Easy Outdoor Garden Light

Oops, what's happening to me. I'm making something without any help from my Silhouette but, I could have. :-) If I wanted to make some of the flower embellishments with the Silhouette I would have had to use the Outdoor Mod Podge on them too. I was lazy today, so I grabbed some flowers and greenery I had laying around.

It's fun making things that can be used around our homes and gardens. When I find something I like, I can hardly wait to share it here. Below you will find the items you need and some instructions to help you along the way. I promise, this is very easy and they look great lit up at night.

I tried to get a good photo in the dark but this was the best I could do. Believe me they are pretty as can be outside. A very pale blue was the color I chose to add to the Mod Podge.

The items you will need are shown below. Lets' get started!

1. Mix a few drops of food coloring ( the shade and the coloring is your choice) into about 1/3 cup of the out door Mod Podge

2. Remove the Solar top from the housing so you will just have the top part. Charge it up in the sunlight. ( The solar light I used was bought at Bed Bath and Beyond for $1.99)

3. Remove the center piece from you Ball canning jar and screw the opened hole lid back onto the Ball jar.

4. Paint even coats of the food coloring/ Mod Podge mixture onto your jar and let dry overnight.

5. Take a 1 inch piece of ribbon and hot glue it to the very edge of the solar light piece. This will help hold it on the jar. You don't want to glue it to the jar because you wouldn't be able to change the batteries.

6. Now that your jar is dry, here comes the excitement. Take your floral wire and wrap around the underlip of the jar, hoop over a piece to make the hanger, then loop it under the adjacent side and twist into place.

7. Time to embellish your Garden Light. I used some floral stuff I had laying around the house and wrapped it around the floral wire hanger.

P.S. Save that bottom part of the solar light. No telling what we can use this for but I'm sure we'll come up with something clever.



To make this you will need: Glue Gun, Wire Cutters, Embellishments of choice

 Ball Canning Jar

 One inch Ribbon

 Inexpensive Solar Light

  28 Gauge Floral Wire

 Outdoor Mod Podge

 Food Coloring

The Working Gumball Machine Card

I found this idea some time ago on a wonderful blog. When my old computer crashed I lost all sorts of terrific places and information so I designed this from memory. Well, my memory must not be too great because it took me two days of fiddling with it to get it just right..lol.

Well, after a good two days, three messed up prototypes,and lots of screen shots and typing of instructions it is here to be shared. This card is a lot of fun since it actually works!

The look on my friend's face when she turned the knob and got a tic-tac made me laugh.I hope your friends and family will have as much fun with this card as we did.

 The most important thing about the candy you choose to put in it is to make sure you notched out the Sweet Treat cup enough but not too much for you candy to fall through to the mechanism. The mechanism is a pain in the rear to make and you also have to make sure you tuck in that paper just right so it can catch the right  size of candy you have chose. Don't ask me how I know this is important...LOL.

You can download this cutting file here The instructions are below. Please remember, I love to share but I ask you link back to my blog here and please don't share this on other websites, sale it, or claim it as your own cutting file. After all of this serious stuff I want to add...ENJOY and HAVE FUN with it.

P.S. This morning I found this...Woohoo! This video tutorial is from the blog where I first saw this idea. Sadly, she has stopped blogging. This video tutorial is from StayingCrafty. Gumball Machine Video Tutorial Part 1

Forgive all of my typos on the instructions. No spell check in Photoshop...lol.

Tangles Treasures Delights

Rebekah aka Tangles, has shared the loveliest cutting file with all of us over at Silhouette Plus. You will melt over this adorable Print and Cut cutting file of Woolsey the Lamb. Below is a picture of the complete set and she has show much more to offer at her Etsy shop. She is a very talented artist. Please visit her shop for some lovely treasures. You'll be glad you did. :-)

Click here to check out: Tangles Treasures

All- In- One Favor Box

This little favor box took me a while to design but it will come in handy. It is all-in-one box which means the lid simply fold over to the contents inside.

I took three photos of it so you can see all parts of it. I hope you have fun making this box and it will come in handy for one of your occasions. The instructions are below the pictures. If you have any questions, please email me.

Remember, I love to share but please don't sale, re-distribute on another site, or claim it as your own. I know you all wouldn't do this but I have to type this anyway. :-)


You can download the cutting file here.

Slide Box

Woohoo! I was so excited when Rebecca61 from the Silhouette Plus forum shared this cutting file. I could hardly wait to make some for friendship boxes. The cutting file is fantastic. I know, I'm going to get a lot of use out of this one.

Just a reminder, the Silhouette Plus Forum is all free and fun. If you love your Silhouette cutting machine,  you will really enjoy the Silhouette Plus community of friendly, crafty, sharing, caring, folks.

So, what are you waiting for? Come join in the fun, learning, inspirational good times.

