Easy Ribbon Thanksgiving Turkey Art

 

 It's hard to believe, but Thanksgiving is right around the corner.  Since time to craft is short around here, I wanted to make something festive, but also VERY easy.  

Enter my Easy Ribbon Thanksgiving Art.

 

 Using basic supplies, it's simple to make this fun decorative project to celebrate the holiday.  By layering a card stock "window" over a ribbon filled shadowbox frame, there's an interesting dimensional effect:

 

Using an assortment of ribbons give interesting detail & texture too:

  

And while I used fall themed ribbons because I had them on hand, you could pick whatever colors & designs you want.  Then it can match any decor!

Hang it on the wall or prop it on a mantle or shelf.  And the best bit is it can easily be dismantled, so you can reuse everything for a different projects at a later date.  

 

   I always feel like poor Thanksgiving gets short changed when it comes to holiday crafts.  Loads of Halloween & Christmas ideas abound, but unless it's recipes, Thanksgiving gets less attention.  Maybe because it seems a little harder to get creative about.  I've been craft blogging for over a decade, but I've only made a couple of specifically turkey day holiday projects:

 

 

 But that has changed this year!  

Now, let's get to how to make this festive Thanksgiving decoration in next to no time...

Materials:

- 12in x 12in unfinished wood shadowbox (mine was from Michael's)
- 1 inch thick craft foam (or foam floor mat)
- Assorted 1.5 in wide ribbons
- Wood tint (I used Folk Art Home Decor in Grey)
- 12in x 12in card stock
- Dressmaker's pins (basic silver flathead pins)
- Cricut Explore (or similar cutting machine)

 

I started by brushing the grey wood tint onto my unfinished frame.  This color seems to go with everything.  Two coats does the job & it dries super fast too.  

  

Can I just say, how much I LOVE this stuff?  I've had this jar forever, but it's just as good as the day I bought it. I've used it on a bunch of projects and always loved the results:

 

  

 For my interior base I cut up an EVA foam floor mat - the kind they sell for kid's rooms and garages - with an exact-o knife to fit my frame (12in x 12in).  We had a bunch in the house from past projects, so it made the most sense to use that, but I know craft stores sell styrofoam squares in that size for a ready-cut option.  Upholstery foam would probably work too.

Of course I didn't take a pic of it because I jumped right into the next bit - cutting 8 strips of my various 1.5in ribbons to be 15 inches long and laid them in an order I liked over the foam. 

 

 Again, I was using ribbons already in my stash (waste not, want not!). The burlap looked a bit plain on its own, so I jazzed those strips up by overlaying some narrower decorative ribbons on top of them:

It added a bit of extra dimension and texture which I liked:

  

I wrapped the ribbons around the sides of the foam and anchored them there with the pins.  This made it really quick & easy to secure them:

 

Then I carefully laid the foam into the frame.  It fits snuggly so there was no need to attach it with glue or anything.

 

Turkey time!  I found a free clip art turkey silhouette:

I imported that into Cricut Design Space and removed the background to make a simple cut file.

 

I sized this guy to be 9 inches high, which seemed perfect to fit the 12 in square frame.  

 

I cut him out of the card stock with my Cricut Explore and popped the center out:

  

I inserted the outer piece into my frame.  I put pins in the corners to hold it in place.  A few glue dots would probably work too. Then I added some decorative gourds & candles around it.  Presto - my ribbon turkey tableau was done: 

 

It felt nice to be able to make a little something to decorate for Thanksgiving this year and, apart from the shadowbox, I already had all the supplies here at home so it was thrifty too.  I may do versions for other holidays going forward and just swap them out in the frame.  Being able to make fun things despite a tight time & cash crafting budget is well worth it.  And since it comes together so quickly, there's time for more projects left too!!

Why I Tried Kreation Krate: A Review + Double Winner Giveaway

As I've mentioned before, I've been cutting back a bit with product reviewing & giveaways over here, but today's crafty item is something too good not to share.  It's really got something different that's worth telling you about.  TWO lucky readers will get their very own to try out too.  Read on and see what makes this crafty goody extra special!

Kreation Krate is a unique subscription box - it's not just craft projects/supplies in a box.  It combines learning a new craft with doing some kindness for someone else.  Each month, you receive a box filled with supplies to make 2 different crafts.  One is for yourself, and one is to create and gift to others as a random act of kindness.  This idea of of a craft box giving & encouraging kind acts really struck me as a departure from the usual me-centric kits out there, so I was all for trying this out.  

Our crate arrived like a lovely present - full of crafty goodies and two postcards explaining what projects were included.  Ours was the Paper Bag Scrapbook & Kind Cards for Hospitalized Kids:

There was a pretty large assortment of supplies provided: note cards & envelopes, scrapbook papers, a book of card stock prints, stick-on felt shapes, brads, adhesive photo squares, tacky glue, paper flowers and a bunch of paper bags.  Even after making our album and decorating the cards, there was a lot left to go into our craft supply stash.

The first project was a paper bag photo album.  Truthfully, I was a little skeptical about how it well would work.  I'm not much of a scrapper or paper crafter, so with my lack of skill & creativity in that department I was a little worried it wouldn't turn out looking too good.  I'm really glad it forced me a bit outside my crafting comfort zone because it ended up being cute and a fun mommy & me project to do with my daughter.  

