Back to School Teacher Gift

September 4, 2019September 3, 20192 Comments

As the new school year begins…

Don’t forget about the teachers in your life.

We all know your child’s teacher is over the moon to have your wonderful child in her class,

but just remember, she still has to deal with “you know who’s” kid.

And while she may “need” school supplies…

what she really wants is CHOCOLATE. (and maybe wine)

Believe me…she’s not ready for summer to be over either.

To ~~bribe~~ entice your child’s teacher…

You might want to create a Back to School Teacher’s Gift Box using the

Xyron 9″ Creative Station* and the Eileen Hull Treasure Box Die*.

Back to School Teacher Gift Box Supplies Used:

Xyron 9″ Creative Station*
Xyron Creative Station Permanent Adhesive Refill*
Eileen Hull Treasure Box Die*
Sizzix Little Sizzles Chipboard*
Sizzix Big Shot Die Cutting Machine*
Decorative Scrapbook Paper
Faux Leather Paper
4 Pencils

*Disclosure: This blog uses ads and affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase using one of the links, I receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you) that helps offset the costs of maintaining this blog. Thanks for your support!

To Create the Back to School Teacher Gift Box:

Lay decorative scrapbook paper (design side up) on the Xyron 9″ Creative Station* crank the handle to run the paper through the machine. As it moves through the Xyron Creative Station it adds adhesive to the back side of the paper. The Xyron Creative Station is easy to use and it doesn’t need electricity.
Adhere the paper onto the chipboard. If you would like a design on the inside of the box, adhere coordinating paper on the other side of the chipboard.

I love using the Xyron Creative Station* when making larger projects like this because you get complete coverage, great adhesion, no wrinkling and no bubbles!

Lay the covered mat board over the Treasure Box Die* sandwiched between two cutting plates. (for larger dies use the Sizzix Extender Cutting Plates)
Crank the handle of the Sizzix Big Shot Die Cutting Machine*and run the die through the machine. The Big Shot will cut and score the mat board.

You will need to cut two of each piece to create the treasure box.

Fold chipboard along creased lines and attach matching pieces together. Because the chipboard is thick, you will need a strong adhesive to bond the pieces together.
Glue the two rectangle pieces on the top and bottom of the box and lid.

Cut the tops off 4 pencils approx. 3/4″.
Cut one long 3-3/4″ pencil piece.
Cut two pieces of pencil 1/2″.

Glue the 4 pencil tops to the bottom of the box to create feet.
Glue the two small pencil pieces onto the larger pencil piece to create a handle.

To create the hinges…

Add adhesive on a piece of faux leather paper by running it through the Xyron Creative Station.
Adhere it to a second piece of faux leather paper so that it’s double sided.
Die cut two hinges using the hinge part of the Treasure Box die.
Adhere onto back of the box.

Fill the box with chocolates or other goodies and give to your favorite teacher.

“This is a sponsored post. As a member of the Xyron Makers Program I have been provided product and compensation in exchange for my creative ideas. The views and opinions are my own.

Little Red Barn

August 7, 2019August 8, 2019Leave a comment

The Little Red Barn…

Every summer we take on a new project and this summer has been all about the barn.

Our old barn was built in two sections and one of the sections was in pretty bad shape.

We tore down the rickety part and have been rebuilding the other half.

My only requirement for the new barn was that I wanted it red. (and maybe a few other changes)

I’ll save the Barn Make-Over for another post.

*Disclosure… “This is a sponsored post. I have been provided product in exchange for my creative ideas. The views and opinions are my own.”

So… when I received Eileen Hull’s House Ornament Die* naturally I saw a barn.

I guess I’m in full barn mode.

I made a few adjustments to the die-cut house, like removing the top section for tying and

adding a roof made from black corrugated paper.

I added a couple barn doors cut from chipboard and added a thin piece of corrugated

paper over top for an awning.

The bottom of the house opens up and would look cute with a tea light glowing inside.

