Paper Dolls & Banners

Demi's teacher asked the class (parents) to bring in items to help decorate for Valentine's Day. I received a new Cricut cartridge for Christmas called Paper Doll Dress Up (Thanks, Mom!) and had been looking for a good excuse to use it (like I really need an excuse!).

I decided to create a paper doll that looked like each child in the class and the two teachers. It was sooooooooooo much fun!! I used lots of scraps from my scrap folders and a piece of foam core board Dee picked up on sale at our neighborhood JoAnn's. I cut, Dee glued everybody together, and then I embellished them with pens and chalk. They turned out so cute! The teachers and parents loved it and the kids have had a good time picking themselves out.

I also made a "Happy Valentine's Day" banner -- again using my handy-dandy Cricut. Connected it with gold brads and added ribbon hangers.

Valentine Cards

I've been working on making Valentine cards for Demi's pre-school class. After cruising the Provo Craft Cricut message board for inspiration, I stumbled across a blogger named "Okieladybug" -- she creates the most amazing things with her Cricut and shares the files she makes. I downloaded a really cute scalloped heart that serves as an integral part of the card. Thanks for sharing, Okie!

The dinosaurs are from the Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge and the cat and monkey cuts are from the Animal Kingdom cartridge. The greeting on the inside was printed using my trusty HP printer. Demi loves them and I think they turned out pretty cute!

Princess Name Frame

One of our four year-old daughter's school friends invited her to a birthday party. I had seen these wonderful name frames people were making on the Cricut Message Board and thought it would be neat to make one geared to a child. As the proud owner of the two Disney princess cartridges and knowing how much little girls love the Princesses, I thought that a Princess Name Frame would make a perfect gift for Faith.

So, over the period of a week every time we saw Faith we asked her who her favorite Disney princess was. Every day it was a different answer. I even asked her Mom and got a completely different answer! So the solution to the problem became clear -- make them all!

We picked up a white frame at Michael's, used a piece of 12" x 12" Disney Princess words scrapbook paper from our stash, some "bling", and all those bits of paper scraps I refuse to throw away. The princesses were cut at 3" and the letters at 3.5".

I think it turned out really nice -- but the true test was the look on Faith's face when she opened it at her birthday party. She LOVED it! Her Mom sent us a really nice note thanking us for the gift and letting us know that Faith has it hung on the wall next to her bed.

I also made Faith a birthday card. Take a look . . . it turned out really cute! Again, I used my trusty Cricut and the candle from the Joys of the Season cartridge. Using the Design Studio program I laid out five candles side by side, "welding" them together so that I could make an accordion fold. Too much fun!