Halloween Treat Jar Tutorial

 

I love canning jars.  They're perfect for so many things!  I use them as drinking glasses, flower vases, organizers... and today I'll show you how you can use them to package your Halloween treats.

For this project, I'm using Studio Calico's new Halloween stamp set - in both the acrylic & digital form.  The digi stamps work really well with digital die cutters & I'm using the skull & cross bones image along with my Silhouette.

Open the png file & trace the image.  Once traced, select the image, click on the "Object" tab & then scroll down to select "Release Compound Path."  This allows you to separate the main skull & cross bone image from the outline.

The picture below shows the separated images.  The cut lines on the left are for the outline (which will be cut from black vinyl) and the cut lines on the right are for the main image (which will be cut from white vinyl.)

 

After you cut each image, remove the excess vinyl.

 Apply transfer tape over each piece.

 

Apply the black vinyl first & remove the transfer tape.

 Carefully align the white vinyl & apply.

 I always like to dress up the jar lid a bit.  Use the lid as a template & trace & cut out a circle from patterned paper.  (This paper is from The Underground Card Kit.)

 Use the images from the Halloween stamp set to create a tag.  I used a roller date stamp to add a little detail & stamped the word "poison" using Orange County ink.

 These Halloween Oreos are just too cute!  I'm hoping that by packaging them in a spooky jar that my boys won't eat them all.  ;)

 I used the orange twine from the card kit to tie the Evidence tag in place.

These would make adorable gifts for teachers, coworkers & friends (or just keep if for yourself!)  The whole process is really quick & I love the results. I hope you give it a try!

Star Wars Valentines & Teacher Treats

I've been on a quest to find a Valentine design that both of my boys could use for their classroom exchange.  My oldest is 11 & it's tricky to find something that doesn't embarrass him.

I don't know how many times Pinterest has come to my aid.  Jennifer McGuire discovered it initially & sent me in the right direction.  I found this post from Stitch/Craft & did a little Photoshop magic to spruce it up just a bit. 

Feel free to download a copy here. 

 Four valentines fit on one piece of cardstock, so I was able to make these really quickly.

After a little trial & error, I found that this slot punch (a punch I bought from Stampin' Up! about a decade ago) worked really well.  You might want to print a few extra Valentines for some trial & error of your own.

As you can see, it makes a half-circle punch, making it easy to insert a "light sabor."

I found these glow stick bracelets at our local Dollar Store (15 for $1!)

They needed something to secure them in place, so I used some heart-printed washi tape.  I love washi because it's easy to remove & won't tear the paper... plus it's just cuter than plain tape.  :)

For the teachers, I found this project from Simple J Studio on Pinterest.  (It's a paper-crafted package of Rollos topped with a Hershey Kiss.)

 I was in a time crunch & decided to make some print & cuts with my Silhouette.  (Oh who am I kidding?!?  I just hate to hand cut if I don't have to.)  ;)

I cut strips of silver glitter tape to mimic the metal near the eraser & some Valentine-colored twine from Doodlebug was just the thing to tie on the tags.

You can find this file, as well as a PDF (for those of you without a Silhouette die cutter) at the end of this post.

I packaged the pencils along with some other Valentine sweets in printed paper sacks.  These wood veneer apples are from Studio Calico & I just stapled them onto shipping tags with my Tiny Attacher.

I love being able to make handmade treats like these!  I made 55 Star Wars Valentines for under $4 & 5 packages of teacher's gifts for under $5 (all of my packaging supplies were already in my craft stash.)  Cute & economical!

You can download all of the files HERE.