Go Glitter!

I have been eyeing these glitter ornaments on Pinterest for a couple of years. I planned to make them as Christmas gifts last year, but it just did not happen. This year, however, I was determined. The glass ornaments were purchased at Michael's. The various glitter colors that I used were purchased at Joann.

I read several other blog posts before I tackled this project. Following this, I went on the search for clear floor wax that could be used to glitter the inside of the ornaments. I have to tell you I probably agonized over which floor wax to purchase more than anything else. This seems crazy, but I wanted to make sure the glitter would stick. I usually hate glitter ornaments because they tend to leave glitter everywhere. This way the mess is only in the beginning. One key lesson here is to be sure that the wax covers the inside of the entire ornament adequately. There is no going back once you have applied the glitter.

I gave out these ornaments with names on them to many of my friends this year.

I went through quite a bit of my ribbon supply as well. I found that the wider ribbon was much more difficult to tie on the ornament. However, it seemed to stand out more. However, I could tie a nicer ribbon with the smaller size. The Cricut cartridge Cursive 101 was used to create the lettering. The vinyl I used came from a variety of places. The cheapest I found came from Joann Fabrics. It was less than $6 a roll on sale. I was very excited with this discovery. Since these include a $5 coupon for Cricut digital images, I think I got a great deal.  

In addition to making these ornaments, I also made some special ornaments with pet names. I used the same font cartridge, but I also used a paw print (for dog ornaments) and a cat silhouette. The paw print was composed of a couple of different images, because I did not like any of the Cricut paw print images that I had. 

Layering the vinyl on these ornaments was easier than I expected. One issue that I had though was bubbles along the edges of the cat and paw print cut outs. I am not sure this is avoidable, but I do plan on doing some experimenting to see if I can get the images to lay flat on the ornament. Next time around I plan on cutting the edges of the vinyl sheet to see if I can bend it more to the shape of the ornament. We will see if that works. If it does, I guess I will issue a recall for those who received one of these. :)

Baby, Baby

I recently attended a baby shower for a good friend of mine. They don't know the gender of the baby, so gender neutral colors were in order. If you have ever looked for shower decorations in greens and yellows, it is harder than you think. Anyway, I decided to tackle two new projects. I created my first banner and bouquet for the shower.

I tried taking a picture of the banner hanging, but the light from the window made it impossible to see. 

The background shapes for the banner were created using Accent Essentials and the letters are from George and Basic Shapes. I used a brown marker to make the dots around the edges of the shapes, and everything is tied together using a sheer yellow and light green ribbon. I used grommets for the outside center portion to run brown ribbon through to hang the banner. An important lesson emerged from this experience..... Do not, let me repeat, do not run the ribbon for hanging the banner through the center. This makes it very difficult to get the sections to hang correctly. I would definitely run the ribbon through the top next time. I added stickers that I purchased at Michael's to embellish the banner.

The bouquet was much more challenging. I did not use my Cricut on this project. I used stickers that I already had and cut paper to match the size. I also added ribbon for embellishment. Since this my first time creating a bouquet, I tried to keep it simple. I purchased the bucket at Wal-Mart for $1 and inside I placed floral foam. I attached each piece with tape to a skewer and arranged.

You will notice there are also sugar cookies I made to match. Don't look too closely. Eventually, I will make an icing that does not run. Sigh....