Trinket Box Cutting File and Instructions

I'm a box nut. Some will say; just a nut...lol. Below are some pictures of the trinket box I designed the cutting file for you to download if you would like to give this a try.

The instruction are typed inside of the cutting file. I'm going to add them here too.

Have fun making this. If you have any questions you can always email me. Thanks for visiting my blog and happy crafting.

Download Trinket Box

Chest of Drawers Instructions and Cutting File

Every day one of the members on the Silhouette Plus forum inspires me to create a cutting file. Even though the designers for the Silhouette Store designs are much more professional and have the expertise to create the best cutting files, I enjoy making them and sharing them.

Linda, from the Silhouette Plus forum inspired me to make two of these for our granddaughter's little hair clips. The embellishments are up to you. I used ribbon to make the pulls on the drawer. I cut three even lengths of ribbon, attached the ends with fabric glue and glued them into place with Alleen's Tacky Glue ( I love that stuff!). The feet of the chest of drawers are some large pearl that I attached to the bottom with small Glue Dots (love those too!).

Remember, my file isn't perfect. I had to hand trim a tiny amount off of the drawers because I was pretty tired of making prototypes. I hate to share any file I haven't tried cutting first. You will want to use some heavy card stock and for this size you will need 2 pieces of 12 X 12 card stock.

Below the picture of the chest of drawers I made are some instructions. I hope you find them helpful. Please contact me if you have any questions. Happy Crafting! :-)

Download Chest of Drawers Cutting File Here

Fairies In A Jar

Today is my granddaughter's fourth birthday. She is having a little party. Her gift from me is a girl's day our. She  loves to have her nails painted. So, grandma is taking her to a salon to get her nails and toes painted, go to a nice lunch all dressed up, and just hang out together enjoying a special time together. Our grandchildren love these one on one days.

Things You'll Need


1. A Silhouette Cutting machine or good pair of scissors The cutting file download is located below.
2. Jewelry Wire
3. DecoArt Glo In The Dark writer paint
4. White card stock for printing images
5. Any color of card stock to make the circles for the lids
6. Small and Medium Glue Dots
7. One Quart Ball Jar
8. Embellishments of your choice
9. Ribbon to secure the Fairies In A Jar tag.

* Please make sure to be cautious with the glass jar and small children. It would be great if you can find a nice clear plastic jar.

** Note: When the fairies loose their glow, just place them in some light for a bit and the glow will  come right back. :-) 

Time to get to business...lol. I didn't want to show up at her party without anything in hand so, I made her these fairies in a jar. She LOVES! fairies. In the picture the very thin silver thread shows but, they barely show when you see them in real life. Each pair of little wings was painted with a ArtDeco dimensional writer paint, then I poked pin holes into one of the two 2.265 circle cut on the my Cameo and cut out wings I filled with various colors. Each wing that hangs takes two wings back to back. I glued them together, leaving a bit of room to place a Glue Dot so I could place the silver thread between them to hang. Now, back to that circle I already cut out and poked 27 holes in. After the wings completely dry, thread the strings with the wings through the holes (A good jewelry thread works great!) and tie a knot at the top to hold them into place. After all of your fairies are tied, take the second 2.265 circle and add some medium sized Glue Dots to it. Line up bot of the circles and press together. This circle will cover up all of the threading places. You are ready to add the last of the glue dots and place it into the clear Ball jar! Add several medium Glue Dots to the top of the circle and press it into the lid of the jar. Decorate your jar as desired. Add your fair tag. My tag says; "We little fairies come from afar, to live inside this pretty jar. When your room goes dark at night, our wings will glow to give you light.", you can make up your own saying or use mine.

Ready for the fun part? Take your fairy creation into a dark room and see the magic come to life. I wish I could have taken a decent picture of the beautiful glow.

* If you would like to enchant the little boys or girls in your life with a fairy jar please check back later for the cutting file. I have to go and get ready for the party and have the file on my other computer.

A special thanks goes out to my wonderful husband who ran all over town getting me the supplies for this project and to my youngest daughter who spent the night because she was sick but got up in the morning feeling better and helped me paint all 27 = 58 sides of the wings.

Here is the link to the cutting file :-) Fairies In A Jar Silhouette Cutting File

* Please don't share this cutting file. It is for personal use only, not to be sold or shared on other websites. Also, please don't take this idea and claim it as your own. I know most people wouldn't do this but sadly, I have found others whom have. If you make the fairies in the jar please link it back to my blog. Thank you all for visiting my. Hugs - Debbie aka doodlingdebbie  

Free Geometric Cutting Files

I spend a lot of time playing around with the Studio software. I had seen these designs on various cards on the internet and couldn't resist attempting to make a Silhouette Studio cutting pattern.These are not the first geometric pattern cutting files I've designed in Studio but each one takes a lot of time and making sure things are aligned perfectly I've shared the other designs on the Silhouette Plus forum. I finish making them and of course had to do a test cut before I shared them with all of you.

