A few weeks ago Mr. SuzerSpace and I were in this fabulous store that is crammed full of kitchen goods – some of them essential, like pots and pans, and some of them really not essential (spoons for scraping out the last bit of jelly from the jar, onion chopping goggles, and a teapot shaped like a chicken?). It’s in a building that dates back from the 1920s, and the hardwood floors creak as you walk across them, searching for treasures.
That day, we were actually hunting for a hamburger press, but it’s impossible to go there and not go up and down every aisle, and in doing so I spied these super cute “Party Picks” which were essentially oversize toothpicks that had little decorations on the top that looked like Cheese, Grapes and Wine Glasses.
In true crafter fashion I said to myself “I can make those” and I decided that Easter Bunnies would be the perfect topic for my first attempt.
I’ve done these as a Print and Cut in Silhouette Studio, and to make them easier to assemble, I printed and cut them from self adhesive sticker stock so that I didn’t have to use glue to stick them to the toothpicks. And because I like to make things quirky, instead of making the decoration duplicate double-sided like the ones I saw at the store, I made the bunny have a front and a back. And then I went super duper crazy and made multiple colors for the bowties.
In case you have not seen the wonder that is a Print and Cut project, the steps are simple (side note – Cricut users have a similar process available to them. I’m a Silhouette owner so I’m showing that here,).
1. Acquire your artwork. There are free printables available, as well as files for sale, or you can draw your own. In fact, it might be super cute to let the kids draw the artwork and then you set up the remaining steps to have some really original party picks for your next gathering. In my case, I drew my bunnies on my iPad and then exported them as PNG files. I emailed them to myself so I could save them to the computer where I have my Silhouette Cameo connected.
2. Open or Merge the artwork into Silhouette Studio. If you let the kids draw the original artwork, you’ll need to scan and crop it before bringing it into Silhouette Studio.
3. Turn on the Cropmarks – these are needed for the cutter to register the artwork for accurate cutting.
4. Draw or trace the shapes and then add an offset to create the cutting path.
5. SAVE YOUR FILE. Seriously. Save it now. If you print the file and accidentally close the file without saving, you won’t be able to cut it. Trust me on this.
6. Print the file. In Silhouette Studio the printer icon is in the far left corner:
Click that icon and follow the normal procedure for your printer.
7. Once the sheet is printed, you’ll load the printed sheet into the cutter – you don’t need a mat if you are using self adhesive sticker sheets. It’s important to have the little black square in the upper left corner (so it matches the picture in the cutting software.
8. Select the correct cut settings and send the cut file to the cutter.
To finish these, sandwich a toothpick in the center as you put the two sides together.
These are perfect for dressing up an Easter hors d’oeuvre, a cocktail olive or just a table centerpiece.
Pin this so you have the steps available when you are ready to make your own Party Toothpicks.
This post will be linked up at some of these great link up locations.
I am going to copy this for my grandchildren at Easter #happynow@_karendennis