Northern Lights Shadow Box

This post contains affiliate links, meaning that if you click on a link I will recieve a small comission. This costs you nothing extra and I only promote products I use and love! You can read our full disclosure here

This Shadow Box was one of my favorite crafts of the holiday Season! After making oodles of prints and canvases I needed just one more piece to complete my Christmas "Art Wall" and this little reindeer fit the bill. Making it was much more straightforward than I would've thought and it came out perfect.

*This post contain affiliate links. I only link products I use and love!

Supplies:

White and Silver Glitter Permanent Adhesive Vinyl (I use Expressions Vinyl)
Craft Cutter and Tool Set
Adhesive Mat
White Textured Scrapbook Paper
12 x 12 Shadow Box
Christmas Lights-Next time I will make mine with LED lights, in this case I used regular twinkle lights :)

1. First, cut out the silver vinyl into an animal/tree of your choice using either a craft cutter or exacto knife. Next cut the white vinyl in a "wave" pattern for a nice looking snowdrift. Start by adhering the white vinyl to the bottom of the shadow box then layer on your deer using transfer paper as shown below:

2. Now cut you piece of scrapbook paper to size so that it lays flat in the bottom of the shadow box. Cut of one of the bottom corners of the shadow box depending on what side you want the lights to exit. Then, arrange the lights in the shadow box (as many as you can fit) with the end of you light string going out of the shadow box on the same corner you cut from the back of the shadow box.

3. Replace the back of the shadow box, turn over and ta-da! The Shadow Box is complete!

My favorite part of this shadow box is that is is a nice winter print by day a a multicolored light by night, perfectly adding a little something extra to my regular Christmas Decorations. Happy Holidays to all!

DIY Christmas Canvas Art

Ah tis the season to get a head start on the Holiday DIY! While my husband has forbidden decorating for Christmas just yet I can still get a start on all the Christmas decorations I plan to make this season, so I started with these holiday canvases! They were an easy project to do, I finished both within a movie's worth of time and it was a great relaxing project that was just a little bit Christmasy :).

Supplies:
8" x 10" canvases
Scrapbook Paper (1 per canvas)
Adhesive Vinyl- I used Expressions Vinyl Silver Glitter and White (for my snowman), and Angel Crafts Gold and Red (for my ornament)
Craft Cutter and Tool Set
Adhesive Mat
Fabric Glue

First, set the creases in your scrapbook paper by molding around the canvas with you fingers, then folding it to set a crease (above). This will cause the paper to not "bounce back" while trying to clue it down and make the process much easier. Then, glue the edges of the paper to the long side of the canvas and let dry. I found that fabric glue was the best glue for the job, tacky enough to hold the paper from the get go without soaking into the canvas with enough give later so that the paper didn't rip when the canvas moves.

Once the long sides are dry, use a pair of crafting scissors to cut off the excess paper on the short ends of the canvas, leaving two "flaps" of paper as shown above. Glue these to the back of the canvas as well and let dry.

Now its time for the fun part, decoration! For my "Let it Snow" Canvas, I used the Cheerful font from dafont.com. I also found a piece of snowman clip-art that I turned into the silhouette to sit on the silver glitter snow. I first added the snow (hand cut) to the bottom of the canvas, followed by the snow man. Next I cut a piece of transfer paper to 8" x 5" to guarantee that my vinyl words didn't overshoot the area of the canvas.

I lined up the words first on the adhesive mat for the Cricut cutter to get the spacing I wanted. Then using transfer paper, I set them on a diagonal on the canvas. For my "Jingle all the Way" Canvas, I aligned the words with lines from the music sheet on the scrapbook paper so that it all looked level and, similar to the snowman, hand placed the ornament on the fly where I thought it would look good. :)

Here are my finished products! Happy Holidays!

