A Die cut Christmas and my two bits

I have been using my die cut machine a lot this Christmas - for tags, stencils, word art, pillows, cards, ornaments etc.  How did I EVER live with out it.  I have no idea. 

I have to say though if I was just buying one for the first time I would definitely chose one that had its own software like the cougar, silhouette etc. It seems like I am always designing stuff the way I want it, with the fonts I want.  

 I think cricut is the only one that doesn't allow you to use software with it anymore.  I think they shot themselves in the foot on that one. 

I love my cricut and the flexibility to use cartridges but I also like the flexibility of having a software for fonts.  There used to be a couple companies that made software that would work with the cricut but Provo Craft sued them and they can't sell it anymore and the new firmware (the machine brain) blocks it.  That is the only reason I would go with the silhouette over the cricut.  If they had the 3rd party software still I would say cricut is the way to go but it is not anymore.  Especially since Silhouette came out with the Cameo a couple months ago and it has the same cutting capacity as the cricut (12x12). 

The one thing I will say about Provo Craft is they are trying to be more accessible.  They have all kinds of sizes of machines at different price points, they started Craft Room which is a free design program that allows you to design with all the cartridge but you could only cut what you design if you own them, they also started a magazine and a new site cricut.com/fun with tutorials on how to better use the machines and cartridges.  I know you can also buy things from design room like you can from Silhouette.  The big difference is with Silhouette fonts are free and you can buy one shape or as many as you want.  You can design anything and there are a lot of SVG files online that other people designed and give out for free - boxes, flowers, anything. 

So if you are going to use fonts a lot go with the Silhouette.  If you just want shapes and a few fonts then cricut is better.  I get all my cartridges on eBay and the most I have paid is 30 but usually 22-25 and you do get a lot of shapes but how many you actually use depends. 

I couldn't live without mine and I think it is a great present for anyone who likes home decor, scrapbooking, cardmaking or is a teacher.  I am off to make little tags to put on the baggies of cookies I am preparing for my Son's Holiday party Monday.  Yet another reason to use my die cutter. 

**(stencil made with diecutter for the pillow - I made these for several people in my family.  The tags and flower were also cut with my diecutting machine - I didn't cut the box but I could have...I got them on clearance a few years ago for a couple bucks.)

Christmas Treasures

Hi, Sizzle here and I have to say it is WEIRD getting back into a normal schedule after having some time off. I am excited for 2010, this is going to be a great year!

I told you earlier how I was going to do a treasure hunt for the boys to find their presents from Santa. Here is what it ended up looking like:

In the morning when the kids FINALLY awoke (I was up and pacing early they woke up late) they opened their stockings and some family presents. The map was in the stocking.

(still tired looking - it is 8:30 am and they went to bed at 7pm - I don't get it)

If I was to do it again I would put all the presents together or hide them until we got back because the boys got sidetracked playing with the few things they had under the tree (like 2) and were perfectly happy. I had to practically force them to be excited about our treasure hunt but once we started to get ready the excitement came. We got in the car and they found all the landmarks and the excitement mounted. It was fun. (note: they would have been just as excited to walk around the house and find a hiding place)

Santa made the map using resume paper, a stencil made from my blackletter cricut cartridge and then he crumpled it and inked it - he probably could have used pen instead of pencil but of well. I am sure he was busy.

A picture of them opening one of them at Grandma's house where we ended up. We went a round about way so they didn't recognize where we were until the last minute.

That weekend I made a scrapbook page with the map so they could remember our little adventure.

I just had to throw these random Christmas pictures in because I love them.

The favorite present of this one - Scooby-d00 underwear! He laid them out on the table so I could look at them and made me take a picture.

First time seeing Santa - he is a little stunned that he is sitting on Santa Claus' lap. The older boy refused to sit on Santa's lap but told him he was a very nice man. LOL.

