A Merry Little Holiday House

November 26, 2019November 26, 2019Leave a comment

How to make A Merry Little Holiday House.

A cute little holiday decoration using the Eileen Hull House Ornament Die.

Perfect for gift giving. Just add a small battery operated tea light and see it glow.

A Merry Little House Supplies Used: (*affiliate links)

*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!

Directions:

Cut two pieces of Red and Black Buffalo Plaid paper 6″ x 8″.
Run both pieces of paper design side up through the Xyron Creative Station*. As the paper moves through the Creative Station it adds adhesive to the underneath side of the paper. You get full and complete adhesive covering on the paper.
Cut two pieces of Mat Board* 6″ x 8″.
Adhere the buffalo plaid paper onto each one of the mat board. (underneath will be plain)

Lay covered matboard on top of the house ornament die and sandwich it between two sizzix cutting plates. Run the die, mat board and cutting plates through the Big Shot Die Cutting Machine*. The Big Shot will cut out the house shape and two tiny houses that you can use on a later project.
Cut two houses shapes.

A Merry Little Holiday House bits and pieces.

Carefully fold on the scored lines.
Cut off the top tab with the two holes on both houses. (This tab is used if you want to make it an ornament.)
You will also need to cut the bottom flap from one of the houses.
Use Super Glue to assemble the house. Glue all sides of the house together before gluing the roof tabs. Leave bottom tab unglued so that you can add a small battery operated tea light.

For the Roof: Cut a piece of Black Corrugated paper 2 1/2″ x 4″. Fold in half and glue to top of the roof.
Place two small pieces of white matboard over the window section of the ornament house die and run through the big shot die cutting machine. Trim around matboard to create two small windows. Glue windows frames onto house.

Add the “Merry” chipboard sticker from the Christmas Market Chipboard Accents to the front of the house.
Make wreath out of a 6″ piece of the craft pine stem.
Create a small bow from the red twine and glue onto front of wreath.
Glue wreath to front of the house.

Carta Bella Christmas Market Collection* (available on Amazon)

Give the Gift of Amazon Prime*

Country Christmas Pocket Notebook

October 2, 2019October 3, 201956 Comments

Country Christmas Pocket Notebook.

Being a friend and a big fan of the creative dies that Eileen Hull designs for Sizzix…

I was happy to jump on the band wagon with Eileen Hull’s Design Team and Educators

to create an album using Eileen Hull’s NEW Pocket Notebook Die from Sizzix*.

You’ll just flip at the amazing things these ladies have come up with.

Make sure to read to the end of this post to see the full list of designers.

*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!

Is it too early to start thinking Christmas?

Once I saw the Simple Stories– Country Christmas 6 x 8 paper pad* I knew it would make

a cute little album for Christmas using Eileen Hull’s Pocket Notebook Die*.

To create the album you’ll need to cut out the pieces from matboard.

The Sizzix Little Sizzles Mat Board* is the perfect size to use with the XL Sizzix dies.

I like to use my Xyron Creative Station* to add adhesive to the back of the paper.

You can do this before or after you cut the die.

The Pocket Notebook Die* cuts the cover (you will need 2), a pen-loop and latch and pages for

the book. The page size is adjustable and the spine of the book can be any size from 3/8″ to 2″.

I kept the cover and inside of my album pretty simple, I’ll embellish it more as I add pictures.

The spine has pre-cut holes for gathering the inside pages.

I folded several of the 6″ x 8″ paper from the pad to make little page groupings.

Each one is held together with an elastic loop with I tied on the outside of the spine.

I created a couple pocket pages in the center of one of the page groupings.

There’s a lot of possibilities and potential when using the Pocket Notebook die.

Country Christmas Pocket Notebook Products Used:

Welcome to the Pocket Notebook Release Party!

Eileen’s Inspiration and Educator teams have combined to show us their amazing Pocket Notebook ideas. Please follow the Blog Hop to see all of the fabulous projects, techniques and videos!

There are also two GIVEAWAYS– the Pocket Notebook die and a gift certificate for Eileen’s Etsy store. To enter to win, leave a comment on each of the posts. Winners will be announced on Tuesday, October 8 on Eileen’s Facebook Live show.

Thanks for hopping along with us today!

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.

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.