#weeding decoration idea 2024

[makernewmachine]

5 Easy DIY Cricut Halloween Decorations Ideas For 2024

It is the fall season, and Halloween is approaching, so you get a chance to unleash your creativity, so you want to make these Cricut Halloween decorations. Whether you are throwing a party or decorating your own home, it does not matter. Use Cricut to create DIY decor, party projects, and costumes. With Cricut, you get to customize and personalize them with your style.

Here is a great collection of fun and DIY crafts you can make with your Cricut, so read and explore some amazing ideas.

1.  Treat Bags

Sometimes, it is not possible to buy treat bags specifically for Halloween. It is important to have treat bags for your candies, but instead of buying them, make them at home with the help of your Cricut machine. Create a spooky and scary design in the Design Space app, cut the iron-on vinyl, and transfer it to the bag with a transfer sheet. Your treat bags will be ready for a Halloween party.

Materials Required

To make the customized treat bags, you will need these materials and tools:

Cricut Machine and Design Space app

Cardstock

Sticky Tape

Iron on vinyl

Transfer sheet

Scoring Tool

Debossing Tool

2.  Halloween garland

Grab your Cricut machine and some black cardstock, and start making some freaky and cool spiderweb garland for your home. It’s easy to create. Design as many spiderwebs as you like on your app, cut them out with the help of a Cricut machine, and glue all the pieces together until you have a garland. This is a unique way to add a spooky vibe to your Halloween decorations and decorate your entire staircase railing. What can be a better Cricut Halloween decoration than this?

Materials Required

Halloween garland is one of the easiest projects that you can make with these supplies and with Cricut:

Cricut machine

Cricut Design Space software

Black Cardstock

Glue

3.  Costumes

Halloween children like to gear up their looks on the eve of Halloween, and this year, you can use Cricut to make your costume, allowing you to be more creative with your work. Cricut Maker is best for making costumes because it can cut hundreds of materials, ranging from delicate to slightly thick fabrics. The possibilities are endless with Cricut Maker. You can choose a skeleton image using Cricut Design Space software, cut the materials, and place your design on the cloth with the help of EasyPress.

Supplies and Tools

For making costumes, you will need these art supplies and tools:

Cricut Maker

Cricut Iron-on

Cricut Design Space app

Weeding Tool

EasyPress

Blank Cloth

4.  Tumblers or drinkware

What is the best way to design your tumbler or drinkware to be spooky? When your guests come over for a Halloween party, you can serve your beverages and scare them. It is a unique project design, an HTV project, and you can stick it to your tumblers. You’ll have to use a scary design from your Design Space and then apply it to your tumblers using heat transfer vinyl.

Supplies and Tools Needed

One of the unique crafts that you can make with your Cricut and with the help of these materials:

Black Cups

Cricut machine

Design Space software

Transfer tape

Cricut permanent vinyl

5.  Lanterns

Turn a bunch of jars into amazing spooky lanterns and decorate your house for Halloween. This simple yet impressive craft is easy to do. Choose a ghost as your design in the Design Space app or upload your SVG file, then cut it out. Use the weeding tool to remove the excess part from the design. Then, place your design on the jar with the help of transfer paper. Then, peel off the transfer sheet and put an LED light inside your lantern, which is ready.

Supplies

To make spooky lanterns, get these supplies:

Cricut Maker or Cricut Explore

LightGrip mat

Transfer paper

Colored Cardstock

LED light

Wrap up

In this write-up, you explored all the Cricut Halloween decorations you can make with Cricut. It offers you a variety of features and tools with which you can customize anything and create unique crafts for your Halloween party. You can create all the above projects with your Cricut. It provides so much that you can never get bored of it, and the possibility of making projects is limitless.

So, make this Halloween memorable with Cricut. Unleash your creativity, and surprise your family and friends with these amazing, fun, and spooky projects.

For more information visit: Cricut.com setup mac cricut new machine setup how to setup cricut maker

[victorluvsalice]

Hello all, and welcome to a very special Chill Valicer Save update – the Valicer Spookfest Group Date, which I played back on 7/7/2024, aka the Valicer Anniversary! You may recall that I did a little "teaser post" on that date of the event, showcasing one of my favorite pictures taken during it – now you get to see the whole thing. :) Let's dive right in –

-->I started by heading back over to the Valicer farm to see how everyone was doing – Smiler was working on their Servo; Victor was in the upstairs white-and-blue bathroom, ready for a shower; and Alice was hanging out outside by the water collectors, having been stopped from mopping up puddles in a rainstorm. I had Victor take his shower and prompted Alice to let out a somber howl to lower her Fury (didn’t want to risk her having an “episode” during their date), then sent them both back to bed so I could speed up time for a while and get them to morning quicker. I slowed things back down around 4 AM to get Smiler to mop both a puddle that had ended up inside (I suspect one of the pets, but I have no idea which one – Shadow is pretty well potty-trained, and the cats have what I hope are plenty of litter boxes) and some mysterious symbols by the laundry, then had Victor and Alice get up around 4:30 to start their day (noting with amusement that Victor had a special “I Woohoo’d a Werewolf” flirty moodlet XD You certainly did, sir!). I had Victor clean the spoiled food out of the fridge while Alice took a feral poo, then had both of them grab a slice of blueberry pie for breakfast since that was the next thing in line to go off. They had a lovely meal, with Smiler joining them to have one of their plasma fruits, and Kelly joining them to beg for food. XD Alice ATTEMPTED to lecture the cat on not begging when she was done with her slice, but Kelly just seemed utterly confused by the concept of not asking for the people food right in front of her. XD

