Father's Day Candy Bouquet

Hello Crafty Friends!! I am back with another handmade gift idea. As we know, Father's Day is just around the bend. I don't know about you but I am always plagued with the decision on what to get my my husband for Father's Day.

Getting him a tie would be pointless... his work attire is ultra casual and consists for the most part of polo shirts and jeans... yes, jeans... told you ultra casual! 

Then, there's cuff links... Shoot, the last time he wore a set we were getting married, and that was practically a decade ago.

T-shirts... nah!! He's got a closet full.

Cologne... uh-uh, I have a sensitive nose... poor thing wouldn't be able to wear it.

Ok, well if you're just like me and in a rut... there's always that age-old saying...

"The way to a man's heart is his stomach"!

And my hubby (aka... my babies' daddy) is no exception. That is fine by me because it always seems that I'm gifting someone FOOD and it "food gifting" has become of my specialties!

I decided I wanted to make him a candy bouquet but not just any candy bouquet a manly bouquet. Packed full of "GUY" treats like beef jerky, nuts, and ok, a little bit of chocolate... hahaha, who am I kidding... I'm stock piling it with behemoth sized servings of chocolate.. because that is just how I roll! LOL

 And then the icing on the cake... gift cards!! My children wanted to get involved and helped get daddy something special... so each of their cute little selves chipped in to buy their daddy some google play gift cards. How sweet are they?!!

My husband is a big computer geek so I know these are always a welcomed gift.

Here is what I used to make this Daddy Bouquet...

Tools and Supplies Used

Xyron Creative Station

Xyron 9" Permanent Adhesive Refill Cartridge

Xyron 5" Permanent Refill Cartridge

Xyron 2.5" Create-a-Sticker

Spellbinders Nestablities- Label Twenty-Five

Spellbinders Shapeablities - Damask Motifs

Cut'n'Boss Machine

Eclips Machine with ecal software

Craft Smith - Natural Luxury

Grafix Arts Metallic Silver Cardstock

Bazzill Basics Paper- Raven

Wooden Dowels

Transparent Tape

Green Styrofoam block

Ad-Tech Hi Temp Glue Gun and Glue Stick

True North Chocolate Nut Crunch

Reese's Big Cup Peanut Butter Cups

Jack Links Beef Steak Sticks

Polka Dot Tissue Paper

Powdered Drink Container

This project is another easy way to recycle all your old powdered drink mix containers, oatmeal canisters, or empty coffee cans. Just remove the paper label (if any) and clean out the inside and presto... instant base for your bouquet.

First thing I did was measure my container. There is a lip at both the top and the container... so make sure you measure from the inside of both lips. Mine measured 6.75" high  by 16" around. 

Then, I added at least two inches onto the circumference to allow my paper to overlap a bit when wrapping the can.

Since I don't have 18" paper I made 2- 6.75"x9" pieces instead.

I then ran both pieces through my Xyron Creative Station(with 9" permanent adhesive cartridge). And set aside.

I then used my Cut'n'Boss Machine to cut all my Spellbinders dies at once... Gotta love that extra large cutting platform!!

Cuts like butter every time!!

I ran all my die cut shapes through my Xyron Creative Station... this time using the 5" permanent refill cartridge. Love how this bad boy takes the place of 2 machines!

And the 5" cartridge still has plenty of space to run all my pieces at one time!! LOVE IT!

Next using my Sizzix Eclips and ecal I spelled out "DAD". 

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Since these are smaller I decided to use my smaller Xyron  2.5" Create-a-Sticker. My Xyron machines make creating a breeze. There's no drying time and virtually no clean up too!! Simplicity at it's best!

I used to hot glue my paper but ran into a couple of problems with the glue cooling too fast and leaving unsightly lumps under the paper or my paper. I like that I can just peel the backing and stick and that my surface looks and feels smooth!

I took all my small damask diecuts peeled and adhered them onto my label making one big sticker label.

Then placed it onto the front of my canister,

This the only place hot glue onto my project. I added a good amount of hot glue on the inside bottom of my container and added my styrofoam. If you can't fit your foam in try cutting down your edges before inserting.

Then I taped my dowels to all my treats, even the big bag if chocolate covered nuts. For the heavier items I made sure to give it a sufficient amount of tape to support all the weight. 

Then I inserted the dowels into the foam. I made sure to arrange the dowels so that they look like they are cascading or "tiered". You may have to cut some of you dowels down in order to achieve the stadium seating type arrangement. LOL

Lastly, I inserted tissue paper in between the dowels and down into the can ... covering the gaps and concealing all the dowels.

I hope you enjoyed this yummy gift idea.. my Father's Day "Man" Bouquet!!

See you all again next time!!

Happy Crafting!!

~Mitsy

Sweets For My Sweetie

Hello my crafty friends!! Today's tutorial is my first "Official" post for the Xyron Design Team!! Woohoo!! And as a special treat for myself I get to play with Xyron's brand spanking new Creative Station to make my Dear Ol' Hubby this canister of yummy goodness... Mmmmm...CHOCOLATE!!

I mean...Do you need a reason to randomly give a yummy gift to your significant other? I say “Nay”! Sometimes, just thinking about them is reason enough to do something special for them.