*Disclosure: This blog uses affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase using one of the links, I receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you) that helps offset the costs of maintaining this blog. Thanks for your support!

The die also comes with a little tag to hang from the top of the house.

I added a little awning over the window. So many possibilities.

This house die* is quickly becoming my new favorite die.

I can’t wait to create another house (or two) all decked out for Christmas.

Quick and Easy Summer Mini Album

July 19, 2019July 24, 2019Leave a comment

Quick and Easy Summer Vacation Mini Album

You don’t have to take an expensive Summer Vacation to have fun when your a kid.

Between Baseball games, Swim Lessons, Swim Team, Carnivals, Pie Eating Contests,

Fireworks, Drive In Movies, Swimming, Summer Reading Program, Mini Gardens,

Tie-Dyeing and just playing outside….there’s always something to do.

Because we have so many great pictures, I decided to make my grandsons a

Summer Vacation Mini Album to remember all the good times they’ve had this summer.

To Create my Summer Vacation Mini Album I used: (*affiliate links)

Xyron Creative Station*
Creative Station Permanent Adhesive Refill*
Xyron Mega Runner*
Sizzix 663635 Notebook Die by Eileen Hull*
Sizzix Little Sizzles Mat Board*
Sizzix Big Shot Die Cutting Machine*
Seas the Day Collection from Dare 2B Artsy
Blue and White Bakers Twine*

With the help of my Xyron Creative Station* putting the album together was super easy.

Cut two 6″ x 8-1/2″pieces of decorative scrapbook paper for the front and inside of the cover.
Lay decorative scrapbook paper (design side up) on the Xyron Creative Station* crank the handle to run the paper through the machine. As it moves through the Xyron Creative Station it adds adhesive to the back side of the paper.
Easy to use and it doesn’t need any electricity.
I like using the Xyron Creative Station* when making mini books because you get complete coverage, no wrinkling, no bubbles!

Cut a piece of mat board 6″ x 8-1/2″.
Adhere the decorative paper on each side of the mat board.

Lay the covered mat board over the notebook die* sandwiched between two cutting plates.
Crank the handle of the Sizzix Big Shot Die Cutting Machine*and run the die through the machine. The Big Shot will cut and score the mat board.

The notebook die creases the center of mat board as it goes through the Big Shot Die Cutting Machine making it easy to fold the cover for your mini album.

Cut a 2 1/4″ x 5″ strip of decorative paper to use for the spine and run it through the Xyron Creative Station*.
The small “hello summer” graphic is from an old Bo Bunny collection that I hoarded and never used. It was perfect for this album. (sorry I don’t think you can find it anymore)

Cut 5 white cardstock pages using the notebook die.
Crease the cardstock on the center score lines.
Using blue and white twine, wrap the twine around the inside creases and around the outside of the book cover to secure the pages.
I did one page at a time tying the twine in a knot on the outside after each page.

After I had all my pages together, I tied all the piece of twine together in one knot on the spine and let the ends of the twine hang loose.

I wanted this Summer Mini Album to be all about the pictures.

There are no fancy embellishments or special pages inside this album.

(just lots of fun pictures of my boys)

The hardest part about making this album was choosing which pictures I wanted to use.

I printed my pictures 4″ x 5.3″ instead of the usual 4″ x 6″.

I cut each picture 3 1/4″ x 4 3/4″ which left a nice white border around my picture when added

to the album. I used my Xyron Mega Runner* to add adhesive on the back of the pictures.

I had all 21 pictures added to my album in no time. (one on the inside back cover)

These are three busy little boys.

They’ve had a great summer so far and they still have another month to go before school starts.

Who says summer is about lazy days.

The Summer Vacation Mini Album measures 3 3/4″ x 5″.

“This is a sponsored post. As a member of the Xyron Makers Program I have been provided product and compensation in exchange for my creative ideas. The views and opinions are my own.