Valentine Pencil Topper & Tag

Yes, I know I have been MIA this past week but it has been a bit crazy here with planning for my little man's birthday and other orders coming in and well to be honest with you, I just wanted to relax a little bit whenever I get the chance.  However, I did want to share with you my pencil toppers and tags I made for Valentine's day even though it was about a week ago.

Hopefully the love of your life made your Valentine's Day extra special!

Valentine Pencil Topper

To make the pencil topper you can follow my tutorial for my Easter Pencil Toppers HERE!

Valentine Tag

I added my tags to baggies filled with Kisses and also tied one around our candy jar.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Valentine's Day with someone they love!

~Katania

{Pencil Toppers} School Days

Welcome to a new school year!

Well, school has officially started for me this past Tuesday.  Sadly, even though our summer was extended by a week (two canceled professional development days and three canceled school days) we now have five days added to the end of our school year and it's not even winter yet!  Though on the bright side, I was able to create some pencil toppers for my students.

 

You may remember my tutorial on how to make the pencil toppers that I created for my students around Easter.  If not, please click HERE to get the directions and step by step photos.

I used the same format using my Gypsy and Cricut but instead of Easter eggs I used an apple (duh... makes sense right?).  I also printed and cut out circles that say "Welcome to our class!" I could have used "Welcome to 2nd grade!" but I like the thought of the class as a team/family and felt that "our class" helped direct that message. 

Well here they are, minus the pencils (sadly, I did not have any number two pencils in my house) but you get the idea.  All you have to do is slide the pencil in through the bottom hole and out through the top hole which you can't see because of the flower but it's there, I promise :).  

What do you think?

 

I absolutely love how the colors just scream fall and the little sheer ribbon (though it was a pain to cut and tie on each one) really added to the overall affect.  Now I can tell you that some of my students don't care about these little craft projects but last year, I couldn't even tell you how many students kept and wanted to take home their pencil topper at the end of the year. 

It just warms my heart.

HAPPY FIRST DAYS OF SCHOOL EVERYONE!

~Katania

P.S. Please excuse my blurry photos, I am in the process of resizing them in order to save space in Picasso however, at this time it is kinda trial and error.  If you have any tips or tricks, I would love it if you sent me a comment! Thanks!

{Tutorial} Easter Pencil Topper

I am sure you have all seen the pencil toppers you can buy from any teacher supply store or Oriental Trading, especially around Valentine's Day.  Yeah, they are kinda pricey and not really that cute!  So I figured I could create them myself.  I actually created Valentine pencil toppers for my students this year but was unable to share them with you since I only just started this blog :)  So you get to see my Easter version.  Just let me tell you how much my students loved these.  Also not only are they getting a new pencil, it looks so darn cute as well! 

HERE'S THE TUTORIAL!!!

I will be including information so you can copy my design using your gypsy and cricut, however, you could also create this pencil topper using scissors and a hole puncher.  Due to technical difficulties, my gypsy file cannot be uploaded at this time.  Check back periodically to see if I have resolved the problem:)

Supplies:

Cricut Expression

Easter 2010 Cartridge

George and Basic Shapes Cartridge

Gypsy

Happy Easter Printout (download HERE)

Two coordinating colors/patterns of cardstock

Glue runner

Zots glue dots

Pencils

Embellishments

Directions:

1. Turn your Cricut on and insert George and Basic Shapes Cartridge.

2. Press the Center Point button on your machine and adjust the height to 2 inches.

3. Load your mat with the Happy Easter Printout and move the blade so it appears to be in the middle of your words. (Note: It usually takes me two or three tries to get it perfect.)

4. Highlight the shift key and the Q/Circle key and then press cut.  Repeat this for each circle.

5. Create a file on your Gypsy with the eggs at 4 inches and connect it to your Cricut.  Load your paper and press cut.

(Non Gypsy Users: Cut out Eggs using Easter 2010 Cartridge at 4 inches.  Punch top and bottom of the egg with a hole puncher.)

6. Remove from mat and set aside or create a pretty design and take a picture like I did :)

This makes me smile :)

7. Create a file with scalloped circles on your gypsy.  Load your second paper and press cut.

(Non Gypsy Users: Cut scalloped circles at 2 1/2 inches)

8. Remove from mat and set aside.  Turn off Cricut and Gypsy.

9. Gather all your supplies including all cut outs and glue.

10. Glue Happy Easter circle in the middle of the flower cut out with any type of glue runner.  I try to make it centered and have the indent of the scallop on the very top and bottom (it helps when you are lining them up with the holes)

11. Using Zots glue dots place one or two dots on the back of the flower shape.

12. Attach the flower shape to the center of the egg and let it cure for a bit.  Notice how the indents of the scallop line up with the holes :)

13. Slide your pencil gently through the two holes.  Voila!

Now comes the fun part!  Grab all sorts of embellishments and make the pencil toppers pretty.  Here are two other versions I created!



Just a few more photos!

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via comment.  I am still working on uploading my gypsy files so you can create the pencil toppers without all the hassle of creating the gypsy files but I am having technical difficulties.  I will post as soon as the problem is resolved! Stick around because I plan on creating yet another pencil topper for the end of the year and for my new students:)

~Katania