Lakauai {Life is Good}

I have decided to sell all of my Cricut stuff.  I hardly ever used the machines, maybe a total of 5-6 times.  Some of the accessories are still in their original box!  All cartridges come in their original box with the keypad overlay and handbook.  None of the cartridges are linked to a Gypsy.  I think I have priced all of the items reasonably.  Email me at lakauai@gmail.com and I will calculate exact shipping costs to your location.  Paypal is preferred method of payment.

This is a list of all the items I have.  More details provided below the list.

• Cricut Expression (black)   –   $150
• Cricut Personal Electronic Cutting Machine  - $50
• Cricut Jukebox Cartridge Station  - $40
• Cricut Design Studio Software  -  $50
• Cricut Expression Accessory Kit  - $25
• Cricut Color Inks Basic Collection  - $8
• Cricut Stamped Cartridge  -  $20
• Cricut Printing Press Cartridge  -  $20
• Cricut Plantin Schoolbook Cartridge  -  $20
• Cricut Tags, Bags, Boxes and More Cartridge  -  $20
• Cricut George and Basic Shapes Cartridge  -  $20 

Cricut Expression

• Electronic cutting machine for scrapbooks, classroom decor, signage, and more
• Cartridge system requires no computer; cuts from 1/4 inch to 23-1/2 inches
• Easy-to-read LCD screen; 6 modes; 4 functions; portrait or landscape orientation
• 21-1/2 by 7 by 7-3/4 inches

Amazon’s New Price:  $183.45

Amazon’s Used Price:  $169.95

My Price:  $150.00

Cricut

• Portable electronic cutting machine for greeting cards, scrapbooks, and other paper crafts
• Cut letters, shapes, or phrases; works with vellum, paper, cardstock, and vinyl
• Cuts from 1 inch up to 5-1/2 inches tall
• Cartridge-based system; no computer required; George and Basic Shapes cartridge included
• Measures 17-4/5 by 9-2/3 by 12-8/9 inches; 1-year limited warranty

Amazon’s New Price:  $175.49

Amazon’s Used Price:  $75.99

My Price:  $50.00

Cricut Jukebox Cartridge Station

• Cartridge system allows for cutting from 6 Cricut cartridges at a time
• Connect up to 3 units simultaneously to accommodate up to 18 cartridges
• Works with any Cricut machine to create scrapbook pages and other paper crafts
• Carrying handle and padded case enable easy transportation
• Measures approximately 6-2/7 by 9-2/7 by 9-3/5 inches

Amazon’s New Price:  $59.99

Amazon’s Used Price:  none in stock

My Price:  $40.00

Cricut Design Studio Software with Bonus Features

• Die-cutting software offers a user-friendly way to expand Cricut possibilities
• Compatible with Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista 32-bit
• Includes software, 10 foot USB cord, Cricut mouse pad, and user manual
• Image library frequently updated with new cartridges
• Measures approximately 8-1/3 by 9-1/3 by 1-2/3 inches

Amazon’s New Price:  $92.00

Amazon’s Used Price:  $65.95

My Price:  $50.00

Cricut Expression Accessory Kit  (New, unopened in original package)

• Cricut Tool Kit  -  Tools included are 5.5″ knife with 2 extra blades, 4.65″ scissors with 2.1 blades, 2.4″ x 2.75″ scraper, 7″ clear ruler, 5.5″ hook with green comfort handle, 5.5″ scoop with green comfort handle and 7″ bone folder that is green and white.
•  2 Cutting Mats 12”x12”
• Cricut Spatula
• 1 Sheet Cricut Vinyl (Raven) 12”x12”
• 1 Sheet Transfer Tape 12”x12”
• 1 Sheet Stencil Material 12”x12”
• 1 Black Marker

Amazon’s New Price:  $89.99

Amazon’s Used Price:  none in stock

My Price:  $25.00

Cricut Color Inks Basic Collection  New, unopened in original package

Cricut Color Inks replace the blade assembly on the Cricut machine and allow you to draw instead of cut. The result is stunning, unique projects!

This Color Inks collection contains: 3 black markers, and 2 brown markers.

Cricut.com Price:  $11.99

My Price:  $8.00

Cricut Stamped Cartridge

• Stamped Font by Heather Lancaster
• Has an inked nostalgic feel or sleek font
• Works great with the Provo Craft Cricut Personal Electronic Cutter
• Personalize scrapbooks using this stamped alphabet

Amazon’s New Price:  $37.45

Amazon’s Used Price:  none in stock

My Price:  $20.00

Cricut Printing Press Cartridge

• Font cartridge for use with all Cricut machines
• 6 Creative Features: Character, Tall, Clip, Framed, Character Shadow, and Tall Shadow
• Upper- and lower-case alphabet with numbers and punctuation marks
• Perfect for paper crafting or home décor
• Great for embellishing paper crafts; keypad overlay and handbook includedCricut cartridge
• Includes font cartridge; keypad overlay; and handbook

Amazon’s New Price:  $50.84

Amazon’s Used Price:  $30.00

My Price:  $20.00

Cricut Cartridge Plantin Schoolbook

Amazon’s New Price:  $55.82

Amazon’s Used Price:  none in stock

My Price:  $20.00

Cricut Shapes Cartridge-Tags, Bags, Boxes & More

Amazon’s New Price:  $149.99  (not sure why this one is so high!)

