Woman in Real Life

Yes, it's true. There are 47 days until Christmas! Seems like plenty of time to be sure. But one area I like to get a head start on is crafting. If you have any DIY holiday projects in mind, it can't hurt to get going now. Especially if you're thinking about making an Advent calendar. (You can see my rustic Advent calendar in this post.) I made a couple of quick holiday decor projects this week using my Cricut Explore Air™. There are plenty of ready-to-make projects in Cricut Design Space™. You don't even have to think up your own DIY - just get ahold of the supplies in the project description and get to cutting!


The first ready-to-make Cricut project I tackled is the dry erase Santa Countdown wall art. I didn't make it exactly as it's shown in Design Space. I often will adapt a project to use mainly materials I already have on-hand. Or I'll change up the colours to suit my decor. The Santa Countdown project calls for several colours of cardstock as well as light chipboard for the base. Instead of chipboard, I used pretty pearl paper in gold, which I bonded to a piece of cardstock with spray adhesive for added stability. The pearl paper is quite thin and can get wrinkled. I simply cut the pearl paper and the cardstock to size with my Cricut paper trimmer. (I sized them to fit an old 8" x 10" black picture frame that we weren't using for anything.)


Once I had cut all of the project pieces with my Cricut machine, it was onto the hard part - gluing. I need some work on my gluing. I get glue all over my hands when using spray adhesive. And I seem to be just as inept with the glue stick. But that's why Cricut design projects often have overlap among the layers. It helps to guide your gluing and give you a larger surface to hold onto. Take Santa's face, above. There are three layers of similar sizes that all come together to make skin, pink cheeks and beard.


I love the way Santa's face ends up looking with this project. I did make one tactical error though. I chose white cardstock for the lettering, glued over cream pearl paper for Santa's sack. The letters didn't end up being visible enough. No worries though - I just took a Cricut gold pen and coloured over the white cardstock letters. I opted not to use distress ink on the cardstock layers as the project suggests, but I think that would be a fun addition too.


The trick to this dry erase Santa Countdown artwork is that you use a dry erase marker to write the number of days until Christmas right on the glass of the picture frame. Now to see if we actually change it every day...I'm guessing a few days will be missed now and then.


I put my Santa Countdown art on top of the fireplace mantel, along with pine cones, a Christmas ornament and a red garland with dangling white wood trees. I think this crafty artwork would also look nice on a holiday picture wall or on top of a dresser or foyer table.


The second simple, ready-to-make Cricut Christmas project I worked on this week is this Fa La La artwork. It came together in a couple hours and would be a great DIY to get the kids involved with. They can help to paint the canvas. The project calls for a 12" x 12" canvas. They have them for about $12 CAD at Walmart, but I decided to get an 11" x 14" canvas from a dollar store for $3.50 instead. I painted it with grey paint rather than the black suggested. I used the same paint that I used for my vintage dining room sideboard makeover.


I will find any excuse at all to use this Gold Glitter Cardstock, so I cut the fa la la letters from that. I experimented with a couple of different options, including a gold glitter cardstock nose and either a black or a white reindeer head. When you are preparing for this project, note the amount of cardstock that's needed. The letters and the reindeer head actually have several sheets of cardstock layered together. Because I used gold glitter cardstock, I used only one layer for the letters. For the reindeer head, I layered four cuts of white cardstock over one layer of black.


I ultimately went with the red nose for a punch of colour and as a tribute to Rudolph, of course. Once again the gluing process was a bit of a challenge for me, but it all worked out okay. I used spray adhesive for larger pieces of cardstock and a glue stick for the smaller pieces. I also touched up the canvas with a bit more paint in some spots when I was finished gluing.


I have my eye on several more ready-to-make projects in Cricut Design Space™. With the designs already made for us, it's just too easy to put a snowflake decal on a mug or iron "fa la la" on cushion covers. If you're starting to think about Christmas gift giving, there are an abundance of beautiful options for DIY gifts too.

For many more holiday projects to craft with your Cricut, follow along with the hashtag #CricutHoliday on social media. You'll see ideas for Advent calendars, mantel decor, holiday tablescapes and a whole lot more, all through November and December.

What about you? Are you starting to decorate for the holidays? Do you have a Cricut machine? Is it on your Christmas wishlist?

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