2012 Halloween Costumes

As promised here are the costumes Dee and I created for our daughter, nephew and our friend's 2 year old daughter.

First up is Miss Lily, age 2, sporting a poodle skirt tutu with belt and monogrammed onesie that we created:

Next is our 10 month old nephew, Rett, in his "little monster" costume.  (We created the hat and the tail.):

And finally is Miss Demi's handcrafted costume that she wore to a school event and didn't make it to Halloween (she lost the apron at school and I managed to pull one of the hat ties out and didn't get it repaired in time).  My Mom, Dee and I spent three days and tons of hours putting this darned dress and bonnet together!  Also pictured is the gypsy costume we pulled together that she ended up wearing to Trick-or-Treat.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all had tons of Halloween treats!

~ Jen

Market Fresh Monday Cartridge Showcase

Happy Monday -- hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  Today I am one of the featured Designers at My Paper Crafting for the Market Fresh Monday Cartridge Showcase!  I used Cricut's Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cartridge for my projects -- this cartridge has been retired, but don't worry . . . Provo Craft has added a digital version to the Cricut Craft Room.

I decided to really challenge myself and create something using some of the tags and other elements on this cartridge -- you know, from the "pieces and parts!"  I studied the handbook and decided that the rounded-end rectangle (page 101) kind of looked like the parts of a basket . . .

The rim is cut at 11 1/2" long by 1 1/4" wide.  The four side wall pieces are cut at 9 1/2" long by 1 1/4" wide.  The handle is 11" long by 1" wide.  I inked the edges with a light brown ink pad and used antique brass colored brads to attach the handle and for decoration where the rim piece overlaps.

Then I decided I needed something to go in my little basket.  Hmmmm . . . strawberries!  I welded together five oval tags (page 83), the circle tag (page 82) and the pointy-topped tag (page 87) for my tab.  I scored between all the petals and used double-sided adhesive tape to close the box sides.  The top of each petal has a small hole which I threaded a piece of 1/4" green satin ribbon through.  I pulled the ribbon through a hole in my strawberry leaf and then tied a small bow.  These little berries are the perfect size to hold a single Hershey Kiss candy!

Next up:  Christmas gift boxes!  It is almost that time of year again . . . and I always love to package little things for my youngest daughter and my nieces and nephews in cute gift boxes.  My almost 2-year old nephew, Evan, was stacking some boxes on top of each other not too long ago and the light bulb went on and this little gift box was born!

This is the square box from page 119.  The top two boxes were cut at 8" wide by 6 1/2" tall (unassembled size); the third box was cut at 9 1/2" wide by 7 3/4" tall; the bottom box was cut at 11" wide by 9 1/4" tall.  The brim of the hat is the round tag (page 82) cut at 3 1/2".  The carrot nose is approximately 1" long and is one of the shapes on page 110.  Some black rhinestones, a bit of left over ribbon and a couple of holly leaves with a berry brad finish off this adorable gift box tower.  I used some strong double-sided adhesive tape to stick the box bottoms to the box tops.  Each box opens, it is just connected to the box on top of it.

And what child wouldn't love to open one of these cuties!

They are made using the cake slice box found on page 126.  The box is cut at 11 3/8" wide by 9 1/2" tall.  I used parts one of Melin's super cute cutting files -- Santa and Rudolph -- from PaperCraftingWorld.com.  Some ribbon scraps, rubber stamp ink and pen detailing finish off these cuties!

I hope you have enjoyed my showcase today!  Make sure you head over to My Paper Crafting to see what my fellow teammate, Janet, has created with the Tags, Bags, Boxes & More 2 cartridge.

~ Jen

CWC Challenge: 3-D Treats

Happy Wednesday!  

There have been a few changes . . . CookingWithCricut.com is now "My Paper Crafting" and our weekly challenge is now called "Craft With Cutters."  The powers that be at ProvoCraft sent Melin a letter saying that she could no longer use the trademarked "Cricut" in her blog/web site title.  Thus the changes -- still the same group of crafty ladies having a blast creating with their electronic die cutting machines!!

So our "Craft With Cutters" Challenge this week was to create a 3-D treat -- no cards, no layouts and no tricks!  Here is what I created:

My sweet little nephew, Rett, will be experiencing his very first Halloween this year.  And since his Mommy always calls him "my little monster" a cute little monster costume was in order.  (This was taken last week at our neighborhood pumpkin patch -- I know I'm biased, but isn't he just the cutest baby!!)

Because the weather in Florida this time of year is always so unpredictable, we didn't want to make him anything too hot to wear.  This cute little hat is made of lightweight fleece.  I used the Cricut Mini Monsters cartridge to cut the eyes, horns and teeth.  (Yes, your Cricut will cut lightweight fleece if you are very patient.)  It will be paired with a cute little monster shirt made by Garanimals and a pair of jeans.  I've also got a monster tail in the works -- however, it is not quite finished yet.

We have been very busy making costumes (a pink poodle skirt tutu for a friend's 2 year old, a "Little House on the Prairie" dress, bonnet and apron for our 8 year old daughter and  Rett's monster costume) and getting everything ready for my daughter's class Fall Party next week.  The sewing machine and the Cricut have been getting a work-out!

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my 3-D project.  I hope you'll head on over to My Paper Crafting and check out the fabulous treats the other Designers made!

~ Jen

P.S.  Make sure you bookmark the new My Paper Crafting web site.  Oh, and I will definitely be posting pictures of the costumed cuties in the near future!