American Crafts Cartridge Trimmer – A Review

Written by on October 15, 2011 · Leave a Comment

I was lucky to win one of the new AC Cartridge Trimmers from the American Crafts blog a while back. It came in the mail a week ago just before I went to a 3 day scrapbooking event at my favorite LSS Green Tangerines. It was a perfect time to test this lovely cutter out.

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I have used the Fisker’s Paper Trimmer for years! The one I have now is discontinued and it is getting harder to find replacement blades for it.

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I have purchased and returned a few different paper trimmers and have stuck by my oldie-but-goodie.

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So I was super excited to test the American Craft’s Cartridge Trimmer.

The Pro’s:

  • It holds the paper down securely for an accurate cut.
  • It can cut a 12×12” paper with a folding arm.
  • It comes with three blades – straight, scallop and score
  • It can store up to six different blades
  • You can purchase additional blades – perf, pinking and wave

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  • The blade housing is easy to move back a forth for a quick and easy cut.
  • It is safe for children! The blades are recessed into the housing and do not come out until pushed down while cutting.

 The Con’s:

  • It is bigger than my old-school Fiskar’s Trimmer but quite a bit.
  • It is hard to cut smaller than 1/2” strips

Overall, the trimmer is one of the better ones I have come across! I was able to keep it out on my workspace during the crop but it was a little too bulky. I do love that it cuts clean, straight lines with little effort and decorative edges without punches or scissors. Scrapbook,com is carrying this trimmer for $49.99 if you are looking to purchase one for yourself!

Categories: Reviews, Scrapbooking, Tools - Tags:

4th of July Outfits – Upcycling T-shirts

Written by on July 3, 2011 · 4 Comments

I wanted to make the kiddos matching outfits for the 4th so I broke out my sewing machine and went to work. The closest fabric store is about an hour and 45 minutes away so I have to be creative when I want to make something.

I started out with one of my oldest daughter’s shirts. She grows like a weed, so this one was too small.

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I then cut the bottom off of it using my rotary cutter. and then folded over the top of about an inch and sewed it leaving a space to thread elastic through it.

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I sewed up the space I left open for the elastic and now Lizzy (my 5 month old) has a new skirt! The best part is that it was FREE and a great upcycled project.

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I then need to make her a little shirt to go with it so I grabbed a plain white onsie and added three fabric flowers to the front and a couple ruffles on the bum.

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Here is her little 4th of July outfit!

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I needed something for my little man and I had picked up a little red shirt at Joann’s the last time I was there. I used my Silhouette to cut out this Echo Park Truck from the same fabric I made Lizzy’s flowers and ruffles from. It was my first time cutting fabric with my Silhouette and it was super simple.

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For my oldest daughter I used the same fabric and made her a quick skirt. Then I tied up the sleeves of her red shirt with 2” strips of fabric to match and dress up the shirt a bit.

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This skirt was really easy to make. I found the pattern here and it took me no more than 30 minutes to make.

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I love being able to make matching outfits on the cheap. I hope the kiddos let me dress them for a few more years!!

Categories: $20 Projects, Altered Items, Fourth of July, Holidays, Sewing, Silhouette SD - Tags: , , ,

4th of July Decor – BBQ Party Time

Written by on July 3, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Fourth of July is tomorrow! I don’t know where June went, this summer is flying by.

I am having a few friend’s over after we go to the parade in town so I had some fun decorating.

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Here are the details…

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  • The utensils are wrapped in a red napkin and tied with twine.
  • I purchased 5×7, 4×6 and 2×3 plaques and painted them red. I then attached the menu cards to them. The printables are from Squared Party Printables and are super cute! I have a banner that I printed out too that I have yet to hang.
  • The pennant banner is made of burlap and then sewn together using bias tape, I added a blue ribbon to get more color on it.
  • I really love the paper straws! They match the color of my kitchen and are just plain fun!
  • I used a bottle wrap printable to cover a squeeze bottle that will have BBQ sauce in it on Monday.
  • I tied 2” strips of fabric that match my table runner (and my kiddos 4th of July outfits) to my chairs to add a bit of color. It was nice that it matched my seat cushions I had already.
  • I love using canning jars for cups, I have them in all sorts of sizes.

I will be sure to share more photos from out little dinner. I can’t wait to have some relax time and let the hubby cook!

