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Spring Tree

Thursday, May 23rd, 2013

spring-treeYou can make a beautiful spring tree for your entryway by attaching tissue paper flowers to a gnarly branch stuck into some dirt in a pot.

I happen to have a dead tree in my entry way, as you well know from my Thankfulness Tree. Those who follow me on Facebook also saw a dilapidated picture of oversized ornaments hanging from it at Christmas time. Ah, yes. Why don’t I just throw the darned thing out already? Because look! I just transformed it into a gorgeous spring tree! It makes me smile each time I pass by. (And my daughter was delighted, too. My husband just rolled his eyes.)

You can make tissue paper flowers with cookie cutters, and those come out more fancy than the simplified ones I’m going to show you here. Instead of using a cookie cutter, I grabbed the lid of a mayonnaise jar and traced around it on light and dark pink tissue paper. Make 4 circles with a pencil, then cut stacks of the tissue paper all at once to make this project go faster. (It’s actually easier to cut 6 or 7 layers of tissue paper than to cut one piece, because the paper is so flimsy.)

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Now that all your circles are cut out, stab half a piece of pipe cleaner into the center of a stack of 4 or 5 pieces. Hook the pipe cleaner to make a lump so that the tissue paper doesn’t slide off the end. Now fluff up the tissue paper. Your flower is finished.

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Make as many flowers as you like to decorate your tree. I used one large piece of tissue paper for light pink, and one for dark. I cut as many circles as I could, and I ended up with the amount of flowers you see in the picture.

 

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17 Creative Ways to Use Cookie Cutters

Monday, May 13th, 2013

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Here are 17 creative ways to use cookie cutters! Each of the activities are hot-linked to the tutorial that will show you exactly how to do each activity and tips to make your projects more fun. Your kids will have a blast as you go through these simple, exciting activities:

#1 Fruit Shapes: I give you tips on how to cut fun shapes out of fruit.

#2 Shape Books: Shape books can encourage young writers to write fun stories, descriptions, or summaries. The booklets are just their size.

#3 Sandwiches: Make these cute shape sandwiches, perfect for taking to your next tea party.

#4 Tissue Paper Art: Make wonderful tissue paper art, such as flowers or stained glass windows.

#5 Pancakes: Make pancakes the shape of cookie cutters. I warn you about my mistakes.

#6 Bubbles: Use a cookie cutter as a bubble blower! (Includes link to more bubble activities.)

#7 Patches: This is how you can make a fun patch for your clothing.

#8 Gift Bags: Gift bags are another one of the many creative ways to use cookie cutters, and the recipients of your gifts will enjoy getting their gift in a unique bag.

#9 Quesadillas: Go south of the border with your cookie cutter mania. These quesadillas are simple and will delight your kids.

#10 Jello Shapes: These jello shapes are easy to make and disconnected from the cookie cutter more easily than any other food.

#11 Garlands: These garlands will make people feel special and only take 15 minutes to make.

#12 Dolls and Pillows: Some cookie cutters lend themselves well to make a felt doll. The gingerbread man cookie cutter is fabulous for this toy.

#13 Rice Krispie Treats: Here is the recipe for Rice Krispie treats, as well as tips on how to get them to come out better.

#14 Scrapbooking: When you need a specific shape for your pictures, you can slap down the picture, grab a cookie cutter of the desired shape, and trace around the cookie cutter.

#15 Soap Shapes: Make beautiful shaped soap without having to buy an expensive kit.

#16 Jam Tarts: Make these easy jam tarts with ready-made pie crust, jam, and a cookie cutter!

#17 Sand Shapes: Ideas for how to use cookie cutters effectively in the sand.

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Creative Ways to Use Cookie Cutters #16: Jam Tarts

Thursday, May 9th, 2013

jam-tarts

You can make these easy jam tarts with ready-made pie crust, jam, and a cookie cutter! Delightful, easy, and delicious!

First you will need to unroll the pie crust. Press a cookie cutter in the desired shape on top of the pie crust. If you want to make more tarts, you can roll out the dough to make it thinner. I did the pie crust both ways (thick and thin), and they were both delicious and tasted about the same.

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Make sure to cut two of the same shape: one for the top and one for the bottom. Place one piece on a cookie sheet or pizza stone. (I prefer using my pizza stone for baking cookie-type foods because they never burn.) Spread raspberry jam on the lower piece of pie crust. (I also made some chocolate tarts by spreading Nutella on some of the tarts.) Then top with another piece of pie crust. If you want, you can brush the top of the tart with egg white so that it browns more nicely.

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Now serve these jam tarts with some British tea with milk and sugar in a gorgeous teapot, and invite friends. Enjoy the tarts!

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Creative Ways to Use Cookie Cutters #15: Soap Shapes

Wednesday, May 8th, 2013

soap-shapes

In our blog series “Creative Ways to Use Cookie Cutters,” Idea #15 is to make soap shapes. Go to the local craft supply store and buy a block of soap. These are refills and are not as expensive as a soap-making kit. You don’t need the soap-making kit because I will show you how to make shapes out of soap using cookie cutters.

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Grab a glass dish, and line it with wax paper. Using a large butcher knife, chop off some pieces from the large block of soap. Put them in a Pyrex measuring cup. Place the measuring cup in the microwave, and zap it for 20 seconds. Then zap it for 10-second intervals until it is fully melted. If you want to add fragrance, color, or decorations, you can add those and stir them in. Pour the liquid soap into the wax-paper-lined dish. Wait for at least an hour or two for the soap to solidify at room temperature.

