"Give Thanks" ~ Home Decor With Cricut

I've been cleaning out closets lately and stumbled across this empty wood frame.  I didn't have any pictures that size that needed framing so I began to ponder it's other possibilities for a craft project.  With the Holidays coming up I saw the potential for dressing it up in a temporary way for the each season.  I went to Cricut Craft room to see what sort of Thanksgiving themed projects they had that would make a good wall decoration.  I am very pleased with the outcome!  I think it's fun, a little whimsical and will go so well with the rest of my Fall themed decorations.  I've listed below the supplies as well as Cricut cartridges I used for this project.

Video Tutorial for this project:

Materials for this project:

From WalMart:

12 X 12 Colorbok Paper Pack- Boardwalk

12 X 12 Colorbok Paper Pack- French Prep

12 X 12 Colorbok Glitter Paper - Gold Rush

Elmer's Spray Adhesive

From Hobby Lobby:

About 1 Yard of Burlap Fabric

Cricut Cartridges:

Thanksgiving Table Decor: GveThnks - 3 layers

Thanksgiving: AcornLyr - 2 layers

Thanksgiving Table Decor: NpkRg1-s (leaves)

Thanksgiving: Leaf - 2 layers (leaf border)

Thanksgiving Table Decor: Crnucpia (leaves)

Thanksgiving Invites with Cricut

My Dad's family and extended family get together every year for Thanksgiving but in the last few years it seems to be hit or miss.  Since I've moved into the old family home, I don't think everyone, especially those from out of town, realized that I was continuing the family tradition.  So this year I decided to do things a little differently.  We usually call or email everyone to remind them of the get together and to let them know what dish we'd like for them to bring for lunch.  But this year I thought it would be fun and interesting to send and invite with an RSVP and let everyone choose their own dish to bring, let it be a true pot luck lunch.  And with plenty of time, as I sent these out at the first of October, I could plan to fill in any gaps in the menu that may occur.  The response I've received so far from family far and wide is that they loved getting the handmade invitation and RSVP card.  It seems that it made everyone feel quite special, not only for being personally invited but also because of the hand crafted nature of the card.  You might want to consider something of this nature for your next big family get together.  This simple invitation has already made this a Thanksgiving no one will ever forget.

I made the cards in assembly line fashion.  Instead of making one complete card at a time, I repeated the same step on each card before moving on to the next step.  For instance, I adhered the inside mat to each card then moved on to the next component for the inside of the card.  It seems to me that repeating the same action over and over went more quickly than trying to make one cart at a time.  I've attached the instructional video to this post so you can get a visual of assembling the cards.

I also hand made all of the envelopes from patterned scrapbook paper with the pattern on the inside of the envelope.  It is the little touches like that that take the project to another level.  It is so impressive looking with you open an envelope and there is this beautiful pattern to greet you!

Video Tutorial for this Card.

Products Used for this Card

From WalMart:

6X6 Colorbok Paper Pack - Darling Jewel

12 X 12 Colorbok Paper Pack - French Prep

12 X 12 Colorbok Paper Pack - Boardwalk

8 1/2 X 11 Colorbok Cardstock - Craft

Matte Photo Paper

Gold Glitter Glue

Elmer's Tape Runner

Elmer's Dot Runner

Aleene's Clear Tacky Glue

From Amazon:

Deco Foil - Gold

Kuretake Watercolors

Memento Dew Drop Ink Pads - Rich Cocoa and Lady Bug

Stamps:

GodBlessYourArt Etsy Shop - Label Maker Alphabet

Cricut Cartridges/Images:

Thanksgiving: PlseJnUs

Thanksgiving: CardLyr

Autumn Celebrations: Plgrm1-s

From the Dollar Tree:

Metallic Colored Sequins

"Handmade By" Custom Product/Gift Tags

God bless my darling husband!!  He sees all of the things that I make as works of art and was very bothered by the fact that I didn't sign or label my hand made goods in some way that let people know I made them.  Due to his encouragement I decided to purchase a "Handmade By" stamp.  Off to Etsy I went to find the perfect stamp that would suit my taste and personality.  I was so pleased to find one that featured a butterfly.  The butterfly has long been a symbol I relate to.  It represents to me the struggles we go through before we emerge in beauty and take flight.  I had been using my stamp on the back of cards and other paper crafting projects and then it occurred to me that I could make tags to put on items I've crafted that couldn't be stamped, like knitted objects.  The idea of tags utilizing pretty scrapbook paper came to me so off to the computer and Cricut I went!  After a long search, I settled on a fairly simple tag design with just a little flourish to it.  These tags can be customized in so many ways to adorn any hand made object.  I hope you enjoy the tutorial.

Video Tutorial for this project.

Products Used for this Project:

From WalMart:

Colorbok 8 1/2 X 11 Card Stock - Craft

Colorbok 6X6 Paper Pack - Hootenanny

Colorbok 6X6 Paper Pack - Darling Jewel

Satin Ribbon

Elmer's Spray Adhesive

Cricut Cartridges/Images Used:

Lovely Floral: Tag1

Lovely Floral: Tag1-s

Lovely Floral: Frame4-s

From Etsy:

Handle Mounted Stamp from MyCustomStamps

From Amazon:

Ranger Archival Ink - Watering Can

Congratulations ~ Wedding Card ~ Die Cutting ~ Stamping

If you are keeping up with my projects, then you saw the beautiful platter we did last week as a wedding present.  Well, I couldn't very well give that hand made personalized gift with a store bought card, now could I?  Lol, but seriously, I was really inspired by this couple and their journey and of course my creative juices were flowing so I set out to make a personal and unique card to go with their personal and unique wedding present.  I truly don't ever know exactly what design I am going to do when I sit down to make a card.  I just start pulling paper out that I feel fits the occasion and person/people that the card is going to and the rest just flows from there.  The ideas for sentiments, scriptures, images, patterns all just start coming together piece by piece.  I wish I could say my process was more organized than that, but the truth of it is, I really don't have a plan.  What you see on camera is literally what came to me minutes before I turned it on.  You are watching the process as it unfolds with me.

 I have made a great effort to keep my most needed items at hand and organized so if something is not working, I can switch gears and grab another item quickly and keep the flow going.  This card really came about like that.  Adhesives, as you have seen if you've watched my card videos, has been my biggest struggle.  I'm working on it and exploring different options and what works and doesn't work for me.  But I've got to tell you, when all else fails, Elmer's Spray Adhesive saves the day and gets the job done.  You may want to make a "spray box" to use with it though.  It does get everywhere if you don't control the over spray.  So, with all that said, on to the good stuff!! Video tutorial for this project.

Front

Inside

Materials Used

From Walmart

Hampton Basic Rubber Stamps - Congratulations and Mr. & Mrs.

A2 White Cards

Jolee's Boutique Le Grande Dimensional Stickers-Faith Hope And Rejoice

12 X 12 Paper Pack - French Prep

From Hobby Lobby

Tim Holtz - Paper Stash - Motif Resist

Cricut Cartridge

Kate's ABC's - BabyGirlFont1