Trim the Tree Challenge

It is the first of the month and that means another challenge has been issued to the Papertrey Senior Design Team!  This month I challenged them to create an ornament for your holiday tree!  I hope you can utilize these ideas to make special gifts for those you love, or even to hang in your own home!  Enjoy this month's compilation and be sure to stop by and visit all the girls and let them know how much you appreciate their amazing talent!

• Lisa Johnson
• Lauren Meader
• Heather Nichols
• Debbie Olson
• Amy Rysavy

I whipped up a little something myself this month that I am pretty excited to share with you as well!  When I was a little girl, I was quite interested in miniatures & dollhouses.  Needless to say, I was thrilled to see the trend of scaled down houses all over CHA this year.  While looking at my new Nestabilities Long Rectangles dies, it occurred to me how easy it would be to put together my own version with  the creation of a basic template and a few dies!   SO here's the template that I am providing to you as a FREE download!!!

Download birdhouse_template.pdf

I printed  my template  directly onto our Classic Kraft cardstock.  I used a ruler and a craft knife to trim out the template using my Scor-Mat. 

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I then slid out my Scor-Mat and scored the dotted lines of the template right there on my Scor-Pal.  I love how I was able to go straight from cutting to scoring all on the same tool.  Just awesome!

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Since I scored on the side of the template with the printed lines, the *good side* of the cardstock is scored perfectly and all of the printing will be on the inside of the house.

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I stamped the cardstock with Polka Dot Basics using white ink.  I also punched a circular opening in the front using a 3/4-inch circle punch.

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I die-cut a long scalloped rectangle and a scalloped square from Pure Poppy using the Nestabilites I mentioned at the beginning of this post.  (In my photos, I have used red and green to help you to tell the two pieces apart.)

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I scored the long rectangle in half to form the peak of the roof.  The square is left the way it is.  I assembled the house by adhering the side tab together.  I colored & cut out a small leaf & berry image from Believe to mount under the front opening.

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In order to make the house a bit more sturdy, I set an eyelet in the peak of the roof using my Crop-a-dile.

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I threaded some hemp twine through the eyelet and knotted it on the underside to prevent it from pulling through.  Notice my little polyshrink tag made with the "Peace on Earth" sentiment from Believe.  I colored & cut out an additional sprig of greenery to attach to the tag after it had been shrunk.  A bit of our new Pure Poppy satin ribbon is tied to a jump ring that was threaded through the tag.  The piece added a nice detail to the top of the ornament.

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After assembly, here's the finished project.  I think it makes a really cute little house, quick & easy!  I will be making these for the teachers this year I think.  I made today's sample really simplified, but with all of your creative imagination, the sky is the limit!  You could add windows or chimney.  Add glittery icicles or snow drifts around the bottom.  You can have something climbing or crawling out of your openings.  You could make one for Halloween or any other holiday!  You could cut the basic pieces for the house for several children at once and let them showcase their individual talent.  The results would be a fantastic way to decorate an entire tree!  I challenge you to take this basic concept and make something of your very own!  Have fun and happy stamping!!!

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Stamps: Believe, Polka Dot Basics
Ink: Noir Black Palette ink, white pigment ink
Paper: Classic Kraft & Pure Poppy
Other: Pure Poppy satin ribbon, Copic markers,hemp twine, translucent polyshrink from Lucky Squirrel

ETA: I'm so glad that many of you are planning on trying this template out for yourselves!  Some of you asked about the dimensions of the roof & base if you do not on the Nestabilities.

Roof: 3.75 x 2 inches (scored in half)

Base: 2 x 2 inches

Also, a few of you inquired about the specific Nestabilities required.  This information is already conveniently located on the template print out, but I have listed it below as well for you…

Roof: Spellbinder's Nestabilities, Long Classic Scalloped Rectangles, Small Set (3rd smallest rectangle)

Base: Spellbinder's Nestabilities, Classic Scalloped Squares, Small Set (3rd smallest square)

Enjoy!  And if you create a project using this template, please be sure to link it in the comments section so I can take a peek at your creativity!!!