Christmas Decorations for Less with Elmer's!

Hey everyone, Katrina here.  Have you decorated for Christmas yet? Please don't ask if I have, because I would be lying if I said I had. Things have been crazy, one of the dogs partial tore his ACL, so we are doing the crate/leash only thing for the next three weeks, which means decorating is pretty much out of the question at the moment!

This is Higgins and he is the lame little guy.  He likes his crate, but not so much that he wants to stay in it all the time.

BUT, Nikki asked me if I wanted to do the Elmer's Looks for Less challenge and I decided it would be fun to try to create a fun little Christmas themed home decor item with minimal supplies and budget. And I am here with my results today. 

And because I took the challenge, there is a chance for YOU to win! I am sure you are happy about that!  Keep reading and at the bottom I will let you know how to win an Elmer's prize pack!

I need to announce the winner of Monday's blog post!  So, our winner is.......

 Pammejo said...

Adorable cards, TFS 

December 5, 2011 11:12 AM

Pammejo, please email me at cardipaws@sbcglobal.net with your shipping address and we will get the idea book and Gingerbread Land collection kit out to you!!!

Elmer's sent a few products to work with, plus a gift card to purchase additional supplies with.  There was an assortment of glues, foam boards, X-ACTO knife, and Painters pens.  More than enough to create with by adding a few additional supplies.  

I knew I wanted to do Christmas, but wasn't sure what.  I decided to search the internet for ideas and ran across a site called Craft Elf that had a template for making a gingerbread house out of foam board!  PERFECT!  That site can be found here......Gingerbread House Template.  And this is easy enough to do with your kids too once you get the pieces cut out!

So, I cut out my template and then cut out my foam board using the X-ACTO knife and my X-ACTO self-healing mat.  (LOVE THOSE, plus they are pink!).  Here are what my pieces look like once I cut them out...I did try to keep straight lines as I could, just to make the house go together easier!

Then I set to work putting the house together.  I was in a time crunch, so I made a quick decision on what papers I was going to use and that I wasn't going to embellish a lot.  I used the GingerSnaps paper from Gingerbread Land to cover the front and sides of my house.  I then used the Glue Spots from Elmer's to start putting the house together.  They are super sticky and I didn't have to wait for them to dry...bonus!

Once I got my house together, I then put the roof on it.  Using a border punch I punched out strips and just layered them on each side of the roof.  I used the CraftBond Extra Strength glue stick to glue them on.  That gave me a little time to position them exactly how I wanted them.  SORRY, I totally forgot to take a picture of that step....I get crafting and forget to grab the camera!

I then decided that the house needed something to sit on, so I cut out a piece of foam board that was 10 x10 inches square.  

I started to cover it with a sheet of pattern paper, but then decided that I wanted a snowy look, I mean, it is a Christmas decoration after all and I love snow!  So, I found some of the angel cloud fiber mess (as I like to call it!) and stretched it out to fit my board.  I then took it off, ran the glue stick all over the board and started sticking the "cloud" down.  I did use some of the Glue Spots along the edges just to make sure the sides were tacked down pretty well.  

After a little more embellishing on the house and around it, I had a completed Gingerbread Land scene!  I decided it needed some lighting, so I pulled out a strand of mini lights that I had and placed it around it.  I would NOT leave this unattended, but it's pretty to look at when you are home!

Love the bokeh that the lights produced when I took the picture!

I had bought these little glitter foam balls to use for another project and I had a bunch of them left over. I thought they would make cute little snowballs sitting around, plus it was better than them sitting around not getting used!

From this angle you can see the roof and how the strips lay.  I started from the bottom of each side and worked my way up.  To make the trees stand up, I just used toothpicks with the Glue Spots and attached the die cuts to them and stuck them in the foam board.  I did use a Glue Spot on the end of each toothpick just to make sure they stayed put.  

Here is the front of the house a little closer.  I really didn't do anything to the sides, because I wanted the focus to be on the scene, more than individual pieces.  

