Year in Review-Cooking with Cricut Weekly Challenge

Wow, I cannot believe the year is almost over!  It has gone SO fast this year!  One of the wonderful things I have enjoyed for this latter part of the year is being on the Cooking with Cricut Design Team!  This weeks Wednesday challenge is a year in review to look at some of our favorite projects from 2011.  Here are a few of mine :)

I think my most favorite project of the year are my daughters autograph books.  Not so much because of the crafting side because they are pretty simple but really because they represent our trip to Disney World which was totally magical even though it was not our first time, LOL.  I LOVE Disney World.  Here is a picture and you can see the original post here:

Another one of my favorites was for St. Patrick's Day.  Although we are not Irish I love doing stuff for the kids with the green theme!   Here is one little pic of a craft from that day:

There were two posts for St. Patrick's Day this year, they can be found here and here.

Another favorite of mine were the Mother's Day mini albums I made for my mom, mother in law and grandmothers.  Here is a picture of the outside of those and the entire post can be found here.

One last favorite (there are more but I have to get to work, hehe) is my Halloween wreath.  It was my first wreath ever and I just LOVED how it turned out.  Here is a picture and here is where you can find the original post.

I hope you enjoyed seeing a few of my favorite projects! Feel free to look around for some more on here :)  Also, don't forget to go back to Cooking with Cricut and join us for this weeks challenge!

Thanks for stopping by and have a CRAFTY day!

My older/little girls birthday invitations

Last week while frantically getting ready for Christmas I realized I needed to also make my daughters birthday invitations (her birthday is January 7 and since it actually falls on a weekend we could actually do her party on her birthday which means only one birthday celebration...when it does not fall on a weekend we usually do 2, a small one on their bday with just us and then a little party on the weekend).  I had found the idea online (I think my friend Stephannie found it and sent it to me) at http://www.supermommoments.com/2011/01/tangled-birthday-party-invitation/ a while back and knew I had to make them and had even (luckily) picked up the yarn/string already.

Here it is (the flowers are not "really" on there, they are just blocking our personal information :):

I did the details in a Word document and had some purple paper on hand so I easily printed (did a test first and needed to change the margins some so I could get 4 on a page to save paper) the invitations and punched them with my Creative Memories fancy square and fancy edge punch. The hardest part was the brading of the string.  I did long strands of 12 and then tied two purple ribbons in the middle and cut it so I could get two braids out of each one.  It worked out great.  Ally LOVED her invitations.  I got them mailed before Christmas too...maybe that was my Christmas miracle, LOL.  Now I have to get to work on the party decor.  I know I will be doing a tower cake (found an EASY one online) and a banner and maybe some other small things...we will see what time allows.  I will post those as they get done!

Thanks for stopping by, have a CRAFTY day!

Day 25-MERRY CHRISTMAS! 25 Days of Christmas Crafting Fun!

Welcome to Day 24 of the 25 Days of Christmas Crafting Showcase.  Today we are focusing on Jesus is the reason for the seanson!  Make sure you stop by Cooking with Cricut to check out all of the designers wonderful projects today and each day during our showcase!  


I made some goodies for my SOR (School of Religion Students). 

I used Art Philosophy to cut the green fancy square at 4 inches, then I cut the white (using center cut because I printed the sentiment out on my computer) at 3.75 inches.  I added the red faux stitching, used some brads to keep them together and added the candy cane for the J!  The kids loved them.

Don't forget to go back to Cooking with Cricut to see all of the great freebies and ideas shared by the other designers.  You can also enter to win some great prizes!  (Make sure you read the requirements for the giveaways completely).

Thanks for stopping by and have a craft day!

Day 24-Christmas Crafting Fun with Cooking with Cricut

Welcome to Day 24 of the 25 Days of Christmas Crafting Showcase.  Today we are focusing on Three Wise Men, Little Drummer Boy, Shepherd, sheep, manger scene w animals, etc.  Make sure you stop by Cooking with Cricut to check out all of the designers wonderful projects today and each day during our showcase!  


I made some gift tags for my boys gifts using the two free digi prints, the Shepherd and drummer boy.

I thought this would be a cute and easy way to personalize their tags.  Now I just need to make sure I have enough for their gifts!

Don't forget to go back to Cooking with Cricut to see all of the great freebies and ideas shared by the other designers.  You can also enter to win some great prizes!  (Make sure you read the requirements for the giveaways completely).

Thanks for stopping by and have a craft day!

Easy Hot Cocoa Teacher Gifts

Hello all!  I made these cute hot cocoa holders using the same theory as the gum advent calendars from Pink Cricut.  This time I just sort of free handed it in terms of measurements.