Categories: Altered Items, Fourth of July, Printables, Products, Sewing - Tags: , , , ,

4th of July Decor – Burlap & Twisted Fabric Flower Wreath

Written by on July 3, 2011 · 3 Comments

 

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Fourth of July is right around the corner and so I started decoration my little farm house.

To make this wreath, start by cutting 2” strips of fabric (I used burlap) and then wrap it around a styrofoam wreath pinning it with flat head pins to keep it in place. I then used a ribbon and pinned it on the back to create a hanger.

To make the flowers start with a 1” strip of fabric. The length of your fabric will determine the size of your flower. Sew down the length of the fabric about 1/4” from the side. Use a gathering stitch – long stitch length and loose thread tension.

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Then pull the bobbin thread and gather your fabric.

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Cut out a circle from cardboard. If you are going to use this on a dress or hair band you can use felt or a coordinating piece of fabric.

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Start of the outside of the circle and glue it down going circling until you reach the center. I used a glue gun but you can you fabric glue also.

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I then used a pin and attached then to the wreath. I used a hot glue gun to attach the button on it to cover the centers.

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Quick, cheap and fun little project! Hope you are enjoying your weekend! We are looking forward to our little town parade and some BBQ!

Categories: $20 Projects, Altered Items, Fourth of July, Holidays, Sewing - Tags: , ,

The Fastest Crib Sheet Sheet in the West

Written by on July 1, 2011 · 2 Comments

Hi, and thanks for having me, Teresa! I’m Jordan, the oldest of four girls who blog together with our mom at Wayward Girls’ Crafts. I love crafting, cooking, knitting and sewing, but among the five of us, we have all kinds of crafting covered! One of my sisters just had a baby, and flannel crib sheets are one of my favorite baby gifts. Although they’re perfect for cold winter nights, flannel crib sheets are hard to find in stores (at least for me!), and even then, your choices are always limited. So I like to make my own!

Materials:

  • 2 yards of 45-inch flannel (or any other fabric) (1 7/8 m of 1.1m wide fabric)
  • 48 inches of elastic [I use 3/8 inch] (1.2 m of 1 cm elastic)
  • Thread

Equipment:

  • Washer & dryer
  • Measuring tape
  • Rotary cutter
  • Iron
  • Sewing machine

It helps to know exactly how big the mattress is—if you’re making one for yourself, this is easy. If this is for a gift, the standard crib mattress size is 52 inches long, 28 inches wide and 5 to 6 inches deep (132 cm x 71 cm x 13-15 cm), and that’s what we’ll use here. Wash and dry your fabric. I know, I know, I promised you fast and this will take at least an hour. It may not be lightning quick, but sewing with fabric that might shrink later is the fastest way to ruin the project and waste your time! Trim off loose threads on the end if they’re too tangled for the fabric to lay flat. Measure the exact width and length of your fabric. If it’s longer than 71 inches (1.25m), or wider than 45 inches (1.15m), you’ll want to either trim it down to that size or take that into account when you cut out the corners. Now, fold the fabric into quarters, matching all the corners carefully. Using a rotary cutter, cut out an 8 inch (20cm) square of the corner where all the fabric edges meet.

Zig zag or serge the raw edges. The raw edges are less than 30 inches (75 cm) now. I actually did a 1/2 inch (1 cm) hem, folded twice, in the example and I made the square one inch deeper on the side perpendicular to the raw edge to compensate.

Sew the corners together. In each corner, pin right sides together. If they don’t match perfectly, line up the outside corners/edges of the sheet. Sew the sides together, backstitching at both ends. Trim the excess if the fabric isn’t even. Serge or zig zag stitch over the edge. Repeat on each corner.

Pin in the elastic. Cut four 12 inch (30 cm) pieces of elastic. Fold a piece of elastic in half and mark the middle. Pin that to a corner seam. Measure 12 inches (30 cm) from that corner down one edge, and pin the elastic there. Repeat on the other side of the elastic. I like to pin all the corners before sewing any of them. Sew the elastic. With a wide stitch width and a short stitch length on a zig zag stitch, tack down one end of the elastic. Once you have enough of the elastic sewn down, make sure the needle is through the elastic and lift the foot.

Turn the fabric 90 degrees (so the corner seam is closer to you) and lower the foot again. Make the stitch length longer. Hold the elastic and the corner seam where you pinned tightly with your thumb and index finger, and pull the fabric taut, stretching the elastic out.