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Now grab your cookie cutter and shove it down into the soap. Pull it out. You will have a cookie cutter with the soap in it. Gently push it out, and your gorgeous soap is finished. You can give these soaps away as gifts.

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Creative Ways to Use Cookie Cutters #14: Scrapbooking

Tuesday, May 7th, 2013

scrapbooking

What are some other creative ways to use cookie cutters? How about scrapbooking? When you need a specific shape for your pictures, you can slap down the picture, grab a cookie cutter of the desired shape, and trace around the cookie cutter. Cut out the picture, and stick it to the scrapbooking page with double-sided acid-free tape.

I traced around the cookie cutter with an acid-free marker so that each star was outlined with black before even attaching it to the page.

“But, Susan, I don’t scrapbook, so what’s the use for me to know this?” Well, I’m glad you asked, because there are many variations on this scrapbooking theme. First of all, you could do a photo collage on one piece of scrapbooking paper and frame it as a gift.

Another idea is to make a card. Outline the shape of a cookie cutter on a photo, and glue it to some card stock paper folded in half, and you’ve made yourself a greeting card. Take a look at the simple birthday invitations I made for my daughter’s upcoming “Secret Garden” birthday. All I did was glue some pretty flower paper to the front of the card, and I outlined down the sides with black marker. Super easy and beautiful!

scrapbooking-card

 

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Creative Ways to Use Cookie Cutters #13: Rice Krispie Treats

Monday, May 6th, 2013

rice-krispie-treats

Why not create wonderful shapes for your Rice Krispie treats by using cookie cutters? Start by getting the following three ingredients:

  • 3 tablespoons of butter
  • 1 package (10 oz.) of regular marshmallows
  • 6 cups of Rice Krispies cereal

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a large pot over medium heat. Open a bag of marshmallows and dump those in. Stir constantly until the marshmallows are melted. If you want to add a fun color with food coloring, now is the time to stir it in. Remove the pot from the stove, and dump 6 cups of Rice Krispies into the pot. Stir.

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Spread the mixture into a greased 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan. Make sure the pan is greased, or you will sorely regret doing so. Pieces of Rice Krispies will fly through the air in all directions as you chip away at it with a table knife, trying to salvage what you can in desperation. Take my word for it: Grease the dish.

Place the dish in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Take the dish out of the refrigerator and press the cookie cutters into the the Rice Krispie treats. Use a metal spatula to scrape under the treat so that it doesn’t break apart when your children grab it with their bare hands in their eagerness to eat these yummy Rice Krispie treats!

If your kids are not in the kitchen, you might have enough time to dip the treats in almond bark chololate. Just melt some chocolate almond bark in a pot, and dip the top of the Rice Krispie treat into it. Yum!

Stay tuned for more fabulous ways to use cookie cutters…

 

 

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Creative Ways to Use Cookie Cutters #12: Dolls and Pillows

Friday, May 3rd, 2013

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We are counting all the creative ways to use cookie cutters, and we are on #12: Dolls and Pillows! Some cookie cutters lend themselves well to make a felt doll. The gingerbread man cookie cutter is fabulous for this toy. Trace around the cookie cutter on two pieces of brown felt. Cut them out. Decorate the gingerbread man by sewing on button eyes, a red smile stitched on with thread, and three buttons down the front. Get some filler, either a cotton-like substance, or the scraps of felt that were left over from the brown felt. Stitch the entire gingerbread man, except for one arm. Then put the stuffing into the doll and stitch it shut. This pillow took me 30 minutes only because I was trying to find two matching buttons for the eyes.

This is a perfect simple sewing craft for a child to make, since the stitches just go up and down (a straight stitch). You can also make a pillow from any other shape of cookie cutter. A star pillow would be fun for the Fourth of July, and a maple leaf pillow would be good for the autumn. A clover pillow would be perfect for Saint Patrick’s Day. Smaller pillows make great pin cushions, or they can be used as pillows for dolls.

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Creative Ways to Use Cookie Cutters #11: Garlands

Thursday, May 2nd, 2013

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Another creative way to use cookie cutters is to make garlands for your loved ones to feel special. These are the items you will need for this 15-minute project:

  • colorful papers
  • needle and thread
  • thick black marker
  • scissors

Use the cookie cutter as a stencil, and draw around it with a pencil. Cut out the shapes. I cut several shapes at a time so that the process goes faster. Or your children could cut them out to practice hand-eye coordination. Grab your thick marker. I used a marker that had an outer diameter of one inch, so it was super thick. Write one letter on each shape. Then string the shapes together with a needle and thread, sewing up and down, one stitch on each shape. Leave a gap between words. Hang it up.

garlands

Ideas for garlands:

  • Happy Birthday!
  • Welcome Home, Daddy
  • Get Well Soon
  • Happy Saint Patrick’s Day
  • Aloha
  • Happy Fourth of July
  • Congratulations on Your Graduation
  • Happy New Year
  • Merry Christmas
  • Happy Valentines Day
  • Happy Easter
  • Happy Mother’s Day
  • Happy Father’s Day
  • You Did It!
  • Baby Shower
  • Happy Anniversary

As you can see, there are many occasions where you might want to make someone feel special. Why not take 15 minutes to make a garland?

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