Free French Fry Favor Box Template!

Hi Friends! Today I have a fun french fry favor box that you can craft and fill with goodies for someone! You can snag my free template here. You can print it right from my website (select landscape to print the same size I used) or download it and save it!

I printed mine on green cardstock but you can also print it on sturdy double-sided patterned paper too, just make sure to print on the side that will be the inside of the box to hide the scoring lines. Watch the video for instructions:

Supplies:

• free fry box template 
• green cardstock
• hot glue
• ruler
• scissors
• bone folder or butter knife
• stamps and ink
• die cuts or other embellishments
• Mardi Gras Beads
• snacks to put in the box

I want to thank our sponsor Love With Food for their commitment to feeding hungry children in America. They have a special offer for my blog readers: Get your first Tasting box free here and get $20 off any 6 and 12 month plans with code YTFEB15SAVE20!

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Video Tutorial: DIY Honeycomb Paper!

Edit: I created a SVG and a SCUT2 file to cut the file folder to make the glue jig. You can download it here. You can download a .cut file here for use with Design Studio, use layer 1 if you have George cart or layer 2 if you have Plantain Schoolbook. You can use a 12″x12″ mat, just let the rest of the file folder hang off the edge or use the 12″x24″ mat. Line the fold up to the 10″ mark so the slits will start 1/2″ away from the fold. See the video for an explanation of the technique before cutting the jig. 🙂

I love the look of honeycomb pop-ups on cards and tags. What I don’t love is the price. I have seen the Inky Antics Honeypop paper in a few online shops and it is $6 for a 5″x7″ piece of honeycomb tissue and, while beautiful, it is just too expensive for tissue paper (for me anyway) so I decided to try to make my own…and I did! Here is my homemade version:

It is easy to make, albeit a bit time-consuming. It take about 20 minutes to make a pad of tissue paper but it is something I can do while I watch TV (better than polishing off a bag of chips, know what I’m sayin?) and it saves me a bundle, it costs me about .30 cents to make vs. $6 to buy. See the video to learn how:

Here are some close up pics of the projects in the video:

This is a close up of the large pom-pom made with coffee filters I sprayed with ink and let dry before gluing.

Try it, you’ll like it! There is something magical about seeing that honeycomb paper the first time! If you have any questions just leave a comment and I’ll get back to you. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

A Kid’s Craft, a Freebie & a 40% Off Sale!

I was going to aim this craft to all of the teachers and moms out there but after I made it I have to say it was a ton of fun and I urge everyone to try it! I am teaching a craft program at the local library next week and I thought it would be fun to do Chinese New Year. I planned on the kids decorating “lucky money” envelopes, coloring dragon masks {for the preschoolers} and for the big kids we could make dragon puppets:

Wow, it was so fun to make the samples. The lucky money envelopes are freebies. I used the SVG in the kit to cut my envelopes from red paper but there is a printable version too if you do not have a die-cut machine. Also There is a full color printable with a Chinese dragon (2012 is the year of the dragon) on the back if you just want to print them and not have to decorate. BTW {shameless plug} Everything at Lindsay’s stamp Stuff is 40% off now through Sunday so after you snag that freebie be sure to have a look around at all of the new products I have added this month!

When I went looking for inspiration on making a dragon puppet I did an internet search and came across a cute template on the Martha Stewart website, well, there was no need to reinvent the wheel there!

Did you know you can cut PDF files with SCAL?

Oh yeah! I saved the PDF dragon template and imported into scal2 (click file-import-then pick the pdf file you want) and with a little tweaking (there is a rogue node on the dragon’s head, just drag it over to the node next to it and click union to make it one shape) I had a great file to cut! Note: I enlarged it and moved it around on my mat to make best use of space. I’d love to share the SVG but I don’t know if that would be cool with Martha.  😀 You can check out her template and instructions here.

I love how the body is jointed so it wiggles and moves when you hold the sticks. I made a few changes in my puppet: I added crepe paper party streamers, they fly wonderfully when you are using the puppet and the pleated crepe paper adds more bulk without weight. I used skinny sticks because I had no chopsticks and I added glitter, sequins would be nice too I think;)

Here is a look at the  Lucky Money Envelopes Freebie:

In the preview you see the color version of the money envelope, for my project with the kids I am cutting them from red paper and they can stamp Chinese characters with gold pigment ink. The stamps I used are from About Art Accents. I heat embossed mine, I think I will let the kids try that too as long as I have an adult to man the heat gun 🙂

And be sure to snag lots of goodies at Lindsay’s stamp Stuff for 40% off! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Lindsay’s Stamp Stuff Design Team Projects & new STAMPS!

It  has been a treat to open my email this week, so many gorgeous projects from my design team, have a look and you will see what I mean. The ladies really outdid themselves this week using products from Lindsay’s Stamp Stuff. Two of the sets used are freebies too!  But first I want to show you a brand new set of digital Stamps called Halloween doodles:

It’s been a while since I designed some new stamps, it was fun to get the old sketchpad out!