Sew the elastic to the fabric until you reach the seam, ending with the needle in the elastic. Stretch the other half of the elastic to match the fabric and sew until you’re almost at the end of the elastic. End with the needle in the elastic. Lift the foot and turn the fabric 90 degrees. Lower the foot. Switch the stitch length back to short and tack down the other end of the elastic. Voila! You’re done!

Don’t want to make your crib sheets quite so fast?

Here are some more custom details you can use:

  • Hem the raw edges, or all the edges.
  • Enclosed or French seams on the corners: pin them wrong sides together and sew a scant seam allowance. Iron. Pin right sides together, and sew a wider seam allowance.
  • Full elastic: sew a tube or wide seam around the full length of the sheet, leaving the end open. Get a long piece of elastic narrower than the width of the tube. Stick a safety pin in the end of the elastic for better grip. Thread it through the entire perimeter, often redistributing the bunching. Tie the elastic ends together once you reach the end. Try it on the mattress if you can and adjust the gathers and pull the elastic so the sheet is snug. Sew the ends together and sew up the hole in the elastic casing.

What’s your favorite fast baby gift?

Thank you Jordan for guest posting today! Be sure to check out the Wayward Girls’ Crafts blog, it is full of fabulous ideas!

Categories: DIY, Guest Bloggers, Sewing - Tags: , ,

Fourth of July Party Decor

Written by on June 29, 2011 · 1 Comment

I was searching through Etsy for some 4th of July decor and there were so many great products!

I decided to share a few with you all!

I am going to order the DIY Printable Party Decoration from Squared Party Printables and get to work making my home patriotic. I love the older feel of it when it is printed on parchment paper. I already have the Retro Red Striped straws but I love the stars and blue ones that Showers Bring Flowers offers.

I am in love with the onsie, burp cloth and headband that Studio Eight makes. It would be adorable any day of the year!

Now it is time for me to stop browsing and start doing! I find myself spending more time on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Etsy and Blogs than I do at crafting! I am going to start setting a time limit for myself just like I do with the TV for the kiddos!

Categories: Altered Items, DIY, Etsy Highlights, Fourth of July, Holidays, Printables, Products - Tags: ,

DIY Kid Wash

Written by on June 24, 2011 · 1 Comment

I was perusing Pinterest the other day and came across a DIY water toy for the kids. I told my husband about it and he surprised us by picking up the parts on the way home from work. He put it together in minutes!

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Here is what you need:

  1. 2 – 10ft sections of 3/4” PVC Pipe
  2. 3 – PVC 3/4” End Caps
  3. 2 – PVC 3/4” T’s
  4. 2 –  PVC 3/4” Elbows
  5. 1 – PVC 3/4” Slip to Female Hose Thread
  6. PVC Glue
  7. 1 pack of quarter or half circle mister jets

It cost about $20 to put it all together and less than 30 minutes to put it together.

The instructions are located on instructables.

Jack had a blast running through it…

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So did Miss Em…

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Even the Hubs took a turn…

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I love that it cools the kids down without having to supervise them like I have to when they play in a pool (of any size). This will keep all of us cool through the summer!

Categories: $20 Projects, DIY, The Ranch - Tags: , ,

Guest Post at Wayward Girls’ Crafts

Written by on June 22, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Please check out my guest post over at Wayward Girls’ Crafts…there is a cute little tutorial and a GIVEAWAY!

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Categories: Altered Items, Blog Swaps, Favorite Blogs, Giveaways, Printables, Silhouette SD - Tags: , , ,

Father’s Day Re-cap

Written by on June 21, 2011 · 2 Comments

My husband does so much for our family and I am extremely grateful. I wanted to do something special for his day…Father’s Day.

I broke out my Silhouette and got to work. I browsed through some ideas online but most of the decor was with ties. That does not work for our family. My husband doesn’t wear a tie to work and I wanted it to be personal.

I decided to use the Maltese Cross as the main design. You can read the meaning about the Maltese Cross and Firefighters here.

The banner turned out super cute! I love that the red and white went with the colors of my kitchen too!

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I ordered the cutest straws off of Amazon and attached the little mustache to them.

 

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The kiddos were adorable with little mustaches…

Father's Day Tutorial

My husband LOVES giant blueberry muffins so I just had to make some homemade ones for him. I picked up the jumbo red silicon bake cups at Sur La Table on clearance. They were the perfect size! I make cupcake toppers with my Silhouette in the shape of the Maltese Cross and added a few messages on them.

