My last project that I shared on the Royal Blog Tour featuring the stamp set Sweet Season is an absolutely adorable Christmas Tree ornament! *(YILMP! see below for the “interpretation”!) This is larger than the Milk Carton die that Stampin’ Up! sells, and it has a great detail that I absolutely love about it! I purchased the tutorial for this milk carton from Becky Roberts at Inking Idaho, probably two years ago, and I use it consistently.
(* YILMP is adapted from Janine Tinklenberg’s (Stamps, Paper, Scissors) blog where she always makes me laugh by saying YILM … yes, I love myself!. In this case, it means “yes, I love my project!“)
I love the size of this milk carton, and I love that it has a different bottom closure so the carton does not have to be destroyed if the top is decorated in order to get at the enclosed goodies! Becky has this tutorial for sale HERE, but I will briefly explain a few things I did to make this fabulous Christmas ornament tealight holder.
First of all, after scoring the box, I punched a hole in one of the large sides (2 sides are wider than the other 2 sides) with my 1 3/8″ round punch. I then assembled the box. The bottom is put together by adding a tag using the small tag punch — the opposing side has a slot punched out of it using the horizontal tag punch (first center it, then move it slightly left and again slightly right).
My roof (see the photo above) is made by measuring the width of the roof panel and adding 1″: 1/2″ to each side, but 1/4″ of that is removed with the Scallop Edge Punch. I then scored a line at the absolute width of the roof (after I’ve punched the trim on each side — this leaves about 1/4 inch overlapping each side). The length of my roof was made in a similar way — I measured the length of the roof on one side, doubled it for the back side, and added on 1″. Does this make sense? Email me or leave a comment if it’s “greek” to you! You should be able to figure out the size of any roof using this “formula”. I made my roof glittered and “snowcovered” by using my two-way glue stick and then sprinkling the wet glue with White Chunky Glitter.
The trim on the sides and bottom of the house are made by cutting narrow strips of the Candy Lane DSP, then scoring down the middle and attaching them where I did.
I punched out a red bird using Poppy Parade paper, a yellow head using my Daffodil Delight card stock, and a black head using my Basic Black card stock. I punched out a second “wing” from my red card stock as well for the “top feathers” of my bird. Then I just snipped away till it kind of resembled a cardinal. Oh yes … I punched it with my 2 step bird punch. The leaves beside/under the bird were done by punching out Soft Suede card stock leaves. I used a glue stick to thoroughly cover the leaf tips, and then dipped them in the white Chunky Glitter. To make this project perfect for the Royal Blog Tour using Sweet Season, I popped up a stamped and embossed Poppy Parade “from our house to yours” sentiment. The sentiment was stamped with White craft ink, and then sprinkled with White Embossing Powder. Oops … I’m not sure the embossing was dry when I handled it to punch it out!
The inside of my birdhouse holds the battery operated tea light. Because I have the tag bottom to my ornament, I can turn the ornament on and off as I’d like. I attached the Cherry Cobbler seam binding to hang the ornament because … well, because I just love this seam binding!! That’s why!! I hope you enjoyed hearing about all of my projects as much as I enjoyed sharing them with you!
Supplies (click on the shopping cart to be connected to my web page) :
Sweet Season stamp set (116471)
Candy Cane Christmas DSP (120809)
Soft Suede, Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight card stock
Two-Step Bird XL Punch (117191)
1 3/8″ Round Punch (119860)
Scallop Edge Border Punch (119882)
Wide Oval Punch (119859)
Chunky Essentials Glitter (108797)
2 Way Glue Pen (100425)
Stop back again soon for some Thanksgiving cards and projects! I have an adorable turkey made with the Sweet Treats cups that I can’t wait to show you! This was shared with me by one of my fellow demonstrators. I’m going to add a shameful plug to join my Team of Demonstrators! One of the advantages is that everyone shares ideas with one another!
Stampingly yours!
Jeannie