Here they are:

I added two packs of hot cocoa, then I closed it, punched a hole and tied a ribbon through, I also added two small bags (I had the bags on hand) of marshmallows and put those through the ribbon and tied it closed.  I then made a small tag and stamped it with my Pink by Design December Stamp of the Month set.  Lastly, I cut out a gift card holder that I made using Cricut CraftRoom and Art Philosophy and put it on the back of the little hot cocoa book.  Easy!  The teachers loved these and I already received one thank you card for them!  I have made 5 of these so far (my 3 year olds two teachers, my co-teacher for Sunday school and our two high school helpers).  I plan to do at least 6 more once I get some more hot chocolate for the teachers at my sons school.  I probably will not add gift cards to those because we do that as a class.  Instead I think I may add two chocolate spoons.  If I do I will add that in another post.  Thanks for stopping by today!

PS:  Don't forget to keep up with us over at Cooking with Cricut as our 25 days of crafting fun finish up this week :)

Christmas M&M Sticks

Hello everyone!  WOW, this month, this week, has been SO busy.  I have had many late nights finishing up items for the kids and teachers.  Today I wanted to share M&M sticks I made for my 3 year olds preschool classmates (and teachers, although I also made them something else I will post another day :)).  I had ordered a bunch of different sized bags a couple of months ago when a friend of mine let me jump in on her order.  These bags are long and narrow and are self adhesive!  Very simply. 

Here they are:

I used the holiday M&M's and alternated red and green into the bag.  I then used Create a Critter for my Rudolph and gave him a cute blingy red note and some white gelly roll pen accents.  I just used a Creative Memories punch for the tag, CM circle punch for the red and green circles and a scallopped circle punch (maybe Fiscars) for the scalloped circle.  They were a big hit!  I can't wait to try this for the end of the year with skittles and put a sun on the tag! 

Thanks for stopping by, have a craft day!

25 Days of Crafting Fun-Day 15 August Theme

Hello and welcome to day 15 of the 25 Days of Crafting fun at Cooking with Cricut.  Today our theme is August, BBQ's, and Summer fun!  I made another 6X6 calendar page using the free calendar prints from Cooking with Cricut.

Here it is:

I used some red (has some speckles which you can see) and white paper to weave my picnic basket, then I added the free digi print (I gave my bear a smile :)) and the calendar print and the month title!  Just an FYI-I made my basket as a square, taped the back to make it "stay" and then I cut it to make it more of a basket shape.  I used two white strips for the handles just by folding them, punching a hole and using a brad to attach them.

Don't forget to go back to Cooking with Cricut to see all of the great freebies and ideas shared by the other designers.  You can also enter to win some great prizes!  (Make sure you read the requirements for the giveaways completely).

Thanks for stopping by and have a craft day!

CWC Weekly Challenge and Day 14 of 25 Days of Christmas Crafting Fun

Hello and welcome to the Wednesday weekly challenge over at Cooking with Cricut.  Today we are focusing on simple cards, tags and other holiday goodies.  I hope you will join us in the challenge!

I had a Holiday party to go to last weekend and wanted to make a little hostess gift.  I had about an hour.  I decided to make a little gift bag with some tags and candy in it.  The tags would be for her to use later on her own Christmas gifts :)  Hopefully making things easier on her.

Here they are:

 I made 10 tags by cutting the tags in red paper (I actually used some 6X6 scraps I had and used my Creative Memories tag cutter but could have just as easily used Tags, Bags, Boxes and More or even Jolly Holidays to cut the tags.  I then cut 10 trees (also using scrap paper but green this time).  I used a to and from stamp on one side of the tag, then added the tree on the other.  I then added some stars I had from Micheals Recollections brand and some "lights" using my iRock gem setter and some gems, I, however, could have just as easily added some adhesive rhinestones.  Lastly I used my snow writer marker to add some snow at the bottom (because I love that thing, LOL).  I added ribbon to each one and I was all set!  I tied them all together and then cut a bag from Art Philosophy using fit to page and the size of the bag was perfect.  I threw some dark chocolate Hershey kisses in the bottom, threw in the tags and was all set with my cute but thoughtful hostess gift :)

Thanks for stopping by today, make sure you go back to Cooking with Cricut and visit all of the designers today!

Have a craft day.

2 Liter Bottle Baby Shower Gift :)

I made a 20oz bottle into a little gift card holder a couple of months ago and had been wanting to do a 2 liter bottle and finally got the chance for my Aunt's baby shower this past weekend.  Unfortunately I have been SO busy that I really only had about 45 minutes to get this together so it is "plain" but it did turn out cute.

