Eileen Hull

Three dimensional art... with heart

Candy Corn Cake Slices

Halloween-Candy-Corn-Cake-Slice-wm

It’s that time of year again for the Halloween candy and pumpkins to come out. I made some little favor boxes using Halloween fabrics and my Sizzix ScoreBoards Cake Slice die. ScoreBoards are unique to Sizzix and have been specially designed to cut and score thick materials like matboard and chipboard. They make nice sturdy boxes, albums and folders. Here’s how to make a Halloween version of the Sizzix ScoreBoard Cake Slice die.

I like to try different techniques and use interesting materials to cover my boxes. In this project, fun Halloween fabrics were used.
Supplies
Box w/Lid, Cake Slice
Borders & Hydrangeas
Sweet Treats for You
Big Shot, XL Cutting Pads 
Little Sizzles Cream Mat Board
black and orange cardstock
glue gun
spray adhesive
Halloween fabrics
brads
  • Cut two piece of fabric 6” x 13”. Spray the back of the fabric with spray adhesive and place one on each side of the mat board.  This will give you color inside and outside of the box. If you only want color on one side, just add one piece of fabric. You could also paint, ink or stamp one side and use fabric or paper on the other… so many options!)
  • Run through die cut machine with the right side of the mat board facing the Cake Slice die.
  • Fold all score lines over 180 degrees to break the fibers of the board and make it easier to work with.
  • When using fabric to cover boxes, a glue gun is the best bet for a very strong hold. (when making a box with matboard or paper, ThermO Web iCraft Tape works great)
  • Butt the end flaps of the cake body to one another and attach them to the flap of the cake bottom.
  • Fold the cake bottom over and adhere to the cake body. (click for additional assembly instructions)
  • Cut borders from Borders & Hydrangea die and add to the middle of the cake slice.
  •  TIP: To save time, fold a 12″ strip of paper in half and set it right inside the die cutting line on one end- it doubles the length of the strip and it’s just long enough to go around the box.
  • Adhere border to the cake slice placing the fold on the pointy end of the slice. Fold end pieces around the back of the cake slice and adhere in place.
  • Cut out the Hydrangea shapes from black and orange paper. Curl petals with a stylus or bone folder. Secure layers with a brad and adhere to back of box with a glue dot, covering the join of the borders.
  • Cut a label tag from the “For You” Sizzlit from cardstock.
  • Tie a ribbon around the box and add tag and another hydrangea.
  • Add candy corn to box or other Halloween treats!
NOTE:  I’m sorry, I can’t show you the candy corn but it’s in there. If I open the box to take a picture, I will eat every single one :-(
What I usually do is cut out 4-5 cake slices using different fabrics and mix and match the pieces to create one of a kind boxes. You can also add spiders or other creepy things as desired. These boxes make quite an impact when you arrange them on a cake plate.
This project was originally posted on Crafter’s Home when I popped in as a Guest Blogger.
Happy Haunting everyone!

 

Video Tour of Scotty

As some of you know, I recently purchased a vintage trailer. Turns out, there is a silver lining to the government shutdown- having a very handy and smart husband who is now home! Today we went up and looked at the roof of the trailer and really checked it out. Boo- not too good 🙁 This was not really a surprise because there was water damage inside. 

 
There were places where the caulking was black and peeling so we started scraping and taking off the bad stuff. Then we were off to Lowe’s to buy some TSP to clean the roof with, Kilz for the interior, sealer for the top, brush to put it on with, a replacement light, etc. 
 
After stopping for hot dogs at Costco, we returned home and washed the roof of the trailer with a cleaning solution. It is looking much better. Not sure why we picked the 85 degree day to do this but it’s done! Tonight it is drying out and on to Phase 2 tomorrow…
 
I took a video of the inside last week and went to post it and could not find it. Did another video and of course found the fist one. So this was pretty much how it looked when I got it, horrible curtains and all…
Let me know if you have any tips- I am new to this and figuring things out as I go. 


Thanks for all of your name suggestions on Facebook today. I was reading them to my husband as we sweated away and it was fun to hear them as they came in. Stay tuned for more adventures…  

Big Picture Classes Giveaway!

Why is this year’s September so busy? It has been the craziest month ever! But September is almost over and that means the class I have been waiting for is almost here…
 
I am so excited to share this opportunity with you! My talented and sweet friend Amy Powers, publisher of the beautiful on-line magazine, Inspired Ideas, is about to start teaching her new twelve week class with Big Picture Classes. 
 
Amy’s class is called Craft Happy and I am all signed up and ready to go! It starts next week on Thursday, October 3. One of the things I am most excited to learn is how to make a stop motion video. Amy has all kinds of fun projects lined up for us plus videos and live chats. 
 
Lucky for you all, she has given me a FREE TICKET to her class to be won by a random reader. (See? I told you she was nice!). Just leave a comment under this post telling what craft that makes you most happy and you will be entered to win! 
 
This class costs $99 so whoever wins is lucky! And even if you don’t win, I hope you will sign up and join me and Amy for the next 12 weeks!
 
Leave your comments now! Someone is going to win this- why not you?

Welcome Scotty!

I might be crazy… but this weekend I bought a vintage camper that I have big dreams for.

