We Give "unifinished" Thanks

Warning! We Give Thanks project is unfinished!

What?! You say? Well yes I know I have it almost finished. I just couldn’t decide on one little tiny part of the project. So…I need your help! 

p.s. Soon you will realize that taking step by step pictures is not my strong suit. Maybe its because I find projects to be self explanatory once I see the picture of the product. So I guess you will have to actually read words this time as opposed to just looking at the picture.

Okay so thanksgiving is coming up and we don’t have many decorations for that season. Sometimes we just leave the Halloween ones up a little longer. So, I decided that we could create a picture. It can go on your counter or on a wall or even a desk. Where ever you would put a picture frame. I also wanted to use a blade that I haven’t used a lot of…the #15. But I also used the #11 for the super pointy edge!

Come up with a saying. It could be simple with 3 words or very very simple with 1 word or you can create a sentence. But beware! Your cursive has to be on point! Ha I lied. I do a mix of cursive/normal curly letters. But you DO need to have all the letters connect! Oh and try to avoid the letter i. It’s a pain because of the stupid dot. So some examples: thankful, give thanks, we give thanks (this is the one I used), we are thankful, blah blah blah create your own! Realizing as I typed this I chose the only one with the letter i. If you can figure out a way later tell me!

*Okay, grab a piece of construction paper and computer paper and *make sure they are the same size. 

*Give them each a one-inch boarder around the sides.

*Then grab your saying and write it out. Have the letters connect all the way across. Once you’ve got your letters laid out just go and make ‘em fat! Nice and thick letters=easier slicing. 

*Take your construction paper and have the good side kissing the table and the “ugly” side facing you. Lay down your pencil writing of your saying kissing the ugly side. Make sure they are centered and straight. 

*Then grab a pencil and scribble over the lettering that way the pencil rubs off onto your “ugly” side of the construction paper. It will be backwards and this is what we want!

Once it is all rubbed off, grab your cutting matt and start. You basically trace your wording and deleting the background image. Be calm and go  s...l...o...w. If you mess up, your cute little project will be not so cute. There you go! Just use the #15 blade to go around the curves and when you get to a sharp little corner use the #11 blade and make a precise cut. You’ll be fine. Trust me.

Okay so this is the part I need YOU for. It’s the background. I narrowed it down to two different backgrounds so help me.

Once you all help me choose, I will post the finished project up!     

Halloween Monster Tags

Halloween Monster Tags

Who is excited for Halloween ??

We are here at PenBlade! We like to give cute little gifts to those we love and decided to create tags to go on those little gifts. It spices up the gift and shows them how crafty you are at the same time!  The Wooden tags we bought from the Wooden Connection in Utah, as you will soon find out, we Love that place!  Once you have the tags its pretty simple. Just find some monsters you’d like to create. I chose, Frankenstein, Dracula, The Witch, a Pumpkin, and a Mummy. I had my favorites of course by make a few and then make multiples of each. 

Supplies you will need:

*Craft paper (lots)

*PenBlades (I used all three blades in this project!)

*A cutting bored

*Glue

* Cream Ribbon

*A black Sharpie

Okay so first thing to do:

Look at how cute mine turned out :)

Then make it!

Okay but seriously it’s easy. Outline your wooden tag on the paper that you want as your background. Depending on which one you do will be different colors. P.s I didn’t take photos of all of them, because I forgot.  So once you get your base be creative. Look at mine, Look online, Look in your brain.  

 

Whether it’s a two-tone background or a solid color use the tag as your stencil. Glue it down and add your details. Cut out the eyes, or the teeth, or the hair. Once you’ve added your details. Make sure you cut out that hole for your string. I used the #15 I find that with the #15 I can curve more. I used the #10 for those straight lines. And the #11 for the edges where I wanted them to be perfect! Glue everything on and then get your sharpie out and start drawing on the features.

 For the mummy one I just did half the black and then added the yellow eyes. I then took some cream ribbon and just started wrapping then attached with some good glue. I used a glue gun but really anything will work. Boom! TADA! Congrats you've finished. Now attach them to the cute little gifts you are giving away this Halloween. p.s if you wanna by some PenBlades at a discount, Go to our website www.penbladeknife.com and use the code: BLOG12

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Fall Banner Craft

F U N   F A L L   B A N N E R

You always need to have something hanging from a mantel or dangling from a doorway! It adds cuteness to your home and it is so easy to make. So make an easy fall banner with these steps

Things you will need:

• #10 PenBlade
• Wooden Banner (we used wood so it was more durable. Check out Pick your Plum, its where we bought ours!)
•  Cute Paper and lots of it! 
• Chip board letters (or if you have pretty hand writing just free style it)
• Ink pad (if you use chip board letters)
• Jute Twine
• Spray Adhesive

The Steps are easy and it's pretty self explanatory, just look at the pictures! I know that's all you do anyways! 

We chose 8 different card stock prints for the banner. I placed the wooden triangles on the paper and glided the PenBlade along the sides.

You then use spray adhesive to attach the paper to the wooden banner. Be careful! This spray adhesive really sticks! So, do it outside on a box or something you don’t mind getting sticky!

We used chip board letters on our banner. We inked our letters but You could also paint them or cover them with paper! Or if you have calligraphy skills just draw on your own letters.

Tada! Cute little ink letters. 

P.s we had to buy two sets of these letters to get two L’s

Glue it all together and BOOM!

We then connected all the pieces with Jute Twine

Using our super nifty Penblade we used the trimming groove to easily cut the extra twine. Its perfect so you don’t have an exposed blade

Perfect! Your banner is now complete! Go hang it somewhere pretty!

 

See how easy that was? You are now a pro at making banners. Do this for any season and your home will always be adorable.  P.s If you want a fun discount code go to our website (Click Here) and when you make a purchase, type in the discount code: BLOG107

GIVEAWAY!! Fall Pumpkin Craft

How cute is this balsa wood pumpkin fall craft!!!  This fun craft comes together quickly and adds a fun pop of color to your Fall decorating.  Best of all - we are giving away all the materials necessary to make it.  That's right - it's a GIVEAWAY!!!  Here's how you enter:

1. Follow us on Instagram
2. Tag a friend
3. Like us on Facebook

U.S Entries only. (Currently unable to ship PenBlades out of the country)
Contest ends Friday 10/2 @ Midnight!

We are always on the lookout for new ways to use a PenBlade. This project was inspired by a sleepless night spent perusing Instagram because isn't that what everyone does when they can't sleep?

What you Need:

• Metal or wooden base
• Balsa wood
• Burlap ribbon
• Orange paint
• Green paint
• Sponge brush
• PenBlade #11

This is how we made it:

• Start with a square of balsa wood.  The size depends on how big you want your project to be.  Ours is 4" x 4" and /" thick.
• Lightly trace the outline of a pumpkin onto the balsa wood.  You can use a template, a stencil, or if you are like our talented designer, you freehand it.  I know, how annoying is it when you learn someone can just freehand draw a pumpkin or well, anything.
• Next, use a PenBlade to cut out your pumpkin design.  We prefer the #11 blade. Be SO careful when cutting, Balsa wood is super fragile when cut into so many times!
• Paint your pumpkin.  (You could also cover it with glitter or paper. If you use paper, we recommend you adhere the paper to the balsa wood before cutting out the pumpkin.)
• Glue your Burlap ribbon to the back of your base, gathering it as you glue. Use a PenBlade to trim any excess ribbon. We used a metal base we got from Pick Your Plum.  The cute chevron print burlap ribbon also came from Pick Your Plum.  Can you tell we kinda like their site?
• Attach the pumpkin to the base (we used magnets) and VOILA, a very cute Fall/Halloween decoration for your home.

Stay tuned for ways to add some versatility to this project and be sure to enter our GIVEAWAY!!!!

If you want to purchase PenBlades go to our Buy page and enter the code BLOG930 for a 30% discount.

Wood Block Pumpkins

It is Fall time and we are in the crafting spirit!

We decorated some super cute little wooden pumpkin blogs from the wooden connection here in Utah

The things you need to have cute wooden pumpkins:

• Mod Podge
• PenBlade #10
• Twine
• Orange and Green Paint
• Orange craft paper
• Sponge Brush
• and of course your wooden blocks, acorn if you want

First thing you need to do is paint the Pumpkin blocks orange and the stem green. 

They don't look this good by themselves!

While the paint is drying grab your orange colored paper

Using your #10 PenBlade, slice the paper in one inch wide strips to match the length of your pumpkin

ModPodge those strips onto your pumpkin

  

Then get out your twine! Start wrapping your stem! It doesn't hurt to put a little glue on the stem to hold the twine in place. Once you are ready to stop wrapping here is how to easily cut your twin using the #10 PenBlade-

Loop the end

Place in cutting grove

and pull!

Boom! Congrats on your adorable pumpkins!

Now you have the perfect little mantle or table piece for your home!

 

Because we love you! we decided to give you a discount when you buy our PenBlades!

Here is a good ol' 33% off your purchase!

Code: BLOG28