Can I tell you that I am addicted! The girls love it too but I am totally Cricut crazy! Dear husband actually came home from work the first day and asked me if I had monogrammed the kids! I've been creating like a mad woman and very pleased it's motivated me to get back into my sewing, painting, sign-making, and other hobbies I'd been too busy for before. The girls and I are sharing some great bonding time and the house is going to look fabulous for every holiday - my husband is concerned I may go overboard!
Of course, one of the first things we've been doing is looking around the house for little gems to upcycle and reuse. I came across a stack of old pictures and frames from my mother-in-law's home and knew they didn't need to sit in a closet going to waste. Time to reuse them- even the old, cheap-o plastic ones! I found this little 5" x 7" plastic frame in the pile and figured I'd give it a try.
First, to get rid of the ugly, clearly this is a plastic $1 store frame, color. I had Chuck pick me up some Valspar Chalky Finish spray paint. I wasn't certain how it would hold up on plastic, but so far, so good. It's been sitting, getting pushed and banged around by homeschool books and papers and other craft materials (and kids) for about 2 weeks now and not a scratch on it!
Voila! Vintage, distressed looking little frame for free!
Next, I dug through my stash of scrapbook papers and card stock. I knew all of my paper hoarding obsession would come in handy! I found this page and it just screamed to be used for this little reindeer! Simple cut with my Fiskars and it's ready.
Now to Cricut- this is where I get lost in idea land! I take ENTIRELY too long to find the image or font or image and fonts that I like the most, I insert and delete forever. It's really not THAT big of a decision... or is it? It must be important because I lose my attention in the midst of so much crafty yumminess at my fingertips. I found a couple I loved but I didn't want to use the print and cut feature because... well- I homeschool- I'm perpetually almost out of ink- so cut only today. I finally settled on this guy.
The rest is simple- I sized him in Cricut Design Space to about 6.5" x 4.5" and began the process of selecting my colors and cutting him. I loved this paper I found at Joann's by heidi grace designs so I used it to contrast my deer and complemented my background choice. Next, just layer the pieces to create him, gluing them one by one and then add his details and glue him to your chosen background.
I'm pretty excited about the bright colors and how they turned out AND that it cost me less than $5 to create. Even if I had purchased the frame, I'm easily under $10. The most expensive part is the Chalky paint and I have plenty of that left for more projects.
My daughter decided after seeing him that we need to create something for all of the holidays and exchange them out so I'm off to look for some Autumn ideas. She's already found an owl
she wants to use for her bedroom in Christmas papers so she's off to hunt up some frames to paint. I love when they get into it and paper crafting is some of my favorite...especially using the Cricut! I'll post the Fall ideas after we finish them!.
Thanks for stopping by.