 
I grew up in NY the oldest of six kids. My mom is an adventurer at heart and she loved nothing better than loading us all up in the family pop-up camper and setting off on a trip. I have memories of awakening at midnight with some strange man in our Country Squire station wagon backing the trailer into our campsite for Mom because she was not the best at that part of it. But she made it happen! 


We were driving home from NY a few weeks ago and saw an old vintage trailer on the road. The memories of those family camping trips came flooding back and made me smile… and think- wouldn’t it be FUN to have one of them and fix it up???


I am so blessed that I can actually do this! Our four children are raised and on their own and my husband’s stepdad who stayed with us for a year and a half is safely settled in his assisted living home. My husband is not only OK with it- he actually found the trailer on eBay for me- what a guy!

 

So here’s my new baby! It is in excellent shape for 36 years, don’t you think? There’s a little water damage on the roof, the outer paint job is faded and it’s tinier than I thought but I LOVE IT! I have plans for this baby that are so exciting I can hardly stand it but have to explore them before I spill the beans. Don’t worry- you will be the first to know!


There’s so much I want to do with it! It’s like having a little doll house to fix up. The inside is all wood (which is not in bad shape) but I plan to prime it white to start with to lighten it up. I definitely need curtains and new seat covers. They are pretty squished down after years of people sitting on them so I might add some foam cushioning on top of the original and then make a cover for all. It seems the years of collecting retro dishes, linens, and tablecloths are finally paying off- I will be able to furnish this in no time… with a couple trips to the garage, potting shed and basement, we’ll be good to go! 


Next there are the not-so-fun and expensive things that must be done- get a hitch and ramp up the towing capacity for my car so it can carry the added weight, give it a thorough cleaning, etc.


Anyway, I just wanted to share my exciting news with you all. I hope you will experience the fun of making over this trailer with me. Tomorrow I hope to share a video of it. So what do you say, are you along for the ride? 

Crafting with Kids

Happy Grandparent’s Day to all of the grandmas, grandpas, mimis, pop pops, gigis, granddaddies, nanas, pops, or whatever name you are called by your little angels 🙂 

 
Today the Herndon Rotary Club partnered with AARP to put on the Classic Car Show on the village green. Grandparent’s Day was part of the celebration. I volunteered at the arts and crafts table because it is so much fun to watch how kids create. 


Have you heard of the cre8time movement? It’s about taking time each month, week, day to do something creative to recharge yourself. There’s a good video that describes the idea here. 


I admit it. I am partial to die cutting… so out came the Sizzix Big Shots and dies. Boy was that a blast! Those kids (and some parents!) just went to town… we had kids making butterflies and flowers, coloring them, decorating with stickers, markers, stamps and ink- some kids made boxes, until we ran out of matboard… 


Turns out we had record attendance and there were way more kids than anticipated. Luckily, we had enough paper and other supplies to allow everyone that stopped by to leave with a fun finished project. 


I am happy to report that my husband Hayward was one of the volunteers in the booth so I was able to educate him on how to operate a Big Shot (how is it possible that he does not know this after me blabbing about dies for FOUR YEARS?) Could be he was totally yanking my chain, but whatever.

Here he is, busily cutting down paper using my handy dandy 
Westcott paper trimmer before the crowds arrive.
And then they arrived… and kept arriving!

 

Bob Packard of EmbroidMe was a quick study and showed everyone how to make 3D flowers using the Trinity’s Flower die. Many thanks to ThermoWeb for the icraft tape that you donated to the cause- we used it to hold all of the flowers and boxes together! 

Did I mention it was about 90 degrees? Note to self- next time wear shorts.
 
Elsa was to our left and she was running the butterfly and card section- sorry did not get any pics of that- too busy. Hayward wound up at the bracelet station- he gets the sunburn award 🙁
 
We were right next to a portable stage and it was cool to watch them just fold it up and drive away.

Rotarians rolling an antique hearse up the bike path and across the street to the Adams-Green Funeral Home… getting their exercise.


It was a great event. But I must admit after it was over we were quite ready to pack it in and head home for naps… ahhhh.

I hope you were able to do something cre8tive this weekend! 

Crafty Sightings

Getting back in the loop after vacation has not been easy. Can’t the summer last a little longer? The weather has been in the 70’s the past few weeks… just perfect!
 
FYI, one of my husband’s dream has come true- we have a hot tub! We found a reconditioned one and have just the perfect spot for it. He has been busy getting the chemicals right, testing pH balance, regulating heat and jets, etc. Last weekend he built a little mini deck so we can get in and out without using a step ladder. I was impressed with how fast he put it together. Lucky we live right down the street from Home Depot- it was a three trip project 🙂


I was grocery shopping the other night and had to check out the Fall issue of Crafts ‘N Things. The page opened to a set of fall projects created by designer friend Melony Bradley. What a fun surprise to see her project made using my Sizzix Caddy die! Wouldn’t this be a cute teacher’s gift or a nice way to customize a birthday present? Melony always designs with recycled materials and I love that about her work. That brown paper flower is probably made with packing paper… just a guess.


Thanks to all who are working with my ScoreBoard dies- I love seeing what you do with them!