Design Team Projects!

First up is Tracey with a gorgeous tag made with Sewing Bits SVG, Sew Much Fun stamps and the Shipping tag freebie:

Here is a cheerful card by Cindi using the Fancy Flower set:

I love the funny card from Micki using the Crafty Tools and Puns set…do you feel lucky punk?

Karin’s card this week uses a freebie you can snag on this post that coordinated with the Coffee Talk digistamp set:

Make sure you stop by Karin’s blog because the made the most beautiful party favors, check out this 3-D cake!

Jennifer made a sweet tag using the chickadee digital stamp:

Diane has been busy with the card crafting, she has two cards to share today! This one used the Sewing Bits SVG on this card:

And I LOVE the punch of graphic goodness of this card using Mod Summer Papers and this eye chart freebie also by Diane:

Here is a look at the Lindsay’s Stamp Stuff sets the designer’s used today:

You can find out more about the projects featured here today by visiting the designers blogs (you might as well make a pot of coffee, relax and plan to spend some time because these girls have brilliant projects all throughout their sites, just to warn you). thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Be the “Light” of the party!

When I came up with my new Party Lantern set I knew that I was going to have fun with it. The thing I love about it is that it’s quick to make and so fun and there is very little waste. I can cut 2 lanterns from one sheet of 12×12 cardstock using my Cricut machine and SCAL software:

 

But then I can take the leftovers and make invitations, cupcake toppers and place cards!

So, do you want to know how to make these? Well it is so simple, you get all the directions and scoring guides on the printable templates in the kit and you can cut the templates out with your die-cut machine too. Here are some step by step photos to help you out:

Gather Your Supplies-You Will Need:

Here are the kits I used on this set. I die cut the lantern templates with my Cricut and SCAL software but you can use MTC or fairy cut if you prefer. There is a plain lantern in there too so if you want to put your own custom shape in it you can (like maybe a monogram letter or a heart or whatever.)

I printed the diamond pattern from this kit, I was able to fill the windows on 3 lanterns with the paper I printed on one 8.5″x11″ sheet of vellum. I get plain white vellum in a 50 sheet pack at JoAnns (The Paper Co. brand) for about $10.

And for fun I cut a cupcake wrapper from this free set, YAY, freeeeee!

This set qualifies for the following challenges: ABC Challenge –  U is for Underneath(we see the underside of the lanterns in the tutorial), Crafty Creations, Digistamps 4 Joy , Penny’s Paper-Crafty andSisterhood of Crafters  – Let it Shine (the lanterns shine al right;)

 

BTW, how do you like the blue backdrop? I just repainted my kitchen yesterday a fabulous bright blue…I’m thinking that’s a good enough reason to have a party, don’t you?

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

5 Photos you should take this Easter!

My favorite holiday to scrapbook is Easter. I love the frilly Easter dresses, brightly colored plastic eggs, fresh flowers popping up out of the ground and pretty pastel candy! this feast of springtime color is perfect to capture in photos. Before you head out (or host) this years Easter Celebration here are some photo tips for you!

Tip 1: Don’t Pose…Compose!

When photographing kids capture them being kids, chasing after eggs, playing and having fun. Check out this photo I tool last Easter of my nephew. My sister set him in frount of her flower garden and let him play and I got a great natural shot!

Don’t forget the candid action shots too:

Of course when you do have the family together and all dressed up it is a great time to…

Tip 2: Get a semi-posed family photo!

Tip 3: Do some still life photography:

Notice the photo of the baskets of eggs only, this after the hunt photo make a perfect embellishment for the page. Also consider taking photos close up in macro mode of jelly beans, easter grass and other candies for nearly free scrapbook embellishments and they will be authentic too!

Tip 4: OK this is a scrapbook tip-try kraft colored paper for your scrapbook pages, it looks great with pastel springtime shades (see above photos) a swipe of pastel paint adds a nice touch too and best of all you keep the focus on the photos!

Tip: 5-Photo the Pre-Easter Events.

This year I bout a Spin-an-Egg (Target/ $5) and we used that to color our eggs, what fun, get a photo of the pretty colored eggs:

Note: If I had to do it over I would have taken the photo outside with no flash 😀 Sometime your photos are not perfect but you should still scrap them, that’s what is important. You kids will not care that the lighting isn’t perfect, they will be glad to have the memories. Here I took a bunch of egg dying shots and used a egg-shaped puzzle template to make this page. Also I saved the egg-dipper and used it as an embellishment!

Here are some of the digital products from Lindsay’s stamp Stuff I used in the above pages and some other springtime goodies:

And some freebies for you!