Amazon’s Used Price:  $99.95

My Price:  $20.00

George and Basic Shapes Cricut Cartridge

Amazon’s New Price:  $72.25

Amazon’s Used Price:  $47.98

My Price:  $20.00

Lael made a couple of these beads at a Girl Scout event a few weeks ago and promptly forgot about it.  Spring Break was a perfect time to pick it back up again.  It took her about 1/4 of a day to start proclaiming she was bored, so this was a perfect project!  They are really easy to make, and fun too!  Try it!  Here are some directions.

Making Paper Beads

• Any kind of paper will work for making paper beads.  This would be a great way to upcycle all that junk mail!  Pages from magazines would work well also.  What about wrapping paper from birthday parties?  Old calendars, brochures, maps, your kids schoolwork……the possibilities are endless!
• Paper cutter, Exacto-blade or scissors
• Glue stick, Elmer’s glue, Mod-Podge
• Clear nail polish or spray varnish
• Toothpicks or skewers
• Styrofoam or shoebox

Making the beads is easy!  Here are the steps.

1. Using a paper cutter or an utility knife, begin cutting the page into triangles. The base of the triangle will determine the width of the bead, the longer the triangle, the thicker the bead) The base, or large end of the triangle, can range in size from 1/2 to 1 inch. The entire strip should be no longer than 8 to 12 inches.
2. Take a toothpick or skewer and one paper strip. Roll the wide end of the paper strip completely around the toothpick one rotation. Next, take the glue stick and quickly cover the remaining paper surface with glue. Start rolling the strip of paper carefully and tightly so that when the bead is entirely rolled, the end point of the triangle will lie at the center point.
3. Brush the entire bead with Mod-Podge or clear nail polish.  Or you could spray with clear varnish.  This will seal the bead.
4. To allow the beads to dry, stick the toothpicks in a Styrofoam tray.  Or if you used skewers, you can cut notches in a shoebox to lay the skewers across.
5. Carefully slide bead off the toothpick or skewer.  If you rolled your bead too tight at the rolling step, you will discover it at this time, as your bead will be stuck! (If this is the case roll more loosely with the others…)
6. Now you are ready to thread the beads on your choice of string or thread for a bracelet or necklace.

If you would like to download a copy of these directions, click the link below.

Download

Now, this is the fun part!  The part of planning a party that I enjoy the most – the decorations.  Since this party was not at my house, nor at a friend’s house, I had to rein myself in a bit.  There is only so much decorating you can do in about 1/2 hour and in a pretty huge room at that!  So, I decided to concentrate on the tables.  I found some perfect tablecloths and napkins at Dirt Cheap.  An awesome place for finding deals for next to nothing, honestly dirt cheap!  I think the tablecloths were $1.50 and the napkins were $0.25.  Can’t beat that!  I picked up these amazing red tin buckets at a local thrift store for $0.50 cents each, another great bargain!

After we got the menu ironed out, and I had a list of the food the other girls were bringing – I matched them up with Dr. Seuss names.  This is what I came up with:

• Hash Brown Nests – Horton’s Nests
• Mini Cinnamon Rolls – Seussical Rolls
• Apple Juice – Beezlenut Splash
• Deviled Eggs & Ham – Green Eggs & Ham
• French Toast Casserole - Katroo Cake Bake
• Granola & Yogurt – Sneetch Treats
• Fruit – Truffula Fruit
• Biscuits – Who Cakes
• Gravy – Yot in a Pot

Now, for the How-To instructions.  The food label cards, I created in Photoshop.  I found these fabulous digital papers at Etsy, Thing 1 and Thing 2.  It is really not easy finding Dr. Seuss printables.  There are digital kits with the Dr. Seuss colors, but none that included the Dr. Seuss character images, copyright issues I’m sure!

After I bought the first set of digital papers, a steal at $1.99!  I found another set of digital papers on Forever Joy Designs blog.

I then turned to Google to find the Dr. Suess characters to add to my food label cards.  I found lots and lots of images, it was hard choosing which ones to use.  Also, I realized that none of them were .png files which meant that I had to edit every single one in Photoshop.  Some of them I also had to alter the colors or even add the colors.  After all that work, I wondered if someone might want to use the characters I found and altered.  If that someone is you, you can download them from my Free Printables page.

The banner I created with a cutting file template from www.thedigichick.com called Banners Set 1.  This would be a lot simpler if I had the Silhouette Cameo that is on my Wish List, but for now I use Photoshop and clip whatever digital scrapbook paper I want to use to the banner, print then cut out.  For my banner, I used “Oh Happy Day” so we could use it for something else besides a baby shower in the future.

I decorated the red metal buckets with some other digital files I found online.  This was a freebie pdf file from this blog, Wanessa Carolina Creations.  She has sooooo many amazing free printables for parties!  You must go take a look!!