Here it is:

I used some pink and purple paper which I wrapped around it (I took the label off and cut a hole like I did with the 20oz and how it was explained in the message board where my girlfriend first found this idea).  I then added some ribbon that says OH BABY and ITS A GIRL around the top and bottom (I hot glued the ribbon).  I then added some stickers that I had on hand and I made a gift card holder (using Cricut CraftRoom and the Art Philosophy cartridge) which I stamped with the cutest sentiment from My Creative Time's Many Greetings set, then I put a Target gift card in and stuck on the side of the bottle as well :)  I put some socks, wash clothes, and small baby toiletry in the bottle.  I added a ribbon bow to the lid and a baby rattle that looks like a diamond ring.  Too cute, right!  That is my new baby girl go to gift, that rattle is just too cute (I also got a purse one but it did not fit so I just gave it to her, LOL.  I cannot wait to make one of these when I more time to plan it out and cut out some cute decorations for the bottle, but I am glad I had those stickers on hard and it feels good to use "old" stuff just sitting in my stash!  TFL.

Have a craft day!

25 Days of Crafting Fun with Cooking with Cricut Day 11

Welcome to Day 11 of the 25 Days of Christmas Crafting Showcase.  Today we are focusing on the month of June!  Make sure you stop by Cooking with Cricut to check out all of the designers wonderful projects today and each day during our showcase!  

Today I made a June 6X6 calendar page to go along with the other 6X6 pages made so far in the showcase.  I used the free digi print, the free calendar prints and added some twine.  It was as simple as that!

Here it is:

I used one of my Peachy Keen face stamps to give my cute Bear Dad a little smile :)

Don't forget to go back to Cooking with Cricut to see all of the great freebies and ideas shared by the other designers.  You can also enter to win some great prizes!  (Make sure you read the requirements for the giveaways completely).

Thanks for stopping by and have a craft day!

Ribbon Christmas Shirts for My Girls

After making those cute Turkey shirts for the girls for Thanksgiving I knew I wanted to do something for Christmas.  I found a couple of cute ideas on Pinterest using ribbon to make a tree so I was right on it!

Here is what I came up with:

UPDATE:  Here is a pic of the girls in their shirts :)

To make the trees I bought a few rolls of glittery ribbon (on sale of course) and some iRock clear gems.  For the shirts I used red shirts the girls already had because I wanted a red shirt and had trouble finding plain shirts everywhere!  I really enjoyed making these and think the girls will love them tomorrow.  They will be wearing them to breakfast with Santa which they are both SO excited about.  Hopefully I can get a cute picture of them with their brothers and Santa :)  TFL.

Matchbox Advent Calendars for My Boys

Last year I made matchbox advent calendars for my boys and for one of my nieces.  They can be seen here.  While I loved that they were home made the "drawers" were very small and hard to put any treats in besides candy.  I decided to pass those onto my girls (they are happy with a piece of candy or a sticker) and make my boys new ones with bigger "drawers".  I could not find a good template online so I just played around with it and ended up making a box that is 2.5 inches wideX 3.5 inches long and 1.5 inches tall which is perfect.  I can even fit a deck of cards in there!  PERFECT!  I had a lot of fun making these just because I love doing things like this for them.

Here they are:

I used Jolly Holidays for the tree on top (cut at 4inches) and then added some iRock gems and some snow writer marker snow (love that thing).  I printed their names directly onto a patterned card stock I had then used a Creative Memories tag punch I had to make their names.  Since I used patterned papers to make pretty boxes I did not want to decorate the outside of the Advent calendars.  In all they are about 10 inches tall and 7 inches across.  They loved them and get so excited to open a drawer each night :)  (so far they have received candy, tic tacs, Christmas playing cards, a hex bug and some erasers :)

At least next year I will just have to fill them (and maybe make new/bigger ones for the girls :)

PS:  All you really need is some paper and maybe a piece or two of cardboard for in between the layers.  I used a a few sheets of paper from a stack of Recollections Christmas paper and just some plain red and green paper Recollections paper I bought at Michaels on sale :)

25 Days of Crafting Fun with Cooking with Cricut-Day 8

Hello and welcome to day 4 of 25 days of Christmas Crafting Showcase at Cooking with Cricut.  Today's theme is April, Easter or Spring.  I made a 6X6 calendar page to go along with the ones already made (January-March) on the previous days of crafting fun!  I used the free PDF calendar provided at the Cooking with Cricut page.  I also used the free digi stamp!


April is one of my favorite months because my oldest child, my very first baby, was born in April :)  Also, I love Spring and the start of baseball season! Of course Easter and the reminder of all Jesus has done for us is also a reason to love it :)


Here is my page:

I hand cut out the digi stamp and some extra hearts (I printed it twice) so I could "layer" the hearts which is hard to tell from this photo but you can see the glossy accents I added and the snow writer marker I used on the bunny to give him some fluff!   I also added some orange bling to the calendar and the April label using my iRock.  

