Holiday Projects - there is still time!

I hope you are having a good weekend - it has been super busy for us so far.  I am planning to answer emails and messages later today.  There were a few questions that I found in my messages that I thought would probably be of general interest so I decided to post those here. 

A few people have asked me about the directions for making glitter ornaments - these are simple and fun to make.  They are perfect for little gifts - particularly if you personalize them with a monogram or significant word or short phrase.  You do have to be careful in choosing the images or letters that you will cut from vinyl to apply to the ornaments.  Be sure that the image is thin so it won't wrinkle when you smooth it on to the ornament.

The original post with the heart ornaments shown above is HERE.

You can find the post with more complete directions on how to make these ornaments HERE.  That post also has a link to my friend Joy's video that she made with her daughter.  This is a good project to do with kids - the transformation is just magical!

I've made a lot of these ornaments in the past few years.  The ones that I still have look great - the glitter is staying put inside the glass.  Most of the ornaments I made have been given away as gifts.

The little houses that we decorated for the local shop were chipboard kits that we purchased from the shop.  If you can't find something like this and you have the Winter Woodland Cricut cartridge, you can make your own houses to decorate.  I used heavy Bazzil cardstock for this undecorated example.  I do recommend eliminating the "tick marks" to avoid unsightly cuts on the edges of your little house (you can do this by "hiding contour" or by checking "weld" in the shape box).

If  you don't have Winter Woodland, you can probably look at the shapes and make a similar file with Design Studio or the Gypsy or the Cricut Craftroom.  They are basic squares and rectangles with a few triangles so it wouldn't be too difficult to create your own file using the Winter Woodland houses as a pattern.

 A few people asked about the software I used to design the image on the card I posted yesterday.  In addition to many Cricut machines, I own a Silhouette SD machine.  I used the free Silhouette Studio software to create the image on the front of the card.  The silhouette does not use cartridges - the machine must be connected to a computer to make cuts (you can also put the files on an SD card but I haven't really used that feature since my computer is always handy in my craftroom).

When you design with this program the file is created in a proprietary format that will cut only on the Silhouette cutter.  I find the software better than any of the Cricut programs - it is easy to use and allows you to create interesting effects that are not possible with the Cricut software.  I just got the SD machine last spring and I am thinking of upgrading to the larger Cameo but I will probably wait a little longer to purchase it.  I'll be writing more about how to make the files in the near future.

This is a photo of our deck in the rain Friday night - it was taken from inside the house so there is an odd reflection but I love the mirror images on the wet deck!

Have a wonderful Sunday - only two weeks until Christmas!


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