Make Time to Craft – Page 187 – Make Time to Craft

Monday, December 17, 2012

Grinch Pills and Santa Cookie Toppers

Hi everyone!

I hope today finds you with a low stress level. I know my stress levels have been soaring over the last week, but now most of my Christmas chores are done, so things are getting better. 🙂

I’ve been busy for the last week or so making some little Christmas goodies for my son Steve’s 5th grade class. I like to do this for him and he says the kids love what I send, so I’m happy to supply some fun little gifts for his students.

Last year I made the class some little packs of Snowman Poop (made with white tic tacs) and they loved them. Here is a photo of what I did last year. Notice I couldn’t resist using a little Baker’s Twine from Really Reasonable Ribbon on them. 🙂

(inside)

This design actually comes from Whimsie Doodles and it’s in their freebie section. What a cute and easy little craft. I encourage you to head over and pick up the file if you have not already done so. There is even a video tutorial for making them. Even if you don’t have time this year, you’ll be ready to roll for next year. Take a look at the great digi images Melyssa offers while you are there. I love her style and she offers so many freebies and tutorials.

So, this year I wanted to do something different. Pinterest is a great place to find ideas and I found several different ‘Grinch Pills’ options. I really wanted to do one with green tic tacs, but I could not find value packs of green tic tacs, so I had to go with m & m’s.

Isn’t that adorable? Sadly I could not find any free files for the photo and poem printout for this type of favor in the right size and shape, but I was able to use the poem and a Grinch cartoon image I found online and merge them together to get what I wanted. It was a bit of a chore because I’m not a wiz on photoshop elements by any stretch of the imagination, but I got it done.

Hopefully you will be able to save the image below and use it for your own projects.

I have also included a quick tutorial below.

I used this Grinch image because it’s one of our favorite scenes in the movie.

Here is another option you can use:

And here’s a finished pack using the alternate image. I used a little longer zip loc bag and this one contains peanut m & m’s.

You can also google Grinch pictures and find a whole range of options you can select to make your own special topper if you have the software to edit it yourself.

I’m also sending a little Santa topped cookie pack for each child.

Isn’t it cute!

When the cookies are gone, Santa can become a Christmas decoration. It doesn’t show too well in the photo, but I put a red eyelet at the top of Santa’s hat and looped some White Iridescent Metallic String through for a hanger. To make this I used my Silhouette Cameo and a file called Santa Treat Topper. I

re-sized it for my needs and cut the pieces out and assembled them.

Seriously ladies, if you don’t already own this machine, it should be on your Christmas list. This is my favorite ‘big-girl toy’!!

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Grinch Pills Tutorial

Supplies are shown below. I printed the Grinch Pills image and poem above and cut it out at 1 7/8″ x 3-1/2″. The green card stock is cut at 2″ x 3-5/8″ and the stripe card stock is cut at 3-3/4″ x 5″.

I used 3 x 3″ zip loc bags for my green m & m’s and the ribbon topper is a 10″ piece of scarlet red double-faced satin from Really Reasonable Ribbon.

Fold the card stock in half and on the fold edge measure down about 1/4″ and make two holes about 3/8″ apart and centered on the piece. If you are going to be doing a large number of them, figure out where you want the holes and make a jig like I did above so you can just trace where the holes go on each piece. Then punch your holes out.

Now get your 3/8″ Scarlet Double-Faced Satin (if you are just making one, use about 10″ of ribbon, if you are doing multiples, just work off of your long piece of ribbon to reduce waste). Cut the end on an angle and thread down through the right side hole and back up through the hole on the left.

Now take the ribbon from the left and feed it down through the hole on the right side. Take a moment to work the ribbon a bit so it lays the way you want it so it will eventually lay straight out on the right side.

Then bring the ribbon back up through the hole on the left. You want to leave a little ‘poofiness’ in the center, so don’t pull the ribbon too tight.

Cut your ribbon at an angle on either side (or however you prefer it) and then I usually take a little micro glue dot (I’m not sure if you can see it below, but it’s near the end of the ribbon). Then place the ribbon end where you want it and that’s where it will stay.

Now add the layered Grinch photo and poem to your piece and the topper is done.

Open it up and run a piece of double-sided tape along the inside of the back flap that’s about 2-3/4″ long.

Press your bag of m& m’s to the tape. I have my m & m’s in a 3 x 3″ zip loc baggie.

Then add another piece of double stick tape to the top and press the topper together.

And….. you’re done! If anyone has any questions, let me know. I’d be happy to help if I can.

Here is a photo of all the ones I made – 23 in all (okay, well, 24 Grinch pill packs and 23 Santas). Right now his class is 20, but I like to send a couple extra just in case. You never know when he’ll get a new student.

Here are some photos of all the goodies ready to ship off.

Fingers crossed that they travel quickly and safely!!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful Christmas!

~ Bonnie ~

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Pretty Pink Headband

Hi everyone. It’s time for another fun challenge over at the Really Reasonable Ribbon’s Ramblings Blog and this time the theme is ‘Anything Goes & Ribbon’.
So, if you are finding any crafty time at all this close to Christmas, head on over and link your project up!

For this challenge, I’ve created a Pretty Pink Headband. I’ve combined the two techniques I’ve shown you in video tutorials in the past to make this headband that any little girl will fall in love with.
The new pretty silver edged double-faced satin gives it a little extra bling.