Christmas Eve

Here it is Christmas Eve and I am probably the MOST excited. Today we are making spudnuts, decorating paper bags, delivering goodies, driving around admiring Christmas lights, doing the nativity, reading Christmas stories by the Christmas tree and enjoying the season.

There will be no shopping today, no running about, just being together.

Oh and a Treasure map is being created! I wish I could post pictures but the hubby (who is an artist) took my childish renderings to work to fix them. This treasure map will be deposited by Santa into the stocking of my oldest son.

He adores treasure maps and his dream is to make tons of maps and have me follow them around the back yard ALL DAY. So he is getting his chance to have us follow a treasure map tomorrow.

The plan is stockings here and presents awaiting us at a nearby location only to be found by following a treasure map!

Sounds fun? He will love it and I am so excited to see his eyes light up when he sees Santa left him a treasure map to help him find his presents.

Looking forward to tomorrow!

What do you do on Christmas Eve?

What do you eat Christmas morning?

Growing up we got little boxes of sugary ceral in our stockings - like fruit loops and we just ate that. We never got ceral so this was a BIG deal but I am thinking I want something a little more fancy....like egg and sausage casserole or some baked french toast. I am looking for recipes.

Also we are taking a blog vacation until the new year so there will be no new posts until then....although I might show you the MAP.

Christmas Traditions—Paper Bag Stockings

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

The tradition of the Christmas stocking has been around for thousands of years and has ties back to dozens of countries. I loved reading a little more about the background. In Holland, children received goodies in their clogs from "Sinterclass." Or there's the story that Saint Nicolas secretly left a little gold in the stockings drying by a fireplace of a family whose mother just died.

Still others say in North America the traditional Christmas stocking actually dates back to the end of the XIXth Century. Some believe the first mention of Christmas stockings being hung from a chimney were by Thomas Nast, an illustrator, thr ough his pictures and by the writer, George Webster, in a story about a visit from Santa Claus.

Well, in the Salisbury family, our Christmas stocking tradition revolves around brown paper bags.

OK it might not SEEM very exciting, and I remember several times growing up wondering why we couldn't have the fancy, cool looking stockings like everyone else.

It all comes from our mom's family. They had nine kids and apparently their stockings could never last. Our Grandma Minnie would make stockings and somehow they'd always get ruined and sticky from the special candy dropped inside each year. So one year she looked at what they had and decided to just use some lunch sacks. And it worked. They started out simple, maybe with just each person's name. Maybe they'd write a letter to Santa on it or draw a picture. And over the years, people got more creative, adding color, glitter, wrapping paper, glue and more.

Now every Christmas Eve, our family pulls out a package of lunch sacks and proceeds to get crafty decorating our "stockings" for that year. Sometimes we take more time, sometimes we take less. Sometimes we have to use more than one bag each because the first try simply wasn't good enough. When everyone is done, we line the bags up in birth order.

One of Jules' simple but glittery designs.

Everyone on Christmas morning showing off our stockings. I especially liked mine this year: see the tree branch border (back left)?

Another year: KK and Toots displaying the front and back of our stockings. Don't judge us from these early morning pictures!!

Christmas Traditions

Hi, Sizzle here talking about traditions today. Traditions are SO important so this week we are each sharing one of our traditions. Every Christmas our family made homemade spud nuts for friends and neighbors. Our mother grew up on a farm and they did this every year while she was growing up so we are the third generation keeping that tradition alive.

The donut tradition isn't just making donuts. There is a process...and NAME TAGS are a MUST. It isn't the same without the name tags so now even though we are all grownup and can keep on task we still insist on wearing name tags for traditions sake.



The main rolls are cutter, fryer, roller, glazer, cutter, carrier. We all wear name tags - they have gotten cutter over the years - we use labels.

Last year was the first year we made them away from "Home base" and it was the first time we had little kids "helping." It was fun and still a good result but since we didn't have all the right tools we had to improvize

No donut cutter - use a cup. No donut hole cutter use part of a lamp!

The results of this tradition are happy faces all around.

