Christmas Plaques

WARNING!WARNING!

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everyone else, please continue

This all started when I bought my cricut in October.  I thought it was the coolest thing and I knew that I could do so much with it, but I had to start thinking of ideas...and then this project was born.

I needed to find wood pieces, cheap, since I made 16 of these.
These puzzles were $1 each in the front aisle at Michaels - perfect!



The raised edges eliminated my need to make a frame by taping off the edges.



To start, they got a light sanding and a coat of Folk Art Metallic Pearl White Paint.



Half got a red border {folk art metallic red} and half a green{dazzling metallics emerald green - this color is amazingly pretty}.


 
Next, it was cricut time.  I used the Christmas Cheer cartridge to cut out these reindeer

Can you see vixen's eyelashes?


I also cut out the nine reindeer names using the Alphalicious cartridge, and glued them on with mod-podge.



Each plaque got a ribbon border.  I used elmer's, but ended up doing touch-ups with mod-podge - I should have started with that.  I needed to tape down the ribbon while it dried.



There was quite a bit of white space, so I added some stickers.  Rudolph also got a red rhinestone nose.



To personalize them a bit, I stamped "Christmas 2009" and signed my name to each.



Handmade gifts need special wrapping.  I got clear candy bags and flipped them inside out to fit the plaques better.  Tinsel on the bottom cushions the plaque and adds sparkle.  Each bag is tied with curling ribbon, a gift tag, and a snowflake ornament.



I made the tags using the Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cartridge.  I used old file folders and a gold stamp pad to distress the edges.



All 16 done!  {there are only 15 in the pic b.c I made one for myself}



Not counting materials I already had and reusable tools, these cost less than $3.00 each.