Countdown to Kisses Advent Calendar

With it almost being time for Valentine's Day, I thought this wonderful little advent calendar would be a fun addition to your loving decor for the holiday.

Countdown to...Kisses. Valentine (and other) advent calendar

One of the great things about it, is that the "Kisses" word is also just hung, so you can reuse the board to countdown to whatever holiday you like!  Just change the word.  ("Christmas," "Thanksgiving," "Our Anniversary," etc.).  I love things I can get many uses out of.  Countdown to...perfection. ;)

Chalkboard Vinyl Placemats

Well, since I used Chalkboard Vinyl last week, I decided to do one more project with it today.  This is a super simple project that should take you all of 5 minutes to make.  And friends will be asking you where you got these at.  These placemats are great for kids (something they can play with while waiting for lunch, etc.), but are actually also fun for grown-up dinners.  I've seen them used as place-settings for Thanksgiving, with "I'm Thankful For:" written down one side, and everyone allowed and encouraged to write things down on them.  I've also had some friends over for dinner and used something similar to this as a fun thing to keep people entertained and conversing over topics around the table.  If you've ever been to Macaroni Grill--with their paper table cloths you are meant to color on (this is a nice restaraunt)--you'll get the idea.  But yes, fun for kids, and yet can be kicked up a notch for classier, yet fun, table settings as well.  So, without further ado, here's to making these very simple placemats.

Chalkboard vinyl placemats--great fun for the kids! Try colored chalk markers.

Chalkboard Vinyl-on-Magnet Paper To-Do List

Well hello!  It's been a few weeks, and I hope the holidays have left you happy and excited for this new year.  Here is a simple project to start out the new year and help keep you organized.  It's a magnetic chalkboard to-do list (etc.) made using just a few simple materials.

Materials Needed:

* Chalkboard Vinyl

* Silhouette Adhesive Magnet Paper

* Chalk!  --Chalk-markers work great for lists that you won't be erasing daily (they don't smudge as easily as regular chalk).

* Hole punch and twine or ribbon (optional)

* Embellishments (optional)

So, see!   Really only three items needed to do it basic! 

Window Snowflakes

Written by our guest writer: Devon Searle

As I was sitting in my car last night waiting for my husband to come out, I noticed how cute this stores windows looked. They had these huge white snowflakes on them and it make the windows looks so festive. It got me thinking "hey I want to do that to my windows". So this morning, I got out my Silhouette machine and got to work.  I searched in the Silhouette store under "snowflakes" and got tons of results.  I wanted just a simple snowflake and I found one that I liked titled "snowflakes". It came in a set of 3 different types of snowflakes.

I only loved one of the three snowflakes shaped for my windows so once I had the shape on my page, I highlighted it and un-grouped the set. Once this was done, I was able to delete the other two shapes.  From here, I sized the snowflake to the size I wanted, and duplicated it 3 times to fill up the page.

If I was feeling really festive, I would have made a bunch of huge snow flakes to put on all of my windows but, I just wanted to put them on the windows by my door.  You could also use Silhouettes frosted vinyl for a more sheer look (like how we did for the ghosts on Halloween), but I wanted white.

After I had them all cut out, I ran down stairs and put them on the window!  This whole project only took me a few minutes and it turned out adorable. So if you're looking for a quick way to decorate your house this season- this is it!

Christmas Gift Ideas for under $2.00

Today we have a guest contributor:  Devon Searle.  Thanks for sharing your crafting ideas, Devon!  We love them. Simple, cute, easy, affordable, and perfect for this season.
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Hello!  Well, with Christmas quickly approaching, I wanted to find some fast and inexpensive gifts that I could make to give to friends and neighbors.  So I pull out my trusty Silhouette machine and got  to work.

The first project cost me about $0.50 for the tile and $0.50 for the Three Wise Men Silhouette download.

They have a few different wise men images to choose from, and some even have sayings that go with them. I chose to cut out my own saying. All you have to do is pick the size tile that you want from your local hardware store and then cut and stick your vinyl on.  It took me about 5 minutes from start to finish to make these beautiful tiles.

My next quick gift is a custom ornament.  For this gift, you could put your neighbors last name, initials, any holiday shape, etc... the possibilities are endless. I choose to put "I am a Child of God" because I am making these ornaments for some young children at church. I got the saying from the Silhouette store by searching for: "I am a child of God". Depending on how big your ornament is will determine how big you want to make your saying. My saying turned out to be 2"x4.5".

To make the ornament, simply size your letters to fit the size of the ornament (I cut the shape out with paper first to see how the size looked. This way, I am not using the more expensive vinyl on something that might be too big or small.). Next, cut the shape out and peel off the excess vinyl.
  

  I choose to add transfer tape on top for ease of application.

 Then I placed it on the ornament.

Then I peeled off the transfer tape and I was done!

Once again, it only took me a few minutes to create this simple and fun gift. I found these clear, plastic ornaments at Walmart for $0.88 and the saying only cost me $0.50.  So for under $2.00 you could make these adorable gifts and people will never guess how little you spent making them! Happy gifting!

--Devon

Wedding Drink Table: Pucker Up!

Ahhh...weddings.  Everyone knows that with the advent of Pinterest all of our minds are constantly filled with images and ideas of fanciful and delightful decorations and ideas for weddings--everything from how to do our hair (up-do, or down?), apply our make-up, venues, and especially DIY decoration ideas. :)  (Or perhaps this is just me, what with my about one billion friends getting married these days, inundating their Pinterest boards with wedding ideas.)  But I love it.  Rather than miss the boat....;) I thought I'd share a few cute things that we did recently for my former roommate's wedding.  Specifically, I want to showcase one of the fun uses we had for our Silhouette Chipboard.  I know that it is the holidays, but who doesn't get to planning their wedding ideas months early?  So here it is.  Pucker up, love birds!