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I baked Paula Deen’s Breakfast Casserole and it turned out fabulous!

Source: oprah.com via Teresa on Pinterest

 

I wanted a sweet little treat for after the breakfast so I tried Bacon Maple Cupcakes…yes you heard me right…BACON MAPLE CUPCAKES!

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The biggest surprise of the morning was the t-shirts I made for each of our kids. I used the print and cut feature on the Silhouette Studio Software and created the Maltese Cross and personalized it with a message to Daddy. I printed it out on Light Fabric Transfers that I purchased from Amazon.

The biggest thing to remember when using the transfers is…MIRROR YOUR IMAGE!

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After you print them out, send them through your Silhouette to cut them out. Then pull out your iron and iron a pillow case on a hard surface to get the wrinkles out. Then iron your shirt to get the moisture and wrinkles out. Lay your cut-out image side down on the shirt.

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Be sure to use lots of pressure as your are ironing it. Read the directions that come with the transfer to be sure you are ironing it for the correct time period.

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Then peel back the paper very slowly and your image is transferred!

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I made one for each of the kiddos, making sure the image size was appropriate for the t-shirt (or onsie) size.

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They turned out adorable and my husband was super surprised.

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I cannot wait to spoil him again next year!!

Categories: Altered Items, Baking, Holidays, Printables, Products, Silhouette SD - Tags: , , , ,

Strawberry Jam 101 –

Written by on May 24, 2011 · 1 Comment
I want to introduce you to my a creative friend of mine…my Mom Carol. She blogs over at Cookie Jar Gramma and SewGrammaSew and is an amazing seamstress and baker. Be sure to check out her blogs.
 
This week she wanted to share with my readers how to make Strawberry Jam. I have many memories of her making this in our home. I love that it makes the entire house smell so sweet. It is not as scary as you think! Just follow along with Mom…

Select ripe, red delicious fruit. They should be red all the way up past their “shoulders”. Prepare your jars by sterilizing them.

Wash your fruit well. (That is my Aunt helping my Mom out)

 

Remove the stems and leaves from the top of the berries. Also if there are any bruised areas, remove those as well.

Slice the fruit using this wonderful strawberry slicer from Sur Le Table. Of course you can do it with a paring knife as well!

When you have enough berries cleaned and sliced, place them in a measuring bowl until you have 5 cups. (Aren’t they cute! They are having so much fun!)

5 Cups of sliced fruit.

Add two tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice to the fruit.

Measure out exactly 7 cups of granulated sugar into a separate bowl in preparation for adding later.

Place fruit in large pan on stove, stir in one package Pectin and 1/2 teaspoon margarine or butter to help reduce foaming. (My Aunt slaving away)

Turn your stove on medium high heat. Stir the strawberries and the pectin mixture until it comes to a rolling boil, that can not be stirred down. Add the sugar quickly and stir. Bring the berry mixture back up to a rolling boil and boil for 1 minute. Remove from stove. Skim off any foam and discard the foam.

Place your funnel into the sterilized jar. Ladle the jam into your prepared jars. These jars, rings and seals must be sterilized ahead of time. Read Pectin package for sterilization procedures. Ladle enough jam so that it comes to 1/8 inch from the top of the jar. Make sure you clean the top edge of the jar by wiping off any jam that may of spilt onto it, before placing the seal and ring on the jar. This recipe will make 7 half pints of jam.

Invert your jars of jam for a few hours. Turn them back over and check the “button” in the middle to make sure that they have sealed properly. The button which is in the middle of the jar, should not pop back up. If any of them did not seal, those jars will have to be kept in the refrigerator not on your pantry shelf to be used immediately. Most people use the hot water bath method after the jam has been placed in the jars. There are directions for that on the package that comes with your canner. I choose not to use that method for myself , but that is up to you. Remember that there are principles of canning and they need to be followed carefully in order to ensure the quality of preservation of the food and safety for those who eat it. Ball Canning Book has a wonderful book on canning for those who would like a good resource.

“This is my sister and I after spending the day jamming! We made 66 jars of strawberry jam, using 2 1/2 flats of berries, tons of sugar, multiple boxes of pectin 6 meyer lemons, and lots of love!” – Carol

I was lucky to get a few jars from what they made and my family loves it. I plan on making some now that it is strawberry season up here. I cannot wait to stock my pantry with this delicious homemade jam.

Categories: Baking, Blog Swaps, Favorite Blogs - Tags: , , , , ,

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