Review: Brother Labeling System

Posted by Khris in Crafter's Toolbox

The key to a successful DIY wedding is organization. The sooner you get yourself organized, the smoother your wedding planning experience will be. I am evangelical about organization and will tell you this over and over again on this blog. Staying organized will save your sanity and make your life so much easier. And who doesn’t want easy these days?

One of the tools I recommend to help you get your stuff together is the Brother PT-1290 Home and Office Labeling System. Labels are a godsend when you have piles of craft and wedding stuff everywhere. What can you do with a labeler?

• Create a wedding binder/organizer
• Label boxes of craft supplies and wedding materials
• Mark craft supplies with their corresponding step in the assembly process
• Make labels for favors
• Add an address label to important things (video camera, iPod) in case they get lost at the wedding

I’m currently using mine to keep my craft supplies for book #3 in order. It’s been fantastic though there is a bit of a learning curve. Beware that the tape cartridges are only 4′ long (I think) so have extra on hand if you’re going to be printing a lot. The unit takes 6 AAA batteries (not included) and there’s no AC power adapter so that’s a bummer.

Manufacturer: Brother
Model: PT-1290
Retail: $40.00

Key Features:
An easy-view 15-character LCD display, typewriter style keyboard and Auto Tape Detection feature that automatically recognizes the size of the installed tape cassette and adjusts the text to fit the label width. A dedicated “Deco Mode” key gives you easy access to 15, unique pre-designed label formats for creating decorative labels – including professional layouts that accommodate 2 rows of text. Easily switch between 2 fonts – with the touch of a button. Use the built-in memory to store up to 9 of your most frequently used labels.

Prints labels up to 1/2″ wide on durable, “TZ” laminated tape – perfect for both indoor and outdoor use. Operates on 6 “AAA” batteries or optional AC adapter (neither included).

With its great-looking design and array of features, the PT-1290 is a perfect handheld solution for virtually any home office.

* 15 Deco Mode Patterns to create extra-stylish and decorative labels
* 2 Professional Fonts
* Prints labels up to 1/2″ wide on laminated indoor/outdoor “TZ” series tapes
* Easy-view, 15-character LCD display
* Professional Deco Mode layouts accommodate two rows of text
* Prints 1 or 2 lines of crisp text
* 6 Auto Formats and 7 Framing Options
* Built-in memory, saves up to 9 of your favorite labels
* Automatically adjusts text size based on tape width
* Uses 6 “AAA” batteries or optional AC adapter (neither included)

{Disclosure: Brother  provided me with a sample of this product for the purpose of review.}

Review: Glue Glider Pro

Posted by Khris in Crafter's Toolbox

As a professional crafter, I go through miles of double-sided tape each year. While there are a multitude of brands and types on the market, there are very few that I keep in my toolkit. My go-to adhesive for bulk paper craft projects like invites and programs is the Glue Glider Pro from GlueArts.

You all know the tape dispensers used for packing tape, right? This operates in a similar way but it’s designed for crafting and not packaging.

Here’s how it works: You pop in a cartridge of adhesive [Glue Arts offers 4 types of varying tac (stickiness) from repositionable to "this thing'll never move again"] and use the applicator gun to roll the 1/4″ wide adhesive wherever you want it. Simple, right?

There are other tape guns on the market but I like this one because it’s lightweight and compact – 2 things you’ll really be thankful for after putting together 300 pieces of layered cardstock, I tell ya! At $14.99 for the dispenser this is a steal. The replacement cartridges are around $9.00 for 58 feet of adhesive. The replacement cartridges can be found online or in many big box craft stores. I am delighted to report that the adhesives from GlueArts are absolutely fantastic. In thousands of pieces I’ve put together NONE have failed (re: come unglued). Besides my beloved red line tape, I don’t think I’ve ever been able to say that about any double-sided tape I’ve ever used. 5 out of 5 stars!

Be sure to check out GlueArts’ Specials page for product discounts on bulk purchases.