"Pucker up" swag/banner on lemonade drink stand for a wedding drinks' table

Items needed for banner/swag:
Silhouette Chipboard
Jute or ribbon
Hot glue gun
Silhouette Double-sided adhesive (optional)
Glitter (optional) (we have a variety of colors)

Download Giftcard Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Kim Aldrich, the winner of the $10 Silhouette Download Card Giveaway!  And thanks to all who commented, liked, shared, and in any way participated.  We appreciate you all.

We plan to do more, and varied, giveaways in the future (because who doesn't like getting scrapbook and craft items for free?), and hope that you'll continue to share your thoughts with us!  Kim shared that she particularly liked our Mod Podge Coasters post, and that she plans on making some as gifts for her neighbors this holiday season!  How great.  Hope they turn out cute!  (We're betting they will.)

In other news, it's Wednesday!  Have a wonderful Wednesday, everyone.

Another Thankful Tree :)

So... have you ever had one of those times where you think you come up with a good idea and can't wait to share it, only to find out it's been done before?  And in my case, not just once before--it's like all over pinterest and the web? haha.  Such was my case with this "Thankful Tree" or branch.  I thought it'd be cute to cut out some fall leaves with my Silhouette, have my roommates and I write things that we were thankful for on them, hang them in falling chains or something in front of a window, etc.  Then I got the idea that it's be cute to hang them like ornaments from an empty tree branch--almost like those last leaves hanging on at the end of fall.  I'd put the branch in a tall vase and...well...you get the idea.  You've probably seen something like it on Pinterest. :)  I got this idea, went online to look for some fall leaves, and found out that I wasn't the only one with this idea. haha.  Oh well.  I still like it, and am glad that I'm obviously not the only one.  Apparently my ideas are all the rage before I even know I have them.  Beat that. ;)

So, here's my take on the "Thankful Tree," or branch.

Items needed:
* One tall, branching...branch :).  You can use a real branch pruned from your yard, or purchase one from the floral section at your local craft store so that you can reuse it. I got mine for $4.79 using the 40% off coupon code at Hobby Lobby.
* Fall colored papers (preferably two-sided)
* Christmas ornament hooks 
* Cricut or Silhouette Hook Tool to serve as a small hole punch.
* One tall vase (also got this at Hobby Lobby in their home accents section for 1/2 off, so it was only $3.99!  What a steal for such a great vase!)
* Small rocks or pebbles, etc., to weigh down vase.  Can get them from the yard; I got a bag from the dollar store for, you guessed it, $1.
* Jute, twine or ribbon (optional)

Silhouette Download Card Giveaway

Well friends, it's that time of year when we really sit down and focus on celebrating what we're grateful for.  I know that one thing we at Makeitscrappin' are grateful for is you and your patronage and interest in what we do.  So thank you. :)

One thing we are interested in are your opinions!  We want to hear more of them! So, as a thanks for those of you willing to share, we are going to do a simple giveaway of  $10 Silhouette Download Card, that you can use to purchase images from the Silhouette Online Store to use with your Silhouette. (To our readers who don't have or use a Silhouette, don't worry!  Our next giveaway in a few weeks will be something that can be enjoyed and used by all--so check back!)

Here are two ways to enter:  

1.  Simply leave a comment on one of your favorite posts on this blog, telling us what you liked about it (e.g., easy to do, super cute to look at ;), helpful notes, fun product you want to try, etc.)  Or, leave a comment on this post telling us what you like about Make It Scrappin' and what type of projects you'd enjoy seeing more of.
2.  Comment on, or share one of our Facebook posts (Make It Scrappin', on Facebook), commenting about .

Note:  If you do both, you get entered twice!

That's it.  We will take entries up until 11:59 PM Pacific Time Zone (USA) on Tuesday, November 19th.  The winner will be selected at random and posted the next day.  :)

One more thing: Check back on Wednesday the 20th to see if you won.  We'll post the winner on this blog and will then be in contact with you so we can send this lovely lil', handy dandy gift card straight to you!  :)

Keep on being spectacular!
--The Make It Scrappin' Team

Silhouette Studio Designin'

One thing that I love about Silhouette Studio, which I have said before, is the fact that it is also a design tool, meaning it's not just good for placing shapes to be cut by your Silhouette.  Let me use this post as an example.

I apologize ahead of time for the blurring I had to do to the photos where the addresses and phone number were.  

I have a friend getting married soon. Decided to make up a bridal shower invitation that I could easily print and maybe just add an embellishment or two to, without a lot of fuss.   And yet...I have my Silhouette...so why not dress it up a little more?  Forget using Microsoft Word or some other word processing software to create my design.  If you have ever tried that, you will know that an invitation like the one I made would take ages, if not be impossible.  But with Silhouette Studio, I was able to design the following card using a variety of fonts, images, lines and shapes, all without fuss.  Sure it was a little annoying when the background image moved around a bit if I tried to drag the wrong image :), but really it was easy, and I could get just the look I wanted. I could pick font colors to match her wedding colors, etc.  Great.  What is also nice about this, is that I was able to save it in my library and then use it again with simple modifications should I want to use the same invite for another shower, invitation, etc. in the future.  Planning ahead. :)

Anyways, here are just a few tips/ideas for when you make your own designs:

* To make the dotted-line separator, I created a small circle and the duplicated down multiple times using the option from the replicate window.  Then I deleted every other dot (to get the spacing I desired).