Double Duty Holiday Decor

I love when things can serve more than one purpose, and my holiday decor is no exception.  I had just received my new Thanksgiving mini Cricut cartridge, but Happy Hauntings was still calling my name since I just haven't had a chance to use it as much as I'd like yet.  The solution was a fun little hanging sign from my stash.  (I tend to buy alterable items when they're on sale, and hoard them along with some recyclables to alter when the mood strikes.)

The plan was to decorate one side for Halloween, and one side for Thanksgiving.  I didn't want typical black & orange for Halloween, but some of the colors needed to be the same so I could add ribbon to the wire hanger for a more decorative look.  So, let's see how I did:

I'm going with a bit of an elegant vampire theme for Halloween this year, so I pulled this paper from my stash, traced the sign on it, and cut it out.  I decoupaged it to my sign and let it dry while I cut my Cricut Designs.  Using the Vampire font from Happy Hauntings, I cut "Beware" from American Crafts glitter paper in Rouge and the font shadow from black paper.  I cut the Bats using the Layer 1 feature for Frame 3 on page 40 of the handbook.  I added the red eyes using some Stickles in Christmas Red.  To adhere the shadow, I again decoupaged.  Helpful Hint:  I like to make my paper look like fabric by brushing on the first layer in one direction and letting it dry, then brushing on the next layer in the opposite direction.  The vertical and horizontal cross-hatching looks just like a fabric weave.  Once everything was dry, I added the pieces cut from glitter paper using Glossy Accents.

Now, for the Thanksgiving side:

Using the same process as the other side, I adhered this paper from my stash to the sign blank.  I cut this nice little Pilgrim couple on the Thanksgiving cartridge from black cardstock, using creamy white and deep orange for the layers.  After adhering them to the sign, I just cut off the excess from the "swirly" part that hung off the edge.  I cut the "Give Thanks" design from American Crafts glitter paper in Chestnut, and adhered it over the top of the Pilgrims.  Somewhere along the way I misplaced the dot for my "i" - since I didn't want to cut it again, I just pulled an adhesive rhinestone from my stash and stuck it on instead.

Finally, I tied ribbons and attached them to the hanging wire using Glue Dots Pop Up Dots.  I added a red button to the Halloween side and a deep orange button to the Thanksgiving side for a little color.

Supplies available at Cutters Creek: 

• Cricut Happy Hauntings Cartridge
• Cricut Thanksgiving Mini Seasonal Cartridge
• American Crafts Glitter Cardstock, Rouge and Chestnut
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Glue Dots Pop Up Dots
• Ranger Stickles, Christmas Red

Other Supplies:

• Creative Imaginations bare elements Brenton oval sign
• My Minds Eye papers from The Spider's Web line
• Adhesive rhinestone
• Ribbons and buttons
• Mod Podge, matte finish
• Black craft paint (to finish the edge of the sign), optional