AC Moore has a great demo of the Glue Glider Pro on YouTube:

Review: Cricut Cake

Posted by Khris in Crafter's Toolbox

Seldom does a craft tool surprise and delight me as much as the Cricut Cake by Provo Craft has managed to do.  The Cricut Cake, for those of you who are unfamiliar, is a food-safe electronic die cutting machine that’s designed to be used for cake decorating.

In January I got to see the Cricut Cake in action at the Craft and Hobby Association trade show. I was impressed by the demos and the sample cake displays (below) and immediately thought this machine would be a (cliche alert!) game-changer in the cake decorating world.

With a $400 (retail) price tag, I was concerned that the casual home cake decorator would be able to utilize this machine to her best advantage. Is it easy enough for a newbie crafter and cake decorator? How difficult is it to maintain? How good is the quality? Is it cost-effective? Can it do more than just fondant?

In early June I was privileged to receive a Cricut Cake for review purposes. I’ve been playing with it as much as I can in my free time and have to say that I LOVE THIS MACHINE and it warrants my highest recommendation but not without some caveats.

First, the Cricut Cake is easy to use. The process goes something like this:

1. Plug in the machine. Turn it on.
2. Insert a design cartridge.
3. Select the design and size you want.
4. Place a fondant sheet onto the mat. Insert mat into the feeder.
5. Press a button to make a cut.
6. The Cricut Cake operates a bit like a printer but instead of printing, there’s a blade inside that’s cutting the material you send through the feeder.
7. The mat comes out of the feeder. Peel away the fondant to reveal your cut designs.

(From the January CHA show 2010 + OhMyCrafts)

The Cricut Cake works marvelously with Provo Craft’s fondant sheets. Every cut I’ve made with the Cricut brand sheets has come out perfect – except in the case of operator error. The Cricut frosting sheets cost around $14.00 for a 3 pack. They’re not super cheap but you’re paying  for the convenience here and it’s worth it if you’ve not worked with rolled fondant before. It’s worth noting that the sheets come in white, pastels, and primary colors.

While the Cricut Cake is easy to operate, there is a learning curve when getting started. I found myself futzing quite a bit with the pressure settings and learning the basic functions before I got the hang of it. I went through quite a bit of the frosting sheets and other materials in the first day. All in all, that wasn’t a big deal for me but if you don’t have patience for fidgeting with gadgets this may not be for you.

The highlight of the Cricut Cake is that it cuts more than the frosting sheets. I’ve cut tortillas (diyToddler totally enjoyed his super special quesadillas, thankyouverymuch), fondant, gum paste, and fruit roll ups (didn’t work well for me).  What really excites me is being able to cut sugar cookie dough. I love making cookies with the Cricut Cake!

I found that rolling out my own fondant to be tricky. Getting uniform thickness is important so that the blade cuts through the design. It’s best to have an X-acto knife on hand for extracting pieces and finishing cuts that don’t go through.

Somewhat of a downside is that the Cricut Cake is limited by the designs available on the Cricut cartridges so you can’t really go wild with custom design. The good news is that the Cake can use any of the Cricut cartridges and there are a lot. In addition to the ones designed specifically for the Cake, there are dozens and dozens originally meant for paper crafting. The selection is quite extensive with themes that’ll appeal to most. Even better news is that Martha Stewart Crafts has teamed up with Provo Craft to release their own line of cartridges exclusively through HSN. Martha’s cartridges are around $70. Regular Cricut cartridges vary widely in price though you can find them in the $25 range if you shop online.

Martha Stewart Crafts Cricut Elegant Cake Cartridge Preview

I need to note that the Cricut Cake is to be used for food ONLY. While the paper craft cartridges work in this machine, it is not meant to be used for paper or anything non-edible for food safety reasons. This is also the reason why fondant and foodstuff should never, ever be used in regular die cutting machines (including the Cricut Expression, the paper crafting sister machine of the Cake).

