MIA...Finally a Post

     Okay so here I am back to my poor, neglected blog.  Really it's not that I have nothing to write, because believe me I have quite a list of things that I really should post.  But for whatever reason lately I have been more interested in reading blogs than posting on my own.  Funny, huh?  Now that the holidays are over I will try to get better and more regular again with my posts, but I can't make any promises.  Speaking of the holidays, they were filled with many trips to this store and that along with some crafts intermixed here and there.  Oh and don't forget all the holiday gatherings and a trip to Minnesota.  Over the next few weeks or so I will be trying to catch up on our happenings and throw in some of the crafts that I made for Christmas (a little late for gift ideas, but hey there's always next year) along the way.  Let's start off with the teacher gifts that I gave to each of the kids' teachers.  I fell in love with the idea of the monogram hanger frame after reading this blog.  (Sorry for the lack of pictures with each of the steps.)


1.  First gather all the items needed for the project.  I used a 2"x3" mini frame, some scrapbook paper (one design for the letters and one for the background), dot pegs to give it some dimension, and my Cricut (which makes this project a breeze).  I also used a hot glue gun to add some twine for a hanger.

2.  Next stepp is to cut down the scrapbook paper to 6"x12" so that it can fit onto the Cricut cutting board.  Place the paper on the sticky side of the cutting board lining it up with the ruler. 
 3.  Then you set up the Cricut to cut the desired size of the object, in this instance I used 2" letters.  Load the paper and press "cut".  You will see a nicely cut image that will need to use the tools to remove.  (I was able to cut the three letters I needed at the same time using the 6"x12" paper.)

4.  Using the Cricut scoring device, cut out a 2"x3" square to match the back of the frame.


5.  Add the circle pegs to the back of the letters and center on the background.  Place it in the frame.


6.  Cut a sizable piece of twine to use as a hanger.  Apply two dots of glue on the top corners of the frame and attach the twine.  Tie a nice little bow and Voila you will you have something that resembles this:


Note:  This frame was the 2"x3" frame. 
Using a 3"x3" frame works better for this project.



I also made some homemade notepads using this tutorial.