To make the headband I started with 3/8″ White Satin with Grosgrain Edge Ribbon and made a woven ribbon headband as shown in the video below. I used a 1/2″ White Plastic Headband and two 60″ pieces of ribbon which I glued together in an x-pattern in the middle.

Now, you can also just wrap the headband with ribbon, but I think the woven ribbon headband gives it a really nice finished look. Now I realize you can’t see this when it’s worn, but if you are making them to sell or to give as a gift, it’s just a little extra zing and once you get the hang of making woven ribbon headbands, you can make one in 10 minutes or less, so I say ‘Go for it’!

Here is my finished white woven ribbon headband that will serve as the base for my project. This would actually be very nice as is for a First Communion outfit or even for a flower girl………

The delicate stitching on the Satin with Grosgrain Edge White Ribbon gives it a little something extra, right?

Next I made the military braid with 3/8″ Satin with Silver Metallic Edge in Pearl Pink, and Hot Pink. This beautiful ribbon is available in 20 fun colors and works well for so many projects. You’ll use about 60″ of each color, but to be safe, be sure you start with at least 2-yards of each. For this project there is no need to cut off a certain length of ribbon. Just work from whatever length you have. That way there will be minimal waste. Follow the direction in the video below and stop when you have the length you need to cover your headband from tip to tip. There is a little give in the braid, so you can stop when you are a smidge short and stretch it to fit.

Here is my finished braid

Close up of the braid

Now I marked the center of the underside of the braid and the center of the top of the headband with a small pencil mark so I start right in the middle.

Lay down a small area of hot glue and adhere the braid to the headband lining up the marks and centering side to side. There is a small overhand on each side of the headband which is fine. You can see it in the photos of my finished headband and the top and bottom of this post.

Continue to hot glue the braid to the headband until it’s all glued on. Be sure to only apply a small amount of glue at a time so you can get the braid pressed on before the hot glue cools down.

And here’s your finished piece.

So pretty and so easy!

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you’ll join in our ‘Anything Goes’ Challenge #62 over at the Really Reasonable Ribbon’s Ramblings Blog. The challenge is open though 12/29 and one random participant will be selected to win a $10 gift certificate to Really Reasonable Ribbon.

Happy Holidays!

~ Bonnie ~

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Really Reasonable Ribbon December Blog Hop

Welcome to the RRR December Blog Hop.

If you arrived here from Jeanne’s awesome blog, you are on the right track. If not, why not head back to the RRR Blog and start from the beginning so you don’t miss any of the terrific projects.

This month the Really Reasonable Ribbon Monthly Ribbon Club Assortment is a frosty winter themed assortment and one of my all time favorites!! I just love all the fun color assortment. Isn’t it awesome??!

Don’t forget that Really Reasonable Ribbon offers Gift Subscriptions in 3, 6, or 12 month options. What a perfect gift for a crafty friend. The first assortment comes with a gift card with your special message enclosed.

This month I used several of the ribbons from the December assortment to create this non-traditional color Christmas tree. I love the way it turned out. I’ll be sharing a tutorial below.

Ribbon Tree Tutorial

Supplies:

RRR December Ribbon Club assortment

Pins – sequin length pins work best

scissors

Styrofoam cone (mine was 2-7/8″ x 5-7/8″)

3 Lindor Truffles (likely the most important item on the list!)

The first thing I did was cut 36 pieces of each of the 4 solid color 5/8″ ribbons. I cut a point on one end and then cut the piece to measure 1″ from the point to the other edge. I used closer to 50-ish pieces of each color, but that will vary depending on how far apart you place your rows. I think if I tried to make another tree exactly the same, I would probably not use the same amount of pieces, so cut some to start and then add more when you run out.

Attach one piece at the bottom of the cone. I started with the light blue checkerboard ribbon. I let the point extend over the edge because you don’t want any Styrofoam to show along the bottom edge.

Then add a piece of the same ribbon to the opposite side and then half way between each of those. Take care to have these initial pieces spaced as evenly as possible. These are the most important pieces and will set the stage for the entire project. I used a piece of string to measure the distance between the pieces and adjusted as necessary. This in the only part you have to do that for. The rest of the way you can just eyeball it.

Then you will add 4 pieces of the mineral ice diamond satin in between each of the light blue pieces. Then come in with the rose bloom double faced satin and the iris shimmer satin and fill in all the gaps.

I staggered my colors as I built the columns for added visual interest. I kind of like it that way, but you could certainly do columns of all the same ribbon too. I also think a tree of one solid color ribbon would be beautiful. I’m picturing a tree in my head using all White Glitz Ribbon that would be gorgeous!! But now I’m getting off topic……….
(Time for a Lindor break. BTW – Did you know that a serving size for truffles is 3? That’s important information to know while crafting in December!)

Continue adding rows of alternating ribbon.

When I got to the last row, I eliminated the light blue and mineral ice ribbons because they would have been totally covered up anyway.

And there you have it……. Now for the tree topper.
Now it’s time for my confession. I started this with no plan what-so-ever. I wasn’t even sure it would work and now here I am and I have no idea what to do with the top!

So….. I took some of the pretty lace from the assortment and pinned it around the top, kind of gathering it as I went.

Then I cut some ribbon spikes about an inch and a half long and pinned them to the top.

I then made two bows with white silky crush ribbon and cut off the tails, tied a nice bow with the iris shimmer satin and stacked it all on a big corsage pin with a pearl head. There is also a small plastic pearl between the white loops and the iris bow. Then insert the pin down through the center of the tree top. Done!