Monster Mash Notecards

He did the mash…the monster mash!

Brings back memories of my first grade tap dance recital and green dyed leotards with matching tights…

But these monsters are much cooler.

They have glitter. And bats. Cool.

I finally got back into using my Cricut after a long hiatus, and I remember why I love it so much. It’s fast, easy, and you can make really unique stuff.

The die cut for these is on the Cricut “Wild Card” cartridge (appropriate name, right?) and I sliced them with the Cricut set to 3.5 inches. The bats are from the same Cricut cartridge and are at 2.5 inches.

For the background, I used pre-cut cardstock from one of the mat stack books. It’s easier more efficient than cutting from scratch. These cards are from a 4.5 x 6.5 inch mat stack.

I’m also back into making envelope liners.

Envelope liners are an easy DIY. I sacrificed an envelope to make an initial stencil, which is slightly narrower and shorter than the actual envelope. For the liner, I recommend using lightweight paper, not cardstock, as its easier to crease and doesn’t require extra postage. Glue in and you are set.

While I highly doubt anyone notices envelope liners…I like to think they give the cards something extra.

Card + envelope liner.

Ready to do the monster mash yet?

Clearly, I’m just a bit excited for Halloween.

Oh, and I have to dress up at my work…so if anyone has office appropriate Halloween costume ideas, please send them my way!

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A’hoy Mate!

Yo ho, yo ho a pirate’s life for me…

But back to reality. My goddaughter came to visit a few weekends ago, and her mom mentioned that they are going to a pirate-themed party.

SAY NO MORE.

Not only is Pirates of the Carribean pretty much one of my favorite drinking games movies, I just so happened to have this sweet pirate ship shape for my Cricut.

(Okay, so yes, technically you could say it was just a regular ship like the Nina, Pinta, or Santa Maria…but I like to think it’s the Black Pearl.)

(And if you don’t mentally read “the Black Pearl” in a pirate voice…something is wrong with you.)

Use the outsides of the Cricut cutout for the stencil, and then use the Cricut shape for the notecard.

I had the Cricut set on 4.5 inches, and the onesie is size 6-12 months. This notecard is an A6 size.

Savvy?

If you want a full tutorial on painting baby onesies with stencils, here is a step-by-step overview.

Gifting on a Budget: Customized Onesies

For me, it’s not the Year of the Dragon. It’s the “year of the shower.” As in, wedding and baby showers.

Last year, I had seven bridal showers and this year, I’m already locked into two baby showers. And it’s just the beginning of March.

So, I’m focused on finding thoughtful gifts that don’t break the bank. Which is what spurred me to make these onesies. I originally saw the idea here on Finley & Oliver, which has a ton of great DIY ideas for kids.

You don’t need to be a master seamstress to make these, as long as your design isn’t too complex.

Here’s what you need:

• Felt
• Heat n’ Bond or a similar iron-on transfer paper
• Onesies (duh)
• Sewing machine

You can stitch these by hand, but given how much wear and tear baby clothes get, machine-sewing makes them much more durable.

I used my Cricut Expression to cut out some of the shapes, which made tracing them super fast. Else there are lots of free downloadable shape templates for things like polygons or chevrons and a quick google search will find whatever you need.

When you’ve selected a design, it’s five quick steps to handcrafted onesie gold.

1. Trace your design
2. Iron onto felt
3. Cut out the shapes and layout your design
4. Iron the shapes onto onesies
5. Stitch down for added durability

You could easily use this technique to make a custom tee or bag too.

Happy crafting!

I mustache you…

I know the mustache trend is a bit overused…but I can’t help it. I saw this easy DIY project on the Finley and Oliver blog and I couldn’t resist.

Plus, my Friday night consisted on running into not one, but TWO ex-boyfriends at the same bar.

With their new girlfriends.

Who I got to meet.

Because the new gfs “really wanted to meet me.” Which we all know means they wanted to check me out up close. Like I’m some sort of zoo animal. As I said: good luck chuck.

So, crafting fun and crazy-cute mustache items kept my mind off things (and my hands off the chardonnay and corkscrew). I cut out the letters for these on my Cricut Expression (chirp chirp!) using the Plantin Schoolbook font, with the “shadow” feature. The blue card letters were sliced at 2 inches and the green card letters at 2.5 inches. The glitter paper I purchased at Michaels–its pretty thick, so if you’re using a “slice and dice” machine like me, be sure to change the blade depth.

Now, the most important part. The mustache graphic. I downloaded an image of mustaches that I saw on the Cheddar Guppies blog. After some resizing, I traced this onto the back of the glitter paper and cut out VERY CAREFULLY. As we all know, because I am efficient (read: lazy), I use a stack of precut cardstock for the actual cards. It’s way easier than trying to cut out an exact rectangle and the paper comes in a rainbow of colors.

Arrange the letters how you like and glue onto the card stock. And then you’re set to mail out some mustache love.

For the love of the Cricut

cakerypapery got amped up this Christmas. My delightful sister and frequent cakerypaperite, got me a Cricut Expression. And, while she didn’t splurge for the pink version, it’s still pretty awesome. You pronounce it ‘cricket,’ like the chirp-chirp bug kind.

The first successful Cricut card from the papery.

If I’m completely honest…there were a few (aka many) unsuccessful Cricut cards before I got the hang of it.

If you’re into card making, I would definitely recommend a Cricut. It takes a little to get used to, and is definitely a machine that will enable a paper-rubber cement-craft supply buying habit…but it’s well worth it.