Spring Gardening W/ My Kids , the Diamond Press, & Xyron

Happy Hump Day, Friends!! I have an awesome post for you today!! I had the wonderful privilege to get to play with one of the newest  and coolest gadgets in the crafting world... the brand new Diamond Press by Crafter's Companion!! 

And not only did they send me all these awesome goodies in the picture above... but they will also sending another complete bundle to one of my lucky readers as well!! EEEEEKK!! How stinking exciting is that?!!

AND...  As if that wasn't enough excitement, guess what??!! The amazing people at Xyron are also going to let me giveaway an awesome Mega Runner and fabulous "X" Sticker Maker!! 

AWESOMESAUCE!!

That's right... one of my lucky readers could win this whole kit and kaboodle! This entire prize package is worth over $85. To find out how you can win this super fab craft package read all the way through this post. So let's get to it!!

Well, let me start by telling you how flipping cute this little machine is! And a cute machine needs cute little hands to play with it!! You don't really need to have cute little hands but it just so happens that I have a few ready and willing pairs of hands to help me in today's post. OK, honestly, I barely did any of the work. My children are the ones who will be running the show today!

I will show you how my brood of munchkins made these... Biodegradable Planters!

Supplies Used

Diamond Press (Crafter's Companion)

Xyron Creative Station Lite

5" Creative Station Laminate Refill Cartridge

Jiffy Pots

Hemp Twine

Plastic Forks (like toothpicks but with 2 prongs at one end)

Acetate (Grafix)

Paper Trimmer (Fiskars)

Non-stick Cutterbee Scissors (EK Success)

We started by pouring soil into our biodegradable planter cups. Everyone got in on the dirt... literally. The kids each, removed, hardened chunks of dirt & rocks, and oversized twigs. Then we read the directions on each seed packet and planted all the seeds according to each.

We saved all the leftover packets for this next step.

Making Planter Markers...

Each of my kiddos

Trimmed their packets down to 1-3/4"x 2-3/4". Then arranged it onto the blank/ cutting folder with the die cutting edge to paper. and cranked it through the Diamond Press machine.

They each took turns cranking out their plant markers/ signs... even my 3 year old toddler. The cutting folder instead of a plate system made die cutting a breeze!! No more having to think of what plate combo to use. Just close the folder with you die and material and you are good to go!!

 Always remember to craft responsibly. Young children should only craft under close adult supervision. Even though these tools are extremely easy to use, parents should exercise caution at all times. I always monitor my children very closely... because frankly, these are mommy's toys! I'm just sharing them! LOL

I share lots of crafting toys. Always supervised, and alway after thorough instructions.

I think it's easy to say, I have some really bright children ... here is my oldest, switching cartridges out of my Xyron Creative Station Lite and then proceeded to use it. I think someone has been watching mommy way too closely!

Not only did she change out the cartridge herself, she ran the little flag pieces through, knew to trim the pieces off with trimmer attached on the backside, and burnish around the die cut pieces with her fingers. She handled it like a pro! Yup, someone has been watching mommy way too closely!!

Here, I finally got to help out... after the die cut pieces were laminated I attached them onto plastic "forks" and then sandwiched it between a piece of acetate and trimmed off the excess. No additional adhesive was required. The regular laminate cartridge lays down a layer of  laminate on one side and permanent acid free adhesive on the other. Making it also perfect to apply onto photos. 

Here are my little goofballs sticking their plant markers into their pots.

Uh-oh... here's where we found out we forgot to decorate our pots first. OOPS!!! It's a good thing we have extra pots! We can just decorated the empties and transferred our dirt and seeds after we decorated the pots.

 To decorate our pots, we just reached into our Diamond Press Bundle kit again. Not only did this bundle come with the machine, dies, and folders... it also came with matching stamps and an ink pad as well.

 And since the ink included is dye based, we don't have to work about the ink smearing and washing away if they get watered or rained on. Our stamped images will be on there for good!

Once stamped mommy just attached hemp twine bows onto each pot. And presto, our pots are done!! 

I'm was very impressed with the quality of these stamps... they stamped wonderfully!

Even though our pots are rounded and heavily textured, you can still clearly see the details from the stamp... like the stripes on the butterflies (above) and the polkadots on the flowers (below).

Just imagine the amount of detail it will leave on a flat surface.

 Now all we have to do is soak the pots, water the seeds, and wait for our little sprouts to grow. And once they have sprouted a bit we just plant them directly into the ground. No need for removing the from their pots. Easy peasy! 

I hope you enjoyed today's crafting/gardening project!! My kiddos did!

Thanks for sticking with us!!

And now, down to the crafty giveaways! I'm sure you haven't forgotten about this...

Or these!!

I will be choosing one RANDOM winner to win this amazing prize package... that's right, ONE of my lucky readers will win ALL 3!!

Here are a few things you need to do to be eligible to win...

1. Visit Facebook and LIKE the Diamond Press page. Don't forget to tell them that Mitsy from the Xyron Team sent ya!!

2. LIKE Xyron on facebook.

Let's not forget to thank them also for sponsoring such amazing prizes!

AND

3. Leave a comment below.

This last one isn't a must but is very much appreciated!! If you can, leave a sweet comment below letting my kiddies know what a fabulous job they did! I will read each comment to them to inspire them to keep on crafting and encourage them to express themselves through art... so, please no negative nellies!! All comments will be moderated before being posted.

Don't forget to FOLLOW ME to keep up to date with my latest CRAFTS and any awesome GIVEAWAYS!!

Blog - www.upontippytoes.com

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/UpOnTippyToes/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mitsyana/

Periscope - https://www.periscope.tv/mitsyana 

Twitter - https://twitter.com/mitsyana

Giveaway will be open till 11:59pm Friday, March 25 and announced on Monday, March 28.

WISHING ALL OF YOU THE BEST OF LUCK!!

This giveaway is in no way sponsored or affiliated by Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or blogger. 

Until next time...

Happy Crafting!!

~Mitsy