These projects qualify for the following chhallenges: Amber’s Crafts and Stuff, Creative Belli, Creative Card Crew, Creative Craft World & Papercraft Star (recycled egg-dipper on last page), For Fun Challenges, Paper Pretties, Sisterhood of Crafters, and Going Grey With Scrap-Creations (digistamps)

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Photocopy Transfer Tutorial and a Freebie!

Well, hello there folks! I have been playing in my studio and wanted to share a quick and easy project I made. First I printed out some digital stamps from the Fancy Flower set from Lindsay’s stamp Stuff, then I had a photocopy made so I could transfer them on to tiles. Wouldn’t thse make a cute Mother’s Day gift?

I colored the tiles with my new ProMarkers, it was so easy! Here is a video showing you how to do it:

Here are close-ups of my favorites:

EDITED TO ADD: the background on this tile was done by coloring it with a blue marker, then dabbin the same marker randomly on top. If you marker is not juicy enough you can use a q-tip to drop denatured (or rubbing) alcohol on top for the same effect. Just play around until you like the look!

And here is a peek at the Fancy Flowers digital Stamp Set I used:

With easter on its way I thought you might want a handy little basket to make so for this weeks freebie I give you a basket and notecard, click the pic to download.

It coordinates with my new Basket Bonanza set, 6 baskets in all including a covered picnic basket (that is my favorite!)

And the Egg Basket Templates:

Today’s project qualifies for the following challenges: Amber’s Crafts and Stuff, Clear It Out!, Top Tip Tuesday, Tuesday Throwdown, Paper Playtime, Stamp with Fun, Stamps R Us, Aly’s Sunday Challenge, Crafty Pad, Creative Inspirations, Make it colorful, and Wee memories.

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Well, Hello Dollar Days!

I’m downright giddy, it’s dollar days at Lettering Delights and that means that all fonts, papers, doodlebats (I love these for cutting with my Cricut and SCAL software), graphic and clip art sets are on sale for a buck! And all of their new SVG sets are on sale for $2 a set and mini albums are just $3! Here I used the new Balloon Fun SVG set on this card:

But wait, you can save more! Early Bird savings from March 15-March 18th. Save 10% on a $15 purchase or more with code: InBloom. Save 25% on $35 with code: BiggerBloom.

How about some freebies too? Yeah, I thought you might like that 😀 Sign up for a free account and get over $40 in free product including the set of SVG cutting files shown below.  If you already have an account, you will find the new product available in your library.

PLUS Sign up for the newsletter and get 9 free fonts-boy that was easy! And you get $5 off if you refer a friend who signs up for the newsletter.  You’ll both receive a $5 coupon good on any purchase of $15 or more. Their newsletters are really fun too and they usually have a nice juicy coupon code inside 🙂

Don’t miss Dollar Days at Lettering Delights, this is the time to stock up! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Got Spirit? Well, Let’s Hear IT!

S-P-I-R-I-T!!! {Yes I used 3 exclamation points!} The days are getting warmer and I am thinking about Spring! I walked the dog this morning and actually broke a sweat-usually I am freezing my buns off and gripping my coffee mug for any additional warmth I can find LOL. This has got me thinking about baseball, all 3 of my kids play (heck, they can make up half the team 🙂 ) and so I decided to scrapbook {gasp-yes I scrapbooked} last years photos. I used the SVG artwork bonus from my new Baseball Party SVG & Printable kit:

I used a shape collage software to cram in all of those photos-it really takes the brainwork out of putting photos on a page and let’s face it, not all of the photos we take need to be enlarged but it is still nice to be able to include them 🙂

The baseball party kit includes all of the layered die cuts for decorations, crafting, cardmaking and scrapping but also it has die cuts for cupcake wrappers and toppers, drink flags, party hats, invitations, favor bags and the fun and festive bunting/banners that are so popular these days.

But that is not all, there is also a full size printable kit included that has printable sheets (that you can add text to if you like) of all of the SVG templates plus water bottle wraps and more! These are full color printables and I squeezed as much as I could on each sheet to save you money, time and supplies. Here’s a look:

This kit was so much fun to design that I decided to make a little freebie set to go with it:

I think it would be fun to print out the sheet of name tags on sticker paper so the kids could wear them on their shirts. Especially if you are having a baseball theme party at a park or sports arena, that way you can easily identify kids from your party 🙂

Attention Dollar Deals!

Have you checked out the dollar bin at MyGrafico? Every week I will put a few older sets on sale for $1, they will go on sale Wednesday and be on sale for 1 week only. Check out this weeks Dollar Deals! Get them while you can because they will be back to regular price next week! Be sure to check each week for new Dollar Deals!

Now lets see what the Lindsay’s stamp Stuff DT has made for us this week:

Margie Visnick

Tracey Allen

Leanne Garner

Tamara Bennett

Cindi Hooks

Micki Harper

Karin Martin

Jennifer Bliss

Rhonda Walker

Diane Bove

phew, that was a long post! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!