Machine maintenance is a breeze. The removable parts are dishwasher safe and were relatively easy to clean. I say relatively because anything that comes in contact with fondant and sugary stuff will require some effort to clean up no matter how you work with it.

Final Notes:

This machine is awesome and works exactly as it should. I found it to be very well-made as is my experience with most Provo Craft products. (I’ve purchased a Cricut Expression, Cuttlebug, and Yudu in the past. Love ‘em and they’re all working great.)

The operating costs of the Cricut Cake (frosting sheets, cartridges, the machine itself) make it a luxury purchase unless the user does a lot of cake and sugar cookie baking throughout the year. If you’re thinking of splurging for one for just your wedding cake, it may not be the best budget-friendly option. If that’s not a concern, then I highly recommend it for someone who wants to get hands on with some cake decorating.

I’ll be sharing some of the DIY goodness I’ve made with the Cricut Cake soon!

Ranunculus Bouquet

Posted by Khris in Bouquets + Flowers, DIY Projects & Tutorials

For this bouquet project I wanted something easy, ultra-feminine and delicate. I chose ranunculus because it’s one of my all-time favorite flowers and, sadly, is underused in weddings. It’s my new mission to give it some high profile flowerly love.

The ultra-wonderful team at FiftyFlowers (a DIY Bride advertiser) provided these beauties. I had not yet worked with ranunculus in a project setting so I was a bit unsure what to expect. Ranunculus turns out, are pretty easy to work with. Unlike many white flowers their petals did not bruise easily and they stayed fresh and vibrant for days. (Tip: Be sure to check the care instructions provided by FiftyFlowers before you place your order. It’s helpful to be prepared on delivery day with proper tools and containers.)

If you’ve never worked with flowers before, a simple “all the same flower” bouquet is the best way to go for most.

Step 1: Remove leaves and stray offshoots from each ranunculus stem. Place the stem back in water to keep it hydrated while you work through your bunches.

Step 2: Once you have 40 – 60 stems prepared take 4 flowers in one hand, at an even height, to create the center of your bouquet. Holding the center bunch in one hand, begin adding flowers around the center, one by one. You’ll be creating a dome shape as you go along; each row lower than the next. Depending on how big your flowers are and how big you want your bouquet, it’ll take 3 – 6 rows to get a standard bouquet size.

Step 3: This is the toughest part of the process – place a rubber band around the stems to hold them in place, about 3 inches below the blooms.

Step 4: Wrap it up! I used 1.5″ velvet ribbon to wrap the stems. I tucked one end of the ribbon under the rubber band and wrapped the ribbon around the stems, moving from top to 1″ from the bottom of the estimated length of my bouquet.

Step 5: I then secured the end of the ribbon with a long floral pin and trimmed the ends of the stems to a uniform length.

The final touch was to add DIY Floral Pins (new from FiftyFlowers). They’re much shorter than regular floral pins which makes them super for decorative use. I have a post coming up to show you some ways to use them to make all sorts of pretties.

The flowers in this project were provided by

Vase Alternative

Posted by Khris in Bouquets + Flowers

Always on the lookout for unusual vases and containers, I stumbled on this beauty when I was cleaning out our household storage cubby.

Can you guess what it is? It’s a glass globe that goes over porch/patio lights! I found it at a local hardware shop a few years ago for around $10.00. Filled with these ultra-dainty ranunculus, it transforms into an unique and affordable centerpiece. I used about 25 full-bloom ranunculus for this project.

The thought of using a globe (without a flat bottom) as a vase may seem odd (hey, I’m all mavericky when it comes to this stuff) but it works for smaller arrangements. The secret is to create a soft base for the globe to set in such as a pile of sand, salt, or sugar — things you have easy (and cheap) access to. Pour a mound of sand on a table, place the centerpiece in place, and brush away the rest. (A mini vac is also helpful when you’re doing several tables worth.)

Flowers for this project were provided by: