Fall has always been my favorite. The leaves, the pumpkins, long walks in the brisk air, the smell of cinnamon, and the dressing up. All of it was always perfect. It was perfect until two years ago when I spent the entire fall season in a hospital, away from my two year old, waiting to know if we would ever be a family again. Matilda was born on the first day of fall. So naturally, this season has shifted for us. It holds a lot of emotional dates.
But the thing is, we can't let that consume us. I needed to find a way to bring back the excitement of fall - to celebrate fall! To let the kids create new magical memories and to distract me from those looming dates. So we made a Fall Memory Maker full of ten activities that we can do each fall season together as a family. Each activity is written on the backside of the bag and inside are leather shapes that represent the event. My hope is that we can bring each object with us as we embark on each adventure. The kids can take turns holding onto it or keep it tucked away in a pocket. Over time the leather will fade and wear, while holding onto those memories as each year passes.
Here is how you can make your own.
Materials: Cricut Explore, iron-on transfer, scraps of leather, a muslin bag, and a yarn pom pom (the one I used was sent as a gift topper).
Process:
Bag - After typing in the activities and picking my favorite fonts in the Design Space, I loaded my mat with black iron-on vinyl (shiny side down), turned my dial to "iron-on" and pressed "Go". Then, I very carefully weeded out all the vinyl pieces I did not want ironed on to my bag, positioned the cut design on the bag, and ironed it until the plastic easily peeled off.
Shapes - Cricut's Design Space makes it easy to search for and test out a variety of shapes. Cutting leather with the Explore is a breeze. Turn the dial to custom and then on the "GO" page select the leather thickness before pressing "GO". And don't forget that if it does not cut all the way through just go ahead and press the cut button on the machine before you remove the mat and it will run through again - as many times as you need.
Time: Between finding all the shapes, changing mats for different materials, designing the outside of the bag, and weeding all those little letters, this project took me about three hours.
Don't forget that I am creating projects in conjunction with Team 8 for the Cricut Design Star challenge. Team 8 works together to come up with a cohesive theme that can tie all of our projects together. Cricut supplies us with the category, a few tools, and the Cricut Explore. For September, we chose "Falling into Fall" as our theme for Cricut's celebration/wedding category. We are not paid to produce projects, but we can win some sweet prizes if our idea is chosen or if our team shows the most support for each other. All opinions are our own.
Please click through the following links to check out the amazing bloggers on my team!
| Artsy-Fartsy Mama | Brassy Apple | Cloudy Day Gray | Happy Together | Kori Clark |
| Maddycakes Muse | Michelle Edgemont | No. 2 Pencil | Our Thrifty Ideas | Sew Woodsy |
And now you get to participate, too! Cricut has just announced the second phase of the Cricut - I Made It! contest and this time they’re awarding one winner their own Make it Now™ project line to be sold in Cricut Design Space™!
To help create your line, Cricut will fly you to their headquarters in Salt Lake City to work side-by-side with their design team. Then, you and a guest will enjoy an all-expense paid stay at the Grand America Hotel – a luxury resort in Salt Lake City, home to the best skiing in the world.
The winner will be featured on Cricut.com and every time a Cricut user purchases your project, you’ll earn money. Cricut will even help with your publicity.
To enter the Cricut - I Made It! contest, all you need is a photo of an original project. You can upload up to five photos (which can be five individual projects or multiple photos of one project).
You have until September 30th to enter. What are you waiting for? It’s time you to Make It, big! Head to Cricut.com to enter today. Good luck, it would be so cool to have one of my readers chosen for this!
