Cricut Circle December Monthly Challenge: Holiday Gifts

Yep! I'm actually getting a project done BEFORE the last minute! The theme for this month’s challenge is geared towards helping us cross off one of the names on our holiday gift list! The challenge is to please create a Holiday Gift Item. The project must be newly created for this challenge and should include the following elements to qualify: use a tag made with a cartridge (there are so many great tags on so many cartridges), use the color red somewhere, use ribbon, and use the Phrase Feature from one of the cartridges. This is what I created:


It's a hair bow holder for my 4 1/2 year old daughter, Penny! What's funny is that this started as just a wall hanging. I started by cutting the ballerina at 7" with the Twinkle Toes cartridge. I really want to get some Peachy Keen stamps for the faces on these characters. I actually backed the eyes with white and added the details myself. I knew I wanted to use ribbon on the skirt and since one of the requirements I found this fun red Christmas ribbon. I love the fur! I almost pulled the wire out of it but then realized I could make pleats in the skirt by accordion folding my ribbon! This project was full of revelations!


I had already cut the skirt, shoes and bows from red card stock but once I added the ribbon skirt layer the red looked kind of dull. Well, what better way to brighten things up then by adding GLITTER? I grabbed my Christmas Red Stickles and carefully added it to the shoes and bows. I also ended up just leaving the red skirt layer off and trimming the brown base a bit so the skirt would sit right. I used some Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots to attach the skirt. This glue holds its shape kind of like hot glue and it was perfect for attaching the skirt. Once the Stickles and Scrap Dots were dry I wanted to add a little more bling to my little girt so I pulled out my trusty i-rock from Imaginisce! This is SERIOUSLY one of my favorite tools, it's right up there with my Cricut! I added large jewels to both bows and then added a little sparkle to her eyes with tiny crystals. For the background I cut the beveled tag from the Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cartridge (TBBM) at 7 1/2" tall from some chipboard. I covered it with a pretty sheet of patterned paper from Crate Paper and then inked the edges with some Walnut Stain Tim Holtz Distress Ink. I also covered the back with plain brown card stock to finish it off.


Next I cut the banner from another piece of chipboard and covered it with more patterned paper and inked the edges. I also used a piece of scrap paper so that I could ink the shadow onto the banner. The phrase "I {heart} Dance" is also on the Twinkle Toes cartridge. The word heart actually prints to attach to the heart but I skipped that in favor of blinging out my heart with glitter! I also used some Pop Up Dots to attach the heart to the banner for even more dimension. Then I used the same Pop Up Dots to adhere the ballerina to the tag and then used some Scotch Quick Dry glue to attach the banner to the bottom. It was at that point that Penny comes over to my desk and tells me that she needs some ribbon because she has made a new hair bow holder for herself. I had a total "Eureka!" moment and told Penny she was a genius as we decided that the sign I was making would be an AWESOME hair bow holder! So here is a look at the one Penny created:


And here's another look at the one I created! I had so much fun playing with my stash to make this project and I just LOVE the way it all turned out in the end. It's funny but sometimes when we have no particular plan we can come up with the coolest stuff!