Treats for neighbors

We used clothespins for the cards to on one side, from on the other

Unfortunately you have to be home on Christmas Eve to get these treats because they take the whole day to make and tradition says we do this on Christmas eve.

Combining Traditions

There are so many fun Christmas traditions! This is my husband and my second Christmas being married and we haven't yet figured out which traditions will become "ours".

I think no matter what you do though, doing the things you "always" do is what makes it really feel like Christmas.


We're going to spotlight a few of the 5 Sisters' traditions next week that we had growing up, but I wanted to mention a few things that I enjoy at Christmas time.

First,
Graham Cracker Houses

This is what we usually made (usually for Sizzle's birthday party activity) and perfect for kids. I think they taste better too. And having them sitting on your counter top for weeks definently adds to the festivities.

Secondly, Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread. Our grandma usually sent us a candy-cane shaped braided bread that we ate Christmas morning. Complete with gumdrop flowers. I always enjoyed that. Jeremy's family always has sticky buns that morning, but frequently have this yummy pull-apart bread handy during the holidays, so I'm featuring that today. The recipe linked is really easy and super-delicious!

Lastly, I wanted to mention some ornaments. Sizzle mentioned that we've started and ornament exchange and I've enjoyed looking at all the fun ornaments. I really enjoy seeing my handy work hanging on the tree.

I found this tasty (but don't eat them...) recipe for Cinnamon Ornaments that looks fun.

I'm pretty sure we made these as kids at one time...but mostly I want them so my house smells like cinnamon...
and they're pretty cute.





















That's all I'm going to feature today, but check back next week for a more in-depth guide to some of the traditions we've enjoyed as the 5 Sisters.

Thanks for reading!

Wax Paper Ornaments

Sizzle here and today I am sharing a fun way to recycle those little bits of crayons, make ornaments and get the young ones in your life involved.

We made these when we were really little and my mom didn't even remember until I reminded her so I kind of had to figure out how to do it again. It is like making your own stained glass ornaments and it is SO easy.

You need:
wax paper
scissors
crayons
pencil sharpener
brown paper bag
ribbon/twine/string for hanger
an iron
construction paper

Don't ever throw away those broken crayons - I have in my time but I never will again - you can do SO many things with them.

Get those nubs and sharpen them, save all the shavings in little containers - use a different container for each color combination.

Cut your wax paper into sections - you want a big square (you will cut it down later).

Put a small pile of crayon shavings in between two piece of wax paper

Put the paper bag on top and iron (NO STEAM) - they will melt quickly!

It will looking something like this.

You'll want to cut a shape (2 - front and back) - my son wanted to make a heart to represent our new baby. Back story: We exchange ornaments in our family for Christmas and try to base them on something that happened or memorable about that year so he wanted to make a heart for the baby girl.

Cut a window out

Cut wax paper to shape with the part you want showing and staple/tape/glue to the front piece. Make a hook out of ribbon or string and adhere that behind the wax paper and then adhere the back shape.

I let my son do most of this so it isn't perfect looking, but its pretty cute for a 4 year old to make. He ended up drawing a face on it later with big eyelashes but that's another story

You could also do these for window decorations - they'd look cool with the sun shining through them

Stuff those stockings...RIGHT

It's probably no surprise that I am talking about stockings again - I have an obsession - I love stockings and I love stuffing stockings. I love it a little too much. In fact, I spent 100$ last night just on stocking stuffers and more if I count the other odds and ends I got during different shopping trips. Luckily my husband doesn't read this blog - at least I don't think he does.

I guess I will find out.

I am not a fan of a stocking full of candy; as a parent I don't want to deal with hyper kids for the next few days so I try to get other stuff for the stockings but still keep it fun.

My husband always said that his favorite part of Christmas morning was his stocking so I have tried to make stockings special for our kids. I do a lot of small presents instead of just food. I get stuff they like but that I don't buy or let them eat often. I try to wrap some of the little things that will go in their stockings.

