Christmas Tree Advent Calendar

For this post I decided to tackle the JGW Tree Stack Box.  I have seen several in green and a beautiful white one in our Winter Blog Hop this past weekend.  I wondered how it would look if I used several different patterned papers for the drawers.

I am very pleased with the result.  I used 15 sheets of paper for this.  I know this sounds like a lot but it didn't feel like it.  I used 6 patterned papers (one set of four drawers will fit on one 12x12 sheet), 4 sheets of red and 5 sheets of brown.  I even made use of the half tree wedges (these are so you can use a 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper).  If you put a whole tree wedge in the center of a 12x12 page you can fit two half's upside down on either side.  This enabled me to cut the six wedges with only 3 sheets of paper!

I used little buttons instead of eyelets.  I also decided that I would put little red bows in the drawers.  When the tree is finished being decorated it is Christmas Eve!

I know this tree looks like a very daunting task to put together but it is a simple project.  The hardest thing about this project is that there are 24 little boxes and 24 little slots for the boxes to slide in.  So it takes time to put these 48 pieces together.  The result is well worth it.  It looks very complicated and you will get a lot of oohs and aahs over this one.  So far this is one of my favorite projects.

December 1st is right around the corner but there is still time to get an advent calendar finished!

I think this would look great in any color combination.  I would love to see your version of the tree or any other project you have made with our files on our facebook page!  Thank you for stopping by to see my project.

Do what inspires you,
Cyndy :)

Winter Wonderland Blog Hop

UPDATE - You can now purchase this little snowman as a kit at SVG Attic.  SDS Frosting the Snowman.

Welcome to the SVG Attic-SnapDragon Snippets Winter Wonderland blog hop!  We are so excited to have you join us today!

At each stop of the hop we hope you will be inspired by the creativity of the design teams of SVG Attic and Snapdragon Snippets. You are sure to find many wonderful projects that will be at the top of your crafting lists! If you happened across this post out of order, please head to the SVG Attic blog to start at the beginning of the hop.

Here is the project I created for this hop:

Christmas is my favorite time of year.  I love all the decorations!  I especially like snowmen.  So I created one for you today.

I made him using the SDS 3D Cake Box Kit as my snowman.  It worked perfectly!  I used my snowflake embossing folder on the cake panels and chalked them with blue to help it pop.

I used the Leprechaun Hat from the SDS Charmingly Green Kit for the hat.

And the SDS Ice Princess Party Pack for the snowman's face, arms and buttons.  I love the detail in the cute little carrot nose and that the eyes and buttons are not perfectly round to give them the look of coal.  Finally, I added a little piece of holly from the Winter Fun Photo Props and some cute snowman ribbon I found on clearance last year.  

Here is a list of the kits I used:

SDS 3D Cake Box

SDS Charmingly Green

SDS Ice Princess Party Pack

Winter Fun Photo Props

I hope you have enjoyed my project.  Angeline is up next. 

Now how about some blog hop prizes??

$15 Gift Certificate to SVG Attic

and

$15 Gift Certificate to SnapDragon Snippets

What do you need to do to be eligible for these amazing prizes?

1. Become a follower of each blog in the hop, if you aren't already.  We have some different blogs since our last hop, so please check to make sure you are following them all!
2. Leave some comment love at each stop.
3. If you do both of the above, check the SVG Attic blog and/or the SnapDragon Snippets blog for the winners on Monday, November 17th!  You have all day today and tomorrow to hop. 

We would also love it if you would stop by the SVG Attic and SnapDragon Snippets' Facebook pages and give us a "Like"!

Now for the blog hop lineup:

SVG Attic blog

Cyndy (you are here)

Angeline (go here next)

Beth 

Courtney 

Carmen

Jodi

Esther

Debb

Julie

Valou

Shary

Rhonda

Gaby

SnapDragon Snippets blog

I hope you have enjoyed this stop on our hop!  Be sure to head on over to the other stops for more Winter Wonderland  inspiration, comment and become a follower to be eligible for the prizes!

It's a Frozen Party

Anyone who has a little girl right now knows that they want everything Frozen.  So it came as no surprise to me when my daughter, who is 4 yrs old told me she wants a Frozen party.

So I decided to change the Sweet Shop Party kit into a Snowball Shop by using elements from the SDS Ice Princess Party Pack and Cozy Christmas Captions.

I added a snowflake from the gift bag  to side of the shop.  To cut the design into the side panel place the snowflake where you want it, then ungroup the file.  Once you have the object ungrouped select the outer most circle and delete it.  Now when you cut the panel you will have the design cut into the piece not just a big circle.  I cut a snowflakes in a dark blue to place on the outside.  I liked the look of the snowflake turned a little so it wasn't exactly lined up.

I made a "build a snowman" treat bag using the place card.

Finally, I made up some of the cracker boxes and popcorn cups for treats to complete my party favors.

Here is a list of the kits I used:

Sweet Shop Party Kit 
SDS Ice Princess Party Pack
Cozy Christmas Captions

The paper I used was Winter Fun by Carta Bella, it is available in digital format.  Until next time.

Do what inspires you,
Cyndy G

Casino Night - Volunteer

My boys attend Saint Michaels Catholic School.  This year we have a new principal and she wants to do a casino night for a fundraiser.  So I volunteered to be on the decorating committee and thought my craft might come in handy.

So I turned to SVG Cuts for the Champagne bottle and dice; and Craftsuprint for the orchid.  I found these nice gold painted branches at Hobby Lobby.  Here is what I put together:

I found some art deco designs to add to the bottle to give it a little more design.

How did I do it?  I attached the flowers to floral wire (silver) with a hot glue gun and attached a little circle on the back to hid the glue a wire on each flower.  Then I attached the wire to the branch by twisting it on about an inch above the top of the bottle and curved it give it the feel of a fountain.  It didn't take much wire to attach to the branch, I left about two inches.

I also made the bottle a little taller.  I doubled the size by using the union tool on two of the pieces.  To do this I clear my mat of all pieces except what I am working on.  When I need to have things lined up exactly I copy and paste in place.  I decided to line my pieces up by the fold lines at the bottom and top of two pieces  -  see picture:

If you use the merge tool and you want your fold lines you have to break apart you pieces but first you need to delete the extra fold lines that you don't need.  To do this break part one of your pieces (leave the other one grouped).  Then select the parts you need to delete  -  see photo below:

Then repeat with the other piece.  What you have should look like this:

Leave your pieces ungrouped and broken apart and select both outer pieces without selecting the fold lines.  To do this click on one hold the shift key and then click on the other.  Go to path and then union.  Like this:

This should be what your new piece looks like:

Since all the pieces to the bottom of the bottle are the same you can just copy this one piece for all eight pieces you need.  Now you have a bottle that will be 4" taller and you haven't distorted the bottle by stretching it or made it any bigger round.

Here are some more pictures of the finished project:

I still need to find some gold tape to cover the wire from the flowers, but other than that I think this is finished!

Here is a list of the kits and links to them:

New Year's Eve Kit
The Green Room Kit
Orchid Plant

I used The Paper Studio - Oh So Glam - paper stack