Are these the cutest corncobs ever or what?

I whipped these up with my NEW Cricut Explore Air 2  and I must say...I'm impressed!!

That's right! There is a a NEW Cricut on the block my friends and I absolutely LOVE it!
The NEW Cricut Explore Air 2  comes in a variety of beautiful colors and the one my friends at Cricut sent me to review is a BEAUTIFUL mint color! (If you follow me on Instagram you saw me post it when it first arrived on my doorstep and it's a beaut - see video at the bottom of this post)

Anyway, you can use these cute paper corncobs as place card settings for your Thanksgiving table OR you can use them around your home to add some extra charm to your collection of pumpkins and Fall leaves.

Best part is, you only need a few supplies to create these!
These DIY corn-on-the-cobs are easy to put together...and the NEW Cricut Explore Air 2 helps make the process even faster than before. Let's get started...

SUPPLIES (for one corncob):
Cricut Explore® Air 2 machine
Circuit® Design Space  - (here's my custom corncob file created using the 3D Intricate Corn file) 
Cricut® 12x12” StandardGrip mat
Cardstock in yellow (or white if you'd like to chalk your corn - details below)
Raffia
Scissors - for cutting raffia
Hot glue gun

Optional:
Kraft card stock for cutting place cards.
Cricut 0.4 pen - black
Chalk - if you choose to use white cardstock

TIP
If you can't get the link to work for my custom corncob file, all I did was customize the 3D Intricate Corn file by eliminating all layers except for the solid corncob layer. I deleted all but one corncob and merged the two separate corncob pieces into one. I also enlarged the corncob to be 6 inches in length and then copy + pasted until I had the number of corncobs I needed.

To create the place card file for cutting, I searched "place card" in Cricut® Design Space and chose one that most resembled what I was looking for. Then I resized it to be 3.25" x 1.9"

DIRECTIONS for one corncob
1. Cut five corncob pieces from yellow (or white) card stock. (watch my video)
2. Use hot glue (or adhesive of your choice) and this .pdf file to assemble.  
    (don't freak out...the instructions are for an acorn but the same concept applies).
3. Cut a long bundle of raffia and knot one end.
4. Apply hot glue to open end of corncob and insert short end of knotted raffia to create cornhusks.
5. Squeeze together to seal and secure.
6. Display place card if desired or simply display with pumpkins and Fall leaves.

If you are using these for place cards you can cut some out using kraft card stock and then hand-write them using your Cricut® pen. 

TIP: You can also create a file in Cricut® Design Space to have the machine write names or even just Fall sentiments like "grateful", "thankful" or "blessings".

Now, if you'd like to take things to the next level, creatively speaking...

how about using white card stock instead of yellow and then use chalk to create the perfect mix of yellows and browns for Fall. Yes?

Just rub a mix of fall chalk colors onto the white paper corncobs and blend with your fingertips until you reach the desired result. I love that it mimics a watercolor effect. So pretty!

No matter if you keep it simple and use yellow card stock or if you decide to go all out and add your magic using chalks...the results are too adorable!!

The hardest part about this project was just trying to decide what I wanted to make in the first place when I perused the thousands of pre-designed images in the Cricut® Design Space. Ha!!

So yeah...if you are already creating your Christmas wish list...I think you're going to want to make sure this is on it. I know you'll love it and will find so many ways to create fun, personalized things for your family and friends.

With Ella's birthday party this coming Sunday, I've already determined I need to make her a personalized birthday girl t-shirt for her to wear AND a matching one for her American Girl Doll.

And probably some cute personalized party favors too! *wink*

So do you want to know what I love about the new Cricut Explore Air 2 compared to my Cricut Explore One?

1. The pretty color selections (rose, serenity blue, mint and classic ivory + gold)
2. The ability to cut or write 2 times faster

AND....

my very favorite thing about it...WIRELESS CAPABILITY!
No more ugly cords across my studio hooking my Cricut® to my computer when it's craft time. Yay!!

Want to know more about this amazing, beautiful machine?
Check out this YouTube video to see more specifics. 

Love you guys and hope you are inspired to get started on your Fall decorating...if you haven't already begun.

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THIS IS A SPONSORED POST BY CRICUT®

PEN + PAPER FLOWERS HAS RECEIVED COMPENSATION AND/OR PRODUCTS 

IN EXCHANGE FOR CREATING CONTENT AND SHARING PRODUCTS.
  AS ALWAYS, FRIENDS + READERS, I ONLY WORK WITH BRANDS 
AND SHARE CONTENT I'M PERSONALLY INSPIRED BY 

AND ESSENTIALLY FEEL WILL INSPIRE YOU TOO!

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KEEPiNG iT REAL
You guys! It's soooo pretty! Not even kidding.
I created this video using Snapchat and then posted it in my Instagram stories a couple of weeks ago.
Find me on Insta and Snapchat by searching: pnpflowers

Cricut-Explore-Air-2-Mint-5117 from Jessica Kirkland on Vimeo.

CRAFT | Mini Monster Milk Jars + Cricut Explore®

DISCLOSURE: This project is being considered for a prize from Cricut.