Plus, I finally have an actual photo album of our last vacation instead of just another folder with unnamed files on my laptop!   A fun memory of us preserving more memories:)  

The bag openings cleverly work as portrait oriented photo pockets:



A decorative pull tab makes it easy to get them out without finger-printing them up in the process:

Here's my little lady hard at work with the glue.  Oh, how she loved helping with the gluing (and surprisingly didn't get it everywhere).
  

Being an impatient sort of person by nature, I really liked that you could get started crafting right away.  The project postcard had photos to show how to put things together, but there was also a handy video on the website for us visual learners.  It was quick to watch and didn't have annoying narration which was great (so many how-to videos out there are painfully long and over talked!). We got the idea of what to do and went for it in under 2 minutes.  The hardest part was waiting for the glue to dry after making the album so we could start adding the photos & embellishments.  A half hour in the sun on the front porch helped speed it up though.

The kindness gift project was to make homemade cards for hospitalized kids, as September was Childhood Cancer Awareness month.  It included info on places to send the cards and what kinds of messages to write to bring a smile to & share some hope with the recipients. My 5 year old kind of took charge of the card making (as in she wouldn't let me do much at all), but she did let me add a flower to one.  Her big brothers will get to do the writing inside & address them and we'll all mail them together.  It's feels good to spend some time turned away from our own personal preoccupations to bring a little unexpected happiness to someone else.

Subscriptions to Kreation Krate are $26 billed monthly, shipping is free, which is pretty reasonable considered how much stuff you get in each box.  And you can buy specific boxes individually if you just want to do a particular box.  Previous months boxes are available in their store for $31, as well as some of the individual Kind Crafts. 

I'm excited that Kreation Krate is coming out with a kid-version box for ages 4-12 as well. As much as I hate to admit it, I don't craft as much with my kids as I'd like.  Between homeschooling, making things for them and all their other activities - 4-H, swimming & the like - I tend to fall short on time to plan and put together projects for their skill level on a regular basis.  Getting a little help so we can have craft time together AND use it to spread some kindness to others is something I'd love to start.  I'll be looking forward to getting the Kreation Krate Kind Kids when it launches.

Kreation Krate is offering TWO Sew Can Do Readers a 

chance to win the Kreation Krate of their choice!

Which one would you pick?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck Everyone!

I received this Kreation Krate to review.  The opinions are completely my own, based on my honest experience with this item.

It's A MOO! Printed Goodies Giveaway & Review

Have you always wanted to take your blog or crafting business to the next level with some creative handout materials?  Sleek custom business cards, stickers, gift tags - the stuff all the big crafters seem to have?  It's easy thanks to MOO.  I had a chance to try out them out and its amazing printing services and now 3 lucky Sew Can Do readers can too!

I've used a lot of different sources for printing business cards, labels and cards over the years.  Most have been ok, but I always felt that to make materials that looked really special you had to have amazing graphics skills or a big budget.  So I was excited when MOO asked me to pick a few items to try and review.

MOO makes it easy to have high end, standout materials.  There were so many creative designs and different card options - I went a little wild and got a bunch of styles.  There are lots of looks that appeal to crafters and many color ways for each one.  I loved this button themed design in the rainbow option:

I thought this Fabric Swatch set was so cool & perfect for us fabric lovers.  There were 2 more fabric variations too, but I was able to pick the ones I liked best to make up my set.  I LOVED having that flexibility.  You can actually see the texture of the fabric in the swatches and the back has a slick look for contact info.  I did mine in the gloss finish and they are SO fabulous. I feel like a designing superstar seeing my name & info on them:

I also made this design-your-own version with my own logo.  I opted for rounded corners on all of them, but you can go traditional and there's always 4 color printing on both sides - no extra costs for any of those options either!

The quality of the cards was much nicer than any others I've had done.  They just feel really rich (and I didn't even pick the ultra Luxe version!).  And each set came in a cool covered storage box:

They also do clever MOO MiniCards (half the size of a standard card).  These would make cool product tags.  You can choose their Printfinity option and make each one have a different image to show off loads of photos:

I couldn't help myself and got some stickers too.  These are beyond cool.  Just upload your favorite photos or your own graphics and BAM!  You've got some slick, glossy vinyl stickers to put on whatever you want.  I made some fun family-style round stickers.  My kids were so excited to see their faces on real stickers (especially Mr. Mustachio there):

And I splurged and bought a MOO StickerBook - 90 unique stickers, ideal for creating and promoting your brand and found my dream product.  Moo's StickerBooks have 90 mini stickers on tear out sheets in a matchbook-style booklet.  You can make all 90 stickers different too.  I choose some of my favorite projects to showcase (like a portable portfolio), but I could see these being great for party goodie bags:

or homework rewards:

And they would also make easy product branding, or work for special occasions like weddings. You can even pick the color of the match-box style package!

So many possibilites!  And the customer service was excellent too.  I definitely plan to buy more MOO in the future.  Now how about a chance to win some MOO for you???

THREE lucky Sew Can Do readers will win

their choice of:

50 business cards or 100 MiniCards!

Loads of easy entry options are below.  Good luck everyone:)


a Rafflecopter giveaway
I was not financially compensated for this post.  I received free samples to review.  The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.