Below are the pictures of what they look like when you finish cutting and folding them. After they are cut you simply fold over the inner shapes and tuck them in. The leaf looking one you just fold over. if you would like it to lay a bit flatter you can always apply a little glue in the center ring.

Here is the link to the Studio cutting file for these three designs. Geometric Set of Three Cutting File The fourth design on the cutting file is a mat. Happy Cutting and Crafting. :-)

Tutorial for the Floating Frame

You will find the cutting file link posted below these instructions. Happy Crafting!

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5 - Finished Frame

Floating Frame

Today is another crafting kind of day. I found myself working on perfecting the cutting file for that "floating frame" It's almost there. I usually always cut practice/ prototype files. I think after the next cut everything will fall into place.

Designing cutting files can sure be a lot of work but it gives you such a feeling of satisfaction. I hope all of you "Silhouetters" are using you cutting machines a lot and exploring you Studio software. Once you start to learn what all of the tools can do, you will be having some great crafting adventures.

P.S. I finally did all of the tweaking on the cutting file and wanted to share it. I only ask; please do not claim it as your own, sell, or redistribute. Thank you. You can download the Studio cutting file here

Happy Crafting!
Debbie

Currency Design Challenge

Jody, from the Silhouette Plus Group Forum is hosting a fun challenge. The challenge is to make your own currency with a saying on it, a currency amount, and the country where you are from. There are many wonderful entries and it was a truly fun challenge for me. Designing is one of the most relaxing things I do. Below is my entry. Thanks for popping in. :-)

If you would like to join the forum; it's fun, free, and easy to join. You can clcik the blinkie on the left hand side and it will take you right there.

I'll Huff and I'll Puff, and......

I'll blow your house in, said; that mean ol' wolf! The story, "The Three Little Pigs" has remained a favorite story among children all over the world. I love telling stories to my grandchildren and now it's going to be a bit more fun with the new Puppet Theater I made with my Silhouette.

The inspiration for this cute little Puppet Theater came from Blythe over at Gettin' Crafty Starkie Blog. Her blog is marvelous with lots of fun, creative ideas. If you have the time go check her place out. You'll be happy you did.

As many of you know, I like to draw, and create my own cutting files so with inspiration from Blythe, I got busy drawing and figuring out how I wanted this file to cut. Since all of the characters and the theater are Print and Cuts, I had to make them all fit on letter size card stock. Oh, the dream I have of some day buying a large format printer. To even think of this printing delight makes me say, aaahhhh. :-)

My Paper Shadow Box

My great nephew will soon be arriving. With all of the excitement of another new addition to our family I've been busy designing the cutting file for this shadow box. The wonderful graphics sets are from " Belly Babies set 2 & 3" by artist: Janie Dawson. The duck and baby bottle graphics are from the "Baby Face" set by: PCCrafter artists.

After I designed the box and put it all together it was time to work on the graphics. Each image was "auto traced" in the Silhouette Studio software. I duplicated each graphic 3 times and layered them. Behind each layered graphic I took a roll of 3M double backed adhesive tape ( the thick kind), rolled a piece of tape in about nine to ten rolls to make a large backing for each graphic. This is what makes them stay in place and stand out. I'm happy with the results of the cutting file I designed but I must say; it was very time consuming designing this file. I know the Silhouette store now sells a cutting file similar to the one I designed because one of the ladies on the Silhouette Plus forum showed her beautiful shadow box she created by using designer: Lori Whitlock's cutting file. I'm sure Lor's file is perfect; mine just works...lol.

Silhouette Plus Showcase of Doilies

I am so impressed by all of the beautiful doily designs the Silhouette Plus members have made. It was so flattering to get all of the positive feedback on the Doily Designing In Studio video tutorial I made to inspire "Silhouetters" to get in there, design, play and have fun.

I'm waiting for permission to post the other members designs. They all deserve to be showcased.

Doily Design by Carolina
Carolina's Blog

Doily Design by Chrisinte (Addie)

Doily Design by: thyli

More Drawing In Studio

Our grandson loves anything to do with firemen, trains, planes.After I heard the sirens from some fire trucks, I thought about doing this "Print and Cut" just for him. The first thing that popped into my head was a Dalmatian. Now, I have a Dalmatian print and cut all ready for duty. :-)

Remember, you can design and draw your own "Print and Cuts" too. Play around with your Silhouette Studio software and see what you can do. If you scroll down this page, you'll also find a little tutorial I made giving you some ideas of the basics.

I just finished cutting out my drawings with the Cameo and I made a couple of cards. Remember, you can download the Bee Hive and Bee by clicking on the link below. If you use this, I would love to see what you did with it. Thank you :-)

The bee card has a home-made wobble behind it so it will have a little action in it by bouncing around. The tag says; "Buzzin' in to say...." the tag on the Dalmatian card says; "Firedog to the rescue!" this one is for my grandson.