Are these not the cutest Mini Monster Milkshakes you've ever seen?
I'm in love with them!! The adorable bottles from The TomKat Studio are the perfect backdrop for creating these Mini Monster Milk Jars using your Cricut Explore® - or a pair of scissors…if you have the patience for the intricacies of the "Frankenstein" faces. *wink*

Yep! You guessed it. It's time for another Cricut Design Space Star Challenge.
My team and I chose a "Black and White" theme for our projects to go along with the pre-determined Cricut topic: Holiday Home Decor + Gift Ideas.

I thought these mini milk jars were perfect to share as they not only add some fun decor to your Halloween celebrations…but they'd make super cute favor jars filled with colored Sixlets® as well!! (these jars come with lids too - yes…yes they do!! - 4th picture from the bottom of the post).

What's surprising is that although all of these faces are unique…they were created from only two simple facial designs…a ghost face and a frankenstein face. I just mixed up the different elements (eyes, mouths) and even changed the size on a couple to create some real "monsterpieces". Ha! (I'm such a dork).

I think the Frankies are my faves!!

The bottles are filled with milkshakes…vanilla for the Ghosts and mint chocolate chip for the "Frankies". A little ice cream + splash of milk…blend it up and pour it in. You could also do healthy green smoothies for the Frankies too!!  And of course…don't forget to add a cute party straw. (cut a normal straw in two).

WHAT YOU MUST KNOW
Before I get started on the "How-To" for creating the monster faces…please know that you can make them using black vinyl OR white card stock. I made mine using black vinyl…BUT I wanted to experiment with the brand-new "Print the Cut" feature on the Cricut Explore® - which allows you to print an image onto your home printer first and then feed it into your Cricut Explore® for cutting! Yeah. Pretty freaking amazing.

So…the images you see here were cut from black vinyl but you could totally do it with card stock too. The card stock isn't moisture-resistant like the vinyl but would work just fine if the jars were filled with candies!

So…enough with the ghoulishness…let's get on with the how-to for making these fun Halloween treats.

SUPPLIES NEEDED
1 set of printable Mini Monster Milk Jar Bottle Faces - Pen N' Paper Flowers
1 set of 12 Mini Glass Jars - The TomKat Studio
1 Cricut Explore® Cutting Machine
12x12 Standard Cutting Mat
White Card Stock or Black Cricut® Vinyl

STEP ONE

Upload saved image to Cricut Design Space

STEP TWO - SELECT & DELETE

Use the "Select & Delete" option to erase the white background of the image.

Just click anywhere on the white background and it will disappear

STEP THREE - ERASE

Use the "Erase" tool to erase the black text on the image - push "Continue" when done.

Leave behind only the portions you want the machine to cut.

I figured out later I could've probably used the "Crop" feature (upper right) to select the images I wanted to cut instead of the "Erase" feature but hey…I'm still learning the ins and outs of the machine! *wink*

STEP FOUR - SAVE IMAGE

Save the image after naming it and adding tags in the boxes over to the right.

STEP FIVE - SIZE IMAGE

I made sure mine was about 8" wide (see below)

STEP SIX - PREP FOR PRINTING 

In the layers box, click on the tiny printer icon. 

This opens the pop-out window to the left showing the "print" feature.

***Skip this step if you are cutting from black vinyl and will not be printing***

Vinyl users can just push the "Go" button and load black vinyl into machine for cutting.

STEP SEVEN - PRINT & CUT

After you've printed your image using your personal printer, place your paper on your Cricut® Cutting Mat and follow the onscreen directions to load and cut your image. I used white card stock.

See those 3 L-shaped marks on the paper I printed? Those are a really important part of the Cricut Explore® "Print then Cut" feature. They are what the machine reads to ensure proper alignment before the cutting process begins. It's pretty cool…and amazing! See more photos below.

If you are using the new Print & Cut feature for the first time you will have to calibrate your Cricut Explore® machine first - the software walks you through the steps to do that. 

If you have ANY issues at all you can call Customer Support at 877-7CRICUT 

See that little beam of light shining onto the paper from underneath the cutting carriage? 

That's the machine reading the crop marks…prepping for cutting. It starts with the crop mark on the top left, moves over to the top right crop mark and scrolls down to the bottom left one. 

It's so cool to watch it in action!!

And now it's cutting…look at how precise the cuts are? 

Maybe you can't even tell what parts have already been cut because the cutting detail is amazing?

Here it is…all finished cutting. 

I peeled up the white card stock and left the black images stuck to the mat.

STEP EIGHT - MIX & MATCH

Mix and match the assortment of eyes and mouths to create a variety of faces.

Just by angling/tilting them a little differently makes a big difference in their appearances too!

For those of you who don't have a Cricut Explore® you can still print the FREE printable Mini Monster Milk Jar Bottle Faces onto a piece of card stock and then use a pair of handy scissors to cut them out. Use your favorite adhesive to stick them on.

Hope you love the project, friends!!
I'll be sharing the rest of the fun, creative things Team 14 came up with….soon!!


KEEPiNG iT REAL
I think I kept these in the freezer for a week before I was able to actually photograph them!
You'd never even know!! Ha!!