-->With breakfast done and dishes cleared (I think my Sims very much like their new dishwasher), it was time to take care of the chores! Victor of course was sent to take care of the greenhouse (lot of weeding to be done!), while Smiler cleaned the chicken coop and Alice cleaned the cow shed. Around this time, the official “it’s Spookfest” holiday overlay popped up, and I prepared to hop into Build/Buy to drag the decorations in the attic out –

And then noticed that Alice already had “Tradition Complete!” waiting in her action queue. It was only then that I realized that I’d never actually taken down the lights Smiler had hung up for the PREVIOUS holiday. XD Whoops! Well, I didn’t let that stop me – I got the ghost lights set up around the new entrance sign; put the pumpkin decals on the front of the house; added a new plastic jack-o-lantern, paper haunted house display, and the laser-light-show cauldron to the front porch; and changed the cards in the living room to be Spookfest and fall-related. And of course had Smiler go and change the hanging lights on the eaves to orange and yellow to fit the holiday, since the previous ones were multicolored. (Weirdly enough, we already seemed to have the right ghostly banners up on all of the fences. *shrug* Not complaining! One less thing to worry about.)

-->With the house appropriately tricked out, chores could continue – Alice scavenged the garbage she’d dropped coming out of Moory’s shed for parts, then stuck that in her inventory before cleaning, feeding, and chatting with the cow, while Smiler finished updating the decorations before going to feed and chat with the chickens. They then got the eggs (the promised orange egg from yesterday’s pumpkin treat to Leghorna and four regular eggs) and Alice the milk (usual six bottles) –

[pashterlengkap]

Men get married at… checks notes… a rat hole

A new Chicago landmark has gone viral and is not your usual tourist spot. It’s a “rat hole” (or maybe a squirrel). But Raj Sarathy and his new husband took the craze to an entirely new level when the pair got married on the sidewalk in front of it. Related: These 6 marriage proposals will warm your heart Plus, we’ve added one cheeky honorable mention… A rat (or squirrel) shaped imprint in the sidewalk has been a neighborhood amusement for 20 years, but after comedian Winslow Dumaine stumbled across it and posted a photo on social media. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our daily newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Had to make a pilgrimage to the Chicago Rat Hole pic.twitter.com/g4P44nvJ1f— Gatorade Should Be Thicker. (@WinslowDumaine) January 6, 2024 “What I found was very much like Looney Tunes, I guess. Just a full rat splat in the wet pavement,” Dumaine told the local news. “I just busted out laughing when I saw it.” Within two days it had over five million views and dozens of visitors a day who left candles, weed, alcohol, food, stuffed animals at a shrine erected at the site. People tossed coins into the hole like a wishing well, a man proposed marriage to his fiancé, and hours later, Raj showed up with his soon-to-be husband, a wedding planner, and a balloon covered arch. “I wanted something that was very groundbreaking,” Sarathy told Book Club Chicago. “We looked at each other in the eyes and we said, ‘Why don’t we get married at the rat hole?’ That’s when I reached out to my wedding planner to make that actually become a reality.” Lica Sato-Keene, his planner, said the request was unusual, but so is Sarathy. So after a reception, the men headed to the sidewalk indent to make things official. When the entourage arrived at the rat (or maybe squirrel) hole, about 50 people were there and the crowd helped the couple to celebrate. “Everybody at the rat hole is literally the nicest person you’ve ever met,” Sato-Keene said. “As a wedding and event planner, you don’t usually move the decor. Once the decor’s there, it’s there. We had to figure out a way to break it into pieces, put it in the business van and transfer it there. There were people at the rat hole just helping us carry these [balloons] across the street. It was so funny and sweet.” Update: the Rat Hole shrine now includes a card, a piece of cheese, a lighter, and a framed memorial among other things. Two people came by and sprinkled some American spirit and a little bit of weed in the hole too. pic.twitter.com/GSG55lGhY9— Gatorade Should Be Thicker. (@WinslowDumaine) January 17, 2024 But neighbors aren’t that thrilled with the litter and noise caused by the fans. Along with coins and flowers, gawkers are also leaving tobacco, drugs, alcohol and condoms. And the food offerings can attract actual rats. “The shrines and everything are nice, but this isn’t like a historic landmark,” one neighbor said. “There’s no one designated to clean up after it, so it’s just been us and the neighbors next door that have been cleaning up.” “Rats run in packs,” she added. “So if one rat were to come and see that there’s fresh cheese here every day, more rats would come. They nest, they burrow. We just don’t want a nest of rats burrowing in the foundation of our house.” “I think the idea of treating it like a wishing well is kind of fun, and I think that might be the easiest way. If you want to toss a coin in, take a pic, I think that’s nice. The leaving of the stuff, it’s just someone has to clean it up eventually. And it’s being put on us, the community.” Sarathy and Sato-Keene cleaned up after the nuptials. Other neighbors have a different quibble with the newfound notoriety. They insist that the imprint isn’t from something as disgusting as a rat. Instead, they hold out that it’s the imprint of a different rodent. “Everyone who’s… http://dlvr.it/T1qVYS

[katherinejblackwell]

Katherine's Tea Party 3 - Reading Resolutions

Also read on my website!