DIY Wine Bottle Turkey

One of my favorite pieces of fall decor that I made is Tipsy, my wine bottle turkey! I must admit that going into this project I didn't realize how much time it would take to finish, but it was completely worth the time and a fun chance to use my new Cricut on cardstock. Below I have posted the tutorial of how I made him, in case you are hankering for a Tipsy of your own. :)

Supplies:

Multicolored Card stock (I chose gold glitter and fall colors)
8 inch Cake Circle
Tacky glue or other craft glue
Wine Bottle, Washed out with labels removed
Scissors or Craft Cutter
Adhesive vinyl (Gold for my turkey)

1. First, cut out a myriad of leaves of different sizes and colors from your chosen card stock. In this case my Cricut was a life saver because it saved literally HOURS of cutting out paper leaves. I just took some multi-leaf clipart online and cut out one set of 12 leaves per color, totaling about 50 leaves. You may also be able to just buy card stock leave from crafts stores, but I didn't check this. :)

2. First, cut one side of the cake circle to be the botton of the turkey tail that can rest on the floor. Then, squeeze a line of craft glue on the outer edge of your cake circle. Arrange the larger of your leaves on the outside edge as shown below. Once your first layer is done, repeat the glue/leaf semi circle until you have about 4 layers of leaves.

3. Once all the leaves are set to your satisfaction, Cut a final piece of card stock to glue over the unfinished semicircle (in my case semi-oval) and let dry.

4. Once your tail is dry, either hot glue or craft glue the tail to the back of your bottle. Finish off your turkey by making a a card stock turkey face to glue to the top. (sorry no pictures of this, I have full faith in your ability to cut a circle and draw/cutout a beak and eyes :) )

5. Finally, cut out an oval in your adhesive vinyl (I used my Cricut for this) and adhere it to the front of your bottle as its "belly." This helps cover any glue lines from affixing the tail and gives it a little extra color.

And there you have it, A festive turkey to call your own!  Have fun with the colors and textures of your turkey, I may make a peacock-colored one next time. :) Happy Holidays!

Gender Reveal Cornhole: No Sew Bean Bags

I didn't quite have it in me to call these little guys sperm in the title, but they are quite possibly the cutest little sperm bean bags around. I actually got this idea from Pinterest but there were no links attached to it and the only tutorial I could find involved sewing. Seeing as I neither own a sewing machine nor am motivated enough to relearn to sew for some bean bags (especially ones that will likely only be used once) I set off to design a no sew variety that I could accomplish in a couple hours. The result turned out pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself. :)

Note: This post may contain affiliate links, where if you click the link and buy the product, I will receive a small commission. It is no extra cost to you and I only endorse products I use and love! :)

Supplies:
8 Long White Socks (try to find them without colored tips or noticeable heels)
Rice
Googly Eyes
Black Felt
Scissors
Fabric Glue
Red Paint and Circular Sponge Brush (If you want lips on your girls)
Cornhole Set (if you don't already have one)

1. If your socks have colored tips, start by flipping them inside out. Wrap the colored part around your finger and tie a knot, making sure all the color is above the knot.

2. Flip your socks right side out and one by one fill each with 1 to 1 1/2 cups of rice. My bean bags looked best with a rounded cup worth of rice but it varies from sock to sock. Tie another knot with the "tail" of the sock and tighten the knot against the base of the bean bag.

3. Next, cut the sperm tail from the extra fabric on the end of the sock. Cut from the end of the sock to the base of the knot in a serpentine pattern then repeat that cut again, making a sort of squiggly triangle. Cut off all excess sock. All your socks should look like the sock below (minus the eyes)

4. Once all the socks are stuffed with their tails cut I added the googly eyes and other accessories using fabric glue. For the boys I cut out black felt mustaches and the girls got black felt eyelashes. The girls didn't quite look like girls to me with just eyelashes so I added lips with red paint and a round sponge brush. 

They were a hit at the party and everyone had fun choosing sides! The eyelashes and mustaches actually stayed on through the whole party which was a pleasant surprise. Leave any questions in the comments!