But for myself, I can’t just hand over a bag a chocolate and call it good. The packaging ends up being trashed without a second thought. But, before that even happens you’ll witness a partially eaten bag travel around the house... and if you have a house full of children, like I do, it gets crinkled and mangled in the process. So why not gift it in a storage solution that double as gift wrapping and candy container that is practical and appealing to the eye! And even better yet, using a recycled and upcycled plastic drink container!!

Tools and Supplies Used

Xyron Creative Station

Xyron 5" Creative Station Permanent Refill

Xyron 9" Creative Station Permanent Adhesive Refill

Cut'n'Boss Die-cut Machine

DCWV Printed Cork Stack

Craft Smith Natural Luxury Paper Pad

Graffix Metallic Silver Cardstock

Cuttlebug Anna Griffin Flower Layer Cut & Emboss Die

Recollections Coordinates Black/White Twine

Martha Stewart Guillotine Trimmer

Cutter Bee Scissors by EK Success

Empty and Cleaned Plastic Orange Juice Container 

Chocolate Covered Almonds (Daily Chef)

I started by measuring the circumference of my bottle. The bottle I'm using measures about 14" around. I have to keep this in mind when cutting out all my material.

Then I cut down my Graffix Metallic Silver Cardstock sheet down to a standard sized 8.5"x 11" sheet... small enough to fit through my cut'n'boss machine with ease... and with my Anna Griffin Flower Layer die and my cut'n'boss I cut out 3 panels of metallic flower panels or medallions (as I like to call them because that's what they look like to me).

Then I ran ALL three sets of flowers or "medallion" cut-outs through my Xyron Creative Station (with 9" permanent refill loaded) through my machine. That's one of the many reasons I LOVE this machine! I can get MORE done FASTER!

I want to make sure I get good coverage and minimal excess, usually a quick firm rub down with your finger tips would do, but because this is such a detailed die cut I am using my stylus into get into all the small crevices. Set aside for later.

Next, I used a chevron sheet from my DCWV Printed Cork Stack into one 4"x12" and one 4"x3.75" pieces using my Martha Stewart guillotine cutter. 

I love these cork sheets from DCWV! They come in great patterns and have a nice earthy texture that flat cardstock doesn't have! Which works great for "guy" gifts as opposed to bling and glitter and all that extra fluff I usually create with for my girlfriends.

Before I run these strip into my Xyron Creative Station I switched out my cartridges...  

The GREAT thing about the new and improved Creative Station is that it uses both the 9" and 5" refill cartridges!! This eliminates and replaces the use of 2 machines! WOOHOO!! Awesomesauce!!What a great space saver!!

Where was I?? Oh yeah... switching cartridges...

I don't want to waste any adhesive and my 12" strip was way too wide to go in sideways and turning it the other way would waste most of that foot of adhesive since my cork is only 4 inches wide. And switching out this machine is as easy as 1..2..3!

1. Lift out your 9" cartridge. Using indented handle and pull straight up.

2. Position green adapter flap... make sure it's standing up and makes a "divider" type wall in the middle of your machine.

3. Insert your 5" cartridge... glide cartridge between the tracks for proper alignment.

Don't forget to make sure your plastic sheeting runs between the black rollers!!

And that is it!! Close that bad boy up and you're ready to go!

My cork goes through like butter... and that's because the Creative Station can take material up to 1/8" thick! Wood veneers, felt, fabric... no problem! As long as it's 1/8"(or less) it'll fit right in!

For the next step you'll need your cleaned (washed and dried) recycled juice container. I got my container from my local grocery store that bottles it's own freshly squeezed orange juice.... The juice was awesome by the way (just in case you were curious)!!

Used a bit of Goo-gone to remove the attached sticker label and washed in hot soapy water. Dried it up. And now it's ready to decorate and fill!

I took my longest strip of cork and wrapped it around the center of my container. As you can see, the strip is a few inches short of completely wrapping my bottle. That is where the extra 3.75"x 4" strip goes.  Adhere that piece over the open space of the bottle to cover the gap. Make sure you match up the 4" sides of the cork to the ones already laid down. The 3.75" side of your cork piece should lay horizontally , laying across the gap.

At this point, I chose to fill my container. But if you wanted to you could fill it after you were done decorating it. 

Next I took my "medallions" I had cut earlier and cut them down into 4 "medallion" squares. 

I adhered one set of "squares" to 3 of the sides. 

For the last side, I made a label from a sentiment that was on a sheet in my Craft Smith "Natural Luxury" stack. I cut the "label" from my sheet and I matted it with leftover metallic cardstock I had used to make my medallions. This stuff is AMAZING!! The high mirror finish of the paper instantly dresses up any project!!

*

SEE!!

The neck of my bottle seemed a little "naked" though... so I dressed it up  by winding  my twine around the neck about 4 or 5 times around the indent of the neck.  AND... from the same sheet I cut my sentiment "label" from I was able to cut out a tag too. 

A super cool feature about purchasing paper stacks is not only do the papers coordinate perfectly with each other but every now and then paper companies through in goodies like this (whole sheets you can cut up and use for embellishments) into the mix!

And here is my finished project!

Now isn't this waaaaay better than looking at a crumpled up bag sitting on your kitchen counter?!

It's AMAZING how my Xyron Creative Station made quick and easy gift giving from a recycled and upcycled orange juice container!!

Hope you enjoyed today's project check back soon for more crafty ideas!!

{{HUGS}}

~Mitsy~