Print, Cut, Play Gingerbread Town

 Merry Christmas!

Gingerbread house found on Pinterest, no credit

The kids will be out of school soon for Christmas Break. After a day of watching tv, and maybe another day of playing on a computer, all while anticipating the excitement of Christmas morning, kids get restless. Perfect time to make a gingerbread village! 

Too messy? Too much sugar?  

Why not make a paper one?  Today, let’s put that printer to good use, and print out some candy houses. Draw some gingerbread people to go in it. Get the scissors and glue out. Then we can decorate them with bits cut from catalogs, magazines, and more.

Here are the first few:

 These are not my original house plans, by the way. I found all of them on Pinterest, and none of them had reliable source information. I always try not to step on anyone’s toes, or hard work. If you recognize who has drawn any of these please let me know so I can give credit where it is due.

You can use cardstock in your printer for a nice sturdy village. 

After printing and cutting out, it’s time to get all those Christmas shopping catalogs that have been flooding your mailbox. Cut out some decorations to glue to your gingerbread houses.

For smaller children, let them use paper punches to add decorative details. You may find it easier to glue things on before assembling, or you might prefer to add on after the houses are put together. Try both ways.

I would suggest you use a good glue on those assembly flaps. My favorite is Aleene’s Tacky Glue in the gold bottle for a good all-purpose glue. For fine detail work I prefer Art Institute Glitter Adhesive. You should be able to find both of these in any craft store, or even Walmart.

Now let’s get some peeps for your village! You will need to play around with the correct sizing for these. Make them as big or small as you prefer.

These cute elves can be fastened together with brads or eyelets for movable parts, or glue the parts together to make more of a sturdy paperdoll. Glue them onto a thin cardboard like a cereal box for durability. For small children play you might think about laminating them.

Here is a Santa to go with them:

German

I also found these ginger-people paper doll figures:

Cottonartsboutique.com

I have shown in past blogs how to make stands for your paper dolls.

Other ideas for your gingerbread village include using scraps of fabric, ric-rac, ribbons, buttons and more to decorate your houses.

Try some glitter glue for sparkle! I think Sticklers is the best for that, and it comes in so many colors.

Most of all, have fun.

Here is one last paper doll for you:

‘Til next time,

inkspired

Tools of the Trade

 Welcome!

Sea life mobile, inkspired

As I was thinking of doing my next blog, it occurred to me that perhaps a few of you would like to know what tools I find most useful in my Craft/Stamp Studio.

Let me be clear -

I do not get paid for anything I say or show on my blog. I have never received any product of any kind for free or reduced prices. (Not saying that wouldn’t be maybe nice, just saying it has never happened!)

What you see here is simply what I like.

And I think you might like it too!

I adore my Cricut Explore Air 2 cutting machine. From the first day I got it I have had fun with it, in so many different ways! I still feel like I have barely scratched the surface of what all it can do. Here are a couple of my projects that I made with my Cricut.

Created for a friend’s Farmer’s Market table, selling homemade honey.

Bookmarks made for a teacher friend’s students.

Apertures, accessories & words cut with my Cricut.

My next foray will be felt. Little gnome and fairy felt figures to be exact!

Suzy Woozy, Pinterest

The next large investment I have made and loved since the very first day-

My Spellbinder’s Platinum die cutting machine.

Card by inkspired

These 2 machines I leave out on my counter top as I use them almost every day. I also have a Sizzix Sidekick for quick, small die cutting projects.

Some indispensable Cricut tools are:

This basic package came with my machine. I use the  square scraper tool (in the back) for other things also. The sharp curved tool on the far right is a must for picking card and paper off your Cricut mat, and poking out little pieces of paper stuck inside a cutting. The other 3 tools come in handy also.

Painter’s tape. If you are not familiar with this tape, prepare to fall in love. It is a low tack tape that is temporary and peels off (mostly) without a problem or sticky residue left behind. It will hold your metal dies in place so they don’t slide around on your cutting platform. When your Cricut mat has lost some of its stickiness, painter’s tape will hold everything in place so you can still get cutting life out of your mats. It also is a great way to keep tiny metal die pieces together and not get lost. When I want straight lines on my cards, such as when I am sponging ink around an edge, it works great. It is reusable many times before you have to throw a bit away.

I use my paper cutter every day. Really! Invest in a good one and you will never regret it. Here is a ‘guillotine’ style I prefer. Mine also has exchangeable decorative blades.

Card by inkspired

In no particular order, here are other tools I often find helpful. There are a couple kinds of scissors I like. The ones with the closed handles are great for relieving hand stress and muscle cramps. Basically you only have to squeeze them together; the spring will force the blades open for you. The next pair are regular mechanism, but have shorter 2-3” blades and very sharp tips.

For detail cutting and inside corners you really need a shorter blade, like these 2.

I love these straight, needle tip tweezers that stay shut until you squeeze them open. I also have a curved tip pair I use all the time.

I have a variety of specialty scissors with decorative blades. One can never have too many choices! Although my favorite ones are the deckle edge blades.

So you’ve made all these elements and now you need to stick them onto your card. I use a combination of double stick tape and glue. The absolute best double stick tape is sold by

Vlvstamps.com

Otherwise you can find pretty good tape from Hobby Lobby/Michael’s. Stampin’Up! sells a good one too. Just be sure you get permanent and not temporary hold.

My favorite glue has always been Aleene’s Tacky glue in the gold bottle. They now carry one with a lid to store it upside down so the glue is always ready to come out. About time!

My new favorite glue for all purpose but especially paper items is art glitter glue. You can purchase a special tip that is super tiny and just perfect for all those little pieces added for embellishment. It also holds layers of cardstock together without warping.

Valentines with hand punched flower embellishments; by inkspired

I love my Bead Scooper tool. It just comes in handy for all sorts of different jobs.

If you don’t have a label maker, you are missing out! I have a Brother label maker that I use all the time. It helps me so much to be organized so I spend my time crafting instead of looking for things. (Think “now where did I put my keys?”).

You can see quite a few things I have labeled!

Without going into detail here are a few more tools I find myself using almost daily.

I hope you have found this helpful, and perhaps you have seen something new-to-you that you would like to try out.

Questions? Just ask me!

‘Til next time,

inkspired

 

Old Blog Graphics

 Welcome!

Card collage by inkspired

I wanted to let you know….

When looking at my older blogs, you might not be able to see all the photos and diagrams and such that are a major part of my blogs.

Oh no!

By Sandra Boynton

But wait!

There’s more!

Just tap on the ‘empty’ space 

where the photo should be and

Voila!

The photo pops up!

Sorry for the nuisance.

Happy the photos are still there. 

Found on Pinterest

Here’s another little, random hint that makes my life easier:

When using your favorite die cutting machine (mine is Spellbinder’s Platinum)

having trouble getting little pieces out?Sandwich a piece of wax paper between the die and the paper. Little pieces come right out!

Card by inkspired

Hint #2:

I cut up a stack of card sized wax paper sheets so they are ready to use when I need them.

 I discovered if I lay the wax paper onto my checkered table cloth I can cut a straight line quite easily!

That’s it for today.

I’m working on 3 different blogs right now. I hope to publish one soon.

;)

‘Til next time,

inkspired

Pinterest: K.Kloberdans