Cute Cupcake Birthday

My girls were invited to a birthday party last weekend so I wanted to make a cute little cupcake card.  The little girl was turning 3 so I did 3 cupcakes.  

Here it is:

I used my NEW (yeah) Princess Faces Peachy Keen face stamps (I love those little lips, LOL).  I used Once Upon a Princess for the cupcakes and I used My Creative Time Many Greetings for the Happy Birthday sentiment.  I used an edge trimmer for the candles and I added some gold stickles for the "flames".  I also added some pink stickles to the cupcakes.  TFL!

25 Days of Crafting Fun Day 5

Hello and welcome to Day 3 of crafting fun with Cooking with Cricut.  Make sure you stop by http://www.cookingwithcricut.com/ to get your frebbies, look at all of the amazing giveaways (please read the requirements to be entered for the giveaways) and great projects from the design team.

Today is all about candy canes, peppermints, etc.  I was at the grocery store and saw these lollipops and just knew I had to do something with them so I picked up a few bags.

Using Cricut CraftRoom I used the same template that I used for my Thanksgiving Turkey name cards but made the base a little bigger and made a lollipop holder! (I had seen something similar but using a die on My Creative Time). 

Here it is:

These will be from my boys to their classmates during the class Christmas party!  I used the free digi stamp to decorate the tag (I used Tags, Bags, Boxes and More but you could use any tag).  I used the print a contact sheet function on the picture wizard to get a bunch of the digi stamps small enough and to print all on one page of card stock!

If you use Cricut CraftRoom and would like the file I used email me and I will be happy to send it to you (you have to have the Art Philosophy cartridge to cut with it).  My email is debbiebutcher at comcast dot net.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to stop by Cooking with Cricut all month long for some crafty fun!

Day 4-25 Days of Crafting Fun-Love Theme

Hello and welcome to day 4 of 25 days of Christmas Crafting Showcase at Cooking with Cricut.  Today's theme is February and Love.  I decided to get an early start on planning for my Valentine gifts for the teachers at my children's school.  I used this super cute digi stamp which you can get at Cooking with Cricut to create a tube of love (also known as candy, LOL).

Here is my tube full of love (candy :):

I just used two 2X12 inch pieces of red paper for the rosette and then I cut a scalloped circle at 2.5 inches using Art Philosophy and then printed the digi stamp and used my circle punch to cut him out.  Isn't he adorable.  I hot glued it all together and then hot glued it onto my tube filled with red Rollo's (you could also do red M&M's or red Hershey kisses!  I know I would be happy to receive one of these :)

Don't forget to go back to Cooking with Cricut and see all of the great freebies and ideas shared by the other designers and you can also enter to win some great giveaways (make sure you read the requirements completely).  

Thanks for stopping by and have a crafty day!

An Easy Hostess Gift (dressed up)

My good friend Stephannie is having her annual wine and cheese tonight and she has a different theme each year.  This year it is "Summer in December" so I wanted to make a small hostess gift that could go along with the theme.  

Here is what I came up with:

While at Target I picked up a cute little box in Christmas colors that could be filled with candy.  I picked up some yummy Lindt Lindor truffles to go in (dark chocolate and peppermint).  I wanted to decorate the box and since her theme was a summer theme I used Paper Doll Dressup to make a Summer Santa, a Palm tree and a cute sun (both Santa and the sun have a cute peachy keen face).  I just recently ordered some of the snow writer makers from http://www.markersupply.com/ because I had seen it several blogs (arrived in 2 days)!  I used it on Santa's beard and the brim of his hat.  I LOVE how it turned out.  I also did a little bit of embossing on the sand part of the palm tree to make it look more sandy!  Now I just hope I can keep from eating the candy before we get there!

PS:  I also plan to give her a snow marker inside of it because she is a crafter like me :)

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a crafty day.

Gum Advent Calendars

So on my way to take my boys to school (at a stop light) I see todays posting from Pink Cricut and think OMG, I HAVE to make these!  So today as soon as I get done with work (I work from home on Tuesday and Thursdays thank goodness) I quickly make them.  The boys LOVED them because they both love gum and this ensured they could have one piece at least for the next 24 days, LOL.  My one son does not like minty gum so I had to do his a little different to give him the Trident he likes but it still worked! 

Here they are:

I used a Marth Stewart corner and edge punch for the top/side edges.  I used Pink By Designs November stamp of the month set and die for the front...isn't it perfect!  It was SUPER easy but so darn cute!  I only used 1 sheet of patterned paper and some white scratch paper for the sentiment and for the paper to hold the trident (I just stuck it on the paper with the opening side facing up so that my son could still open the gum without having to remove it from the paper).  You certainly could make yours prettier but pretty is usually lost on my boys so I went with simple :)

Now, if you want to know how to make one, stop over at Pink Cricut and watch Sarah's tutorial!