Winter Front Porch Decor - Xyron

Hello blogging friends! Happy New Year!!

If you are hopping and looking for my Top 10 of 2015 plus a giveaway, click here or just scroll down to my last post.

I packed up my Christmas decor and thought my front porch looked a little bare. I dug out my old sled from when I was a kid and thought it needed some ice skates. I haven't ice skated in 15 years, so I don't have any skates. I decided to make some.... out of paper, a few brads, and my Xyron adhesive. Oh... and some pretty May Arts Ribbon for the laces. Now my front porch doesn't get good light ever, so I photographed my sled with the ice skates in my front yard. When on my porch, it is pretty well protected from the elements. This snow is here to stay until March or April.

Here is another close-up photo of the skates....

 Pretty cool hey! Let me show you have I created them ...

Supplies:
Bazzill cardstock in white and American Crafts cardstock in blue
DCWV blue glitter paper
May Arts Ribbon: white grosgrain and that pretty blue and white houndstooth
Imaginisce: Gems and Magi-cut Ribbon Cutter
16 Silver brads (8 per skate)
SVGcuts: Winter Wonderland digital cut file
Silhouette or other electronic machine that will cut SVGs
Xyron 9" Creative Station

Step 1.  Cut out the pieces from the Ice Skate digital file. I used a smooth white cardstock for my skate boot. For the blade, I used the blue cardstock and blue glitter paper. Because I wanted two skates, I cut out two of everything.

Step 2.  I ran the panel pieces through my Xyron 9" Creative Station and applied to their base pieces. 

Step 3.  Start assembling the skates. SVGcuts has a YouTube video assembly tutorial that you can watch. I would recommend watching first because it recommends that you lace up the skates before they are fully assembled. Which makes total sense, because trying to reach your hand inside after it is assembled would be darn near impossible.

Step 4. Continue assembly until you get to the sole of the skate.

Step 5.  Put the silver brads in the soles of the skates and adhere to bottom of skate. Once the sole is in place the skate blade piece will fit over the top of the brads.

Step 6.  With your May Arts Ribbon, tie a pretty bow. I use a Bowdabra Bow Maker for tying big bows. This ribbon has a wired edge, so I know it will hold its shape nicely.

Step 7.  One of my favorite tools is this Imaginisce Magi-cut Ribbon Cutter. It cuts and seals the edges, so the ribbon won't unravel or fray. It's so easy to use too. Just set the ribbon across the bed of the tool, close it, and press that button on top and hold for 5-10 seconds. The length of times depends on how thick the ribbon is. I sealed the ends of the skate laces as well as the edges of the houndstooth ribbon.

Step 8.  Attach the bow to the skate laces. I wanted one of my skates to hang higher than the other, so adjusted the laces accordingly. Add gems if you want to bling it up a bit.

Step 9.  These are pretty enough to hang all by themselves too :)  They look fabulous hanging from this old sled! I used the wire from tying my bow to attach the skates to the sled.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great 2016!!

~Marcia