Friday, May 15, 2015

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
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~

15 comments:

  1. Totally awesome project! Your husband is so lucky~ <3

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    1. Thank you so much!! But, I think that I'm the lucky one... I think my hubby is simply the best!!

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  2. What a fabulous project and tutorial. Your project is a great way to reuse and up-cycle old containers.

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    1. Thank you! Yes, it is!! I love to upcycle and repurpose things!!

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  3. Super cute project, Mitsy! It looks so SWEET! :)

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    1. Thank you Alexia!! And it tastes sweet too!! LOL

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  4. your project sure is yummy, great for your first post with Xyron:)
    Cathy
    cathyplus5.blogspot.com

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  5. Super cute project!!! Looks so Yummy!!!

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    1. Thank you Pam!! I had to do a few taste tests... you know for quality control... lol... and it was YUMMY!!

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  6. Oh how pretty Mitsy!!!!! LOVE the design..... Great Tutorial too! :)

    Have a great Day! :)

    Theresa
    Scrappers Anonymous

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