Each month for our staff meeting a different group of teachers is responsible for bringing the food.  March was our month.  A few weeks ago we were called upon to turn our staff meeting into a ‘Granny Shower’ for our boss.  Oh sure, not a problem!  I love parties, figuring out the food, planning the decorations etc.  My problem with planning parties is I tend to wait til the last minute.  What can I say?  I thrive on the pressure I guess!!  Anyway, I went to my favorite party planning resource – Pinterest!  I have a board for Party Plans, take a minute to look if you want!  I pinned a bunch of baby shower ideas before I decided on a Dr. Seuss theme.  Since there are so many incredible ideas for Dr. Suess parties out there, I decided to start a Dr. Seuss Party board.

With all of those ideas floating around in my head, I went to work first on figuring out the food.  The trick was that this was a breakfast, so a lot of the typical baby shower food would not really work.  Also, I was only responsible for part of the food.  I decided to make a couple of things from my Pinterest board, Yummy Nummy, Mini Cinnamon Rolls and Hash Brown Muffins.

Both of these were scrumptious!  The cinnamon rolls were the bigger hit, and they are oh so easy!!  Love those kind of recipes!  I mentioned that I thrive on last-minute pressure, right?  Ok, so it was the night before the breakfast about 7:00 or so when I started the hash brown muffins, which I cleverly re-named Hash Brown Nests (to go along with Horton Hears a Who, which I will explain more later)  Anyway, the nests required two steps to make them.  First you have to mix some seasoning and cheese with the hash browns and smash some of the mixture into the mini-muffin pan, create a well with them and bake.  Then the second step involves adding egg, more cheese and bacon and baking again.  A bit tedious, especially when I needed to make about !  Todd came in after I had been working on them for a while and innocently asked if he could help.  Well, yes, yes I think you can!!  I put him to work starting the mini cinnamon rolls.  Those really were easy, but that’s not the reason I gave him that task!  He is really quite brilliant in the kitchen!  Anyway, the cinnamon rolls started with tubes of crescent rolls.  The directions said to smooth the crescent roll dough together to form rectangles of dough, brush with butter, and spread on brown sugar and cinnamon.  That was the easy part…….next step was to roll the dough up into a log and then cut into little pinwheels.  That was a bit harder than I thought it would be!  Anyway, he got them all cut and into the mini-muffin pans and into the oven.  Hooray!  Then without me realizing what he was doing, he cleaned his mess up and put away all the ingredients and asked how he could help with the hash brown nests that I was still laboring over.  I looked at him with a quizzical look and said well, we will need more than 18 mini cinnamon rolls!!  He said really?  how many??  Oh, I don’t know maybe -90 or so?!?!?  There are about 40 teachers after all, and they are bite sized!  Uh-oh, he just shook his head and went back to the pantry to get the ingredients again.  Several hours later, almost midnight, we finished the last of the cinnamon rolls and hash brown nests.  Hurray!    Here are the recipes if you’d like to try these recipes yourself.

Mini Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Icing

Makes 16 mini cinnamon rolls

Ingredients:

• 1-8oz tube crescent roll dough
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• cinnamon
• brown sugar

For the maple icing:

• 1 teaspoon maple syrup
• 1 Tablespoon skim milk
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven according to crescent roll dough package directions. Layout half the dough (4 triangles) and pinch all the seams together. Flip over and pinch the seams on the back side together too.

2. Using a rolling pin, smooth the seams and roll the dough into a square about 1/4? thick. Brush with half the butter, and sprinkle with as much cinnamon and brown sugar as you want. Roll into a log and cut into 8 pieces.

3. Place mini cinnamon rolls into a non-stick sprayed mini muffin tin. Repeat steps 1 and 2 with the other half of the crescent roll dough. Bake according to package directions.

4. Meanwhile whisk together maple syrup and milk in a bowl. Add in powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached. Drizzle over warm cinnamon rolls.

Hash Brown Nests

• (24oz) bag of thawed hash browns
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 2 tbs oil
• 1/3 c shredded cheddar cheese
• 6-8 eggs
• Bacon bits
• Cheese, to taste

Mix together the hash browns, salt, pepper, oil and cheese.  Put a spoonful of the mixture in each cup of a well greased muffin tin, and make a well in the center.

Bake at 425°F for 15-18 minutes, cover with foil if the edges appear to be getting too brown.

Now, lower the oven to 350°F. Meanwhile, beat eggs and then pour a bit of the egg onto the cooked hashbrowns.  Sprinkle some cheese and bacon bits on top.

Bake for about 13-16 minutes.  Gently slide a knife along the edges, and pull up with a fork.

I finally finished the wreath that I started at a Pinterest party I went to with a friend a few weeks ago. The project morphed from what I originally had in mind, but that’s ok. I love the way it turned out. If you are a certain friend reading this and I told you I had another project in mind for my blog post at The Hybrid Chick, I’m sorry!  They already had a shadowbox tutorial.  But, the shadowbox is high priority now!

Take a minute and come and see my wreath.  It’s a burst of color in a world ready for Spring!

www.thehybridchick.com