I have found great stocking stuffers at bookstores, drug stores, Smith and Edward's (local), Michael's and Target.

Here are some things I love to get for my stocking stuffers -of course you'll want to think about what your person wants/needs and adjust.

Adults:

body wash

something nostalgic (food/toy/book/game from childhood)

lotion

chapstick

shavers

loofah

facial wipes

Listerine

full sized candy bars

personal interest magazines

a book - fiction/crosswords/sudoku

key chain

watch

a movie

chips/nuts/jerky

Favorite cookie/cracker

a love note

planner

ornament of something that happened that year

shave gel/after shave

socks

beanie - gloves (winter wear)

belt

elastic bands

hair clips

Something hobby oriented - golf balls, running socks, fabric, ribbon, earphones etc.

Children

yogurt covered raisins

sidewalk chalk

paper back books

stickers

gloves, beanies

underwear

socks/tights

new sippy cup

baby food (for babies of course)

Fruit leather or character fruit snacks (my kids only get the 100% fruit boring shaped ones usually- so this is WAY exciting...especially if they are Transformer or Scooby-doo)

toy trains

matchbox cars

Lego cars

giant pens (Michael's)

bubbles

watercolor paints

new crayons/markers

Anything they use A LOT of - for mine its paper and scotch tape

puzzles

monkeys in a barrel

balls

silly putty

play dough

coloring book

a cape - all boys like cape

headbands (girls)

sunglasses

mini cereal boxes

p.s. I don't have girls yet --well I have a 5 month old girl so I really don't know what people with girls use...I tried to put some in there but this is probably a boy heavy list. Sorry.

I DO put some goodies in but I try to make them classic things that they will ONLY get at Christmas like candy canes, candy sticks, ribbon candy, chocolate Santa's etc. I try to have their stockings be about them and what they need, love and then something exciting (wrapped).

If you have already got all your presents, sent out your Christmas cards (I haven't) its time to think about stocking stuffers. I hope this gives you some new ideas.

What is the best thing you have found in your stocking? What is your favorite thing to use as stocking stuffers?

Christmas Decorating

Well, my roommates and I put up Christmas decorations this weekend. It was very exciting. I love the lights and garland and, as of this weekend for me, the snow. It's finally really beginning to look like Christmas. :)


We had one huge white wall that doesn't even have anything on it usually. But with all the holiday decorations up, the wall looked especially bare. We weren't sure what to put there, but then I remembered some wrapping paper I had. The whole room kinda has a red and white theme, so I thought this paper was a good solution...unless of course something better comes up down the road. :) I'm sure its not for everyone, but I kinda like it. You can obviously use any kind of paper to match your style. I like the short rolls that seemed just the right width for this type of stripe.


On another Christmas decoration note, I started mod podging my Christmas tree boxes. For the first and smallest one I cut a bunch of tiny strips from different paper. I like how this looks, but it takes forever. The hard part is covering the edges.



So for the biggest one, I used just one large cutout for the front and covered the sides with a solid red. I'll probably add some ribbon on the front.




I've yet to decide what to do with the third, middle box. Once I'm done, I'll set them on some fake snow on the top of a mantle or something.

Wrap it up!

There's so many fun things about the Christmas season! I keep getting excited as I see new crafts that I want to try, but unfortunately so far this month has been crammed with so much stuff that I haven't been able to actually get any of them done.

One thing that always makes me happy is artfully wrapped presents. There's so many cute ideas of things to tie-on to make your gifts unique. Usually the extent of the cute wrapping under our family tree are the ones that originated from the BYU Bookstore... but this year I have high aspirations. Lets say to at least put a ribbon on them :)

Anyway, there were a bunch of cute ideas in the Real Simple magazine this month that I wanted to share. That way as you go about your holiday preparations you can pocket a little trinket that can dress up your presents. If you have a cutely wrapped box, you can't help but already love what's going to be inside :)

(If you click on the pictures they describe what's used in the pictures)

What's your favorite creative wrapping technique?