Here's another fun project we made at our last meeting--a Christmas cracker.
You can click on the photo to see a larger version. Jessica (CuttiePuttie on SplitCoast) provided this project and she got the idea from Lynette Couper. Jessica shared some great tips on putting it together and she gave me permission to share all of this with you.
To make this project, start with a piece of Designer Series Paper that's 12" x 5 3/4". With the 12" going across the top, score your paper at 2", 2 3/4", and 3 1/2". Rotate your paper 180 degrees and score it again at 2", 2 3/4", and 3 1/2" so both ends look the same.
Fold your DSP on the middle score lines of both ends. You'll need to download Lynette's monster teeth pattern found here. Lay the monster teeth pattern on the fold of your DSP and trace the pattern. You want the points of the teeth to be along the folded edge.
In this picture, you can see that I have my DSP folded on the middle score line. I've traced the pattern and cut it out. TIP: the points on the monster teeth are too narrow and will tear when you're putting the cracker together. So cut the "points" of the teeth a little wider. If you blow up the picture above you'll see that I didn't quite cut on my pencil lines.
Repeat this process so you've cut monster teeth out of both ends of your paper.
When you unfold your DSP, your monster teeth will now look like this. Be sure that your cut marks extend all the way to your score lines. If that didn't make sense, blow up the photo above and look closely. You'll see that my cut marks extend to the score mark on the left and to the score mark to the right of the line I folded on.
Add sticky strip to the edge of your DSP and roll it around an empty toilet paper tube. Take a piece of hemp and tie it around the monster teeth on both edges. This will gather it in and make it look like a real cracker. Be gentle when you're tying it and don't pull it too tight or it will tear.
Jessica shared another great tip on the belly band. All three of these strips were cut to 6". We glued the strips together on one end only and then wrapped them around the cracker.
You can see in this photo that when you wrap the belly band around the cracker, the ends of the strips no longer line up even though they're the same length. Cut the strips to the same length as the shortest one (the DSP in this photo) and then glue them down.
The tag was made using the "Circle of Friendship" stamp set. I punched a 1" circle in Ruby Red card stock and then punched out my small tag punch with the 1" circle in the middle. The saying was stamped twice and the center was punched out using the 1/2" circle punch. "Love, Peace, Joy" was popped up on a dimensional. I tied it all together with hemp and added a little jingle bell.
Isn't that a great project? Thanks Jessica!
Stamps: Circle of Friendship
Paper: White, Ruby Red, Old Olive, Dashing DSP
Ink: Ruby Red, Old Olive
Accesories: Red Hemp Twine, Small and Large Tag Punch, Circle Punches (1/8", 1/2", 1"), Sahara Sand Eyelet (at the top of the tag), Dimensionals, Jingle Bell, Empty Toilet Paper Roll, Sticky Strip
