintage-like label. It reminds me of a Krispy Kreme sign!

This was very simple! I just layered the labels, stamped the words and attached the decor to the lollipops.

I tied two coordinating ribbons around the sticks for a little added flare.

And there you have it! Three cute and easy projects using Lifestyle Crafts new It Kits dies! Be sure to stop by the Lifestyle Crafts blog for more ideas using these great new dies!