Would you like to create this fun little house?  Well, you can win the supplies to do it!  All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post and we will pick TWO winners that will be announced on Friday. What can you win...well, Elmer's has generously donated prize packs for two of our readers!  And we are going to throw in a Gingerbread Land collection kit, so that you can recreate this fun Christmas home decor project!

And I am supposed to provide a total cost of my project, so here it goes!

Paper and Die Cut Embellishments-$0.00
I had these in my stash and we ALL have a stash!  And you could easily cut them out of a die cutting machine or by hand.

Elmer's Products-$0.00
Were provided by Elmer's

Lights and Angel Cloud Fibers $0.00
I had these in my decorations that I was not using!

Total cost.....A little of my time to create!
Hee hee, I think this blog post took long to write than creating the decoration itself!

And if you would like to find Elmer's on the internet, here are all their sites!!!

www.elmers.com

www.facebook.com/elmers

http://twitter.com/elmers

www.facebook.com/xacto 

Thanks Elmer's, for letting me play along in the Look for Less challenge!!!


Don't forget Nikki's free printables for up up at the top of the blog!!!

Have a Scrappy Kinda Day!!~~Katrina

Say Hi to Megan Hoeppner-Our October Guest Designer

It is that time again, time for our guest designer!  It's Megan Hoeppner, Creative Editor for Creating Keepsakes magazine.  I am so happy that I got to meet this sweet lady at CHA this past summer!  Here is a little more about her.....

Megan Hoeppner is the Creative Editor for Creating Keepsakes magazine, which means she gets to do lots of…yes, you guessed it, “creative” things. Besides writing and editing for the magazine and special issues, she is delighted to have a chance to create scrapbook pages for each issue. Teaching is another of Megan’s job highlights, because few things bring her more joy than connecting with others who are passionate about crafting. Megan has worked in the scrapbook industry for almost a decade. Before joining the Creating Keepsakes team, she worked for Simple Scrapbooks magazine as a senior editor and, prior to that, for Paper Crafts magazine as an associate editor. It was her position in public relations at Stampin’ Up! that lead Megan to her career in publishing. Megan’s experience combined with the friendships she’s formed through this incredible industry leave her feeling very blessed to be a part of the colorful, creative scrapbooking world!  

And what she created for her guest post will show you that she is definitely creative!!!  Megan worked with the "School is Cool" collection, so let's see what she came up with!

First of all...look at this CUTE little accordion mini that she created!!  And she even gave our readers the directions to create your own!

Accordion Mini Album—I used the grid paper in this collection to make an accordion-folded mini album. 

This project includes the following steps:

Cut grid paper into rows and score between the squares

Glue two rows of scored grids together to create album

         

To close the album, I attached a paperclip and made it decorative by sticking two stickers back-to-back to the top of the clip

To create the cover on the border, I:

•  Cut part of a border strip
•  Cut away excess white paper from around the border
•  Punched holes in border, following the dot design
•  Threaded twin through holes
•  Tied end of twine with a bow 

And then Megan made a layout and here is what she had to say about her layout!  

Since I made the mini album as a gift for my friend, I decided to also do a layout with the photos for my own album. I love the idea of scrapbooking on grid paper, and this paper was very fun to use.

And last this adorable little camera bag tag!!  And here is Megan in her own words.....

I have tags for all of my regular luggage, but not for my camera bag. Since I take this bag with me more than any other, it only made sense that I create a cute tag, just in case I forget or lose the bag.

Whew, I don't know about you, but I am on TOTAL inspiration overload with all these fabulous projects that Megan created!!  And I for one am dying to try that accordion mini album project!!

I want to thank Megan for taking the time away from your busy schedule to Guest Design for Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker!  You have inspired me and I am sure you have inspired our readers!  You did a wonderful job with the School is Cool collection!  

If you would like to visit Megan's personal blog, she can be found online here at "That's What She Said" and you can also find Megan's work in Creating Keepsakes magazine and the Creating Keepsakes blog!  

GIVEAWAY ALERT

AND leave a comment and let us know how you liked Megan's tutorial and if you are going to try to recreate it.  We will pick one person to receive a collection kit of their choosing!  We will announce the winner here on the blog on October 21st! 

Have a Scrappy Kinda Day!!~~Katrina