Photo by Dzenina Lukac

Now that we're settling into 2024 and coming out of both the chaos and coma of the holiday season, it feels appropriate to add my own list of resolutions to the ever-present pile that exists on the internet. My resolutions in recent years have been a little more vague, usually just one or two goals that cover a broad idea I want to embody, but this year I have a more focused list of things I want to accomplish and, conveniently, many of them are book-related and perfect to share here in my little corner.

1 - Read Consistently

I was originally going to say "read more" but that's not quite what I'm going for. I think making an effort to read consistently will end up lending itself to me reading more overall, but when I think specifically "read more," I think burning through two or more novels a month (or scrambling to read a bunch of short books to hit my Goodreads goal), which isn't realistic for me. What is realistic, and what I would like to make a habit, is reading consistently. Even if it's just a page (or less) each day, I want to read that one page. I've noticed that I always feel more fulfilled, productive, clear-headed, and overall just better when I'm reading consistently. I think there are two reasons behind this. One, simply that reading is something I'm passionate about, so consistently interacting with books makes me feel happier. Two, staring at my phone for hours always makes me feel a little foggy. Sometimes it's nice, or even necessary, to just shut my brain off and scroll in bed, but when I have the energy for it, I often feel much better after an hour of reading than I do after an hour of scrolling. So, my main resolution for the year is to read more consistently. Ideally, I'd like to carve out decent blocks of time for my reading every day, but I again know that's not quite realistic, so really I'd just love to read for at least ten minutes a few times a week.

2 - Collect Better Bookmarks

My bookmark collection is outdated to say the least. The few good ones I currently own are gifts I've received recently and the rest are either older bookmarks that I've outgrown or random bits of ephemera that aren't really bookmarks but that do the job. I'd like to update my collection with some bookmarks that really spark joy and that I look forward to using. To me, it feels similar to how you want your bedroom or your workspace to be well-decorated and inviting. It makes you want to use the space and makes your use of it more enjoyable. I want to make my mental reading space even more pleasant and cozy by having a pretty bookmark to use instead of some slip of paper I've been hanging on to since the seventh grade. I think both my books and I deserve it. :P

3 - Make More Use of the Library

I've already started on this since it's easy to place holds and pick them up while I'm at work, but, until very recently, I rarely used the library to check out books. In fact, I've only had a library card for the past year or so, despite being an avid reader for many years. I've spent a lot of money on books and, while I love my personal library and owning my own books, being able to borrow books is amazing and makes accessing a wide variety of materials so much easier. From here on out, I'd especially like to make a habit of checking out books I haven't read yet from the library instead of buying them. Instead, I'll save my book money for acquiring books that I know I truly love and will get lots of use out of -- and, of course, buying about a dozen special editions of the same favorites because they're all so pretty.

4 - Weed Out My Collection

I started doing this over the summer but circumstances led me to never quite finish and now there are piles of books that I keep tripping over on my floor. I've accumulated a LOT of books over the years,  and many of them I acquired when I was younger and had much different interests than I do now. It's difficult to part with them, especially when they've been small constants in my life for so many years, but the books deserve to go somewhere they'll be read, and I deserve to not have what has essentially become clutter blocking the way for new favorites to enter my shelves. Also not tripping every time I enter my room would be pretty cool. 

5 - Collect More Picture Books

All that about using the library and thinning out my collection being said, I'd really like to grow my personal collection of picture books this year. Working at the library, I encounter all sorts of beautiful, wholesome, and simply adorable picture books. Even before, picture books always had a certain draw. I love the illustrations and some of the simple, sweet stories are enough to make me misty-eyed. There's something so special about them. I have a small handful of picture books in my collection already, all but one of which are from my childhood, but I'd really like to dedicate some of my time, thought, and energy this year to finding some picture books that bring me joy and finding a special home for them on my shelf. 

6 - Feel Less Pressure With Reading

Especially in an age where trends and aesthetics are so easy to rapidly consume, and can so easily take over one's feed, it's easy to feel like there are books I "should" read. But really, the books I (and everyone)  "should" read are the ones that make me feel the most excited and intrigued. I have tried with all my might several times to read The Secret History. I just can't do it. Not yet, at least. While I do still have plans to read it, and think that it's a wonderfully well-written story from the portion I have read, I often feel some level of pressure to not only finish the book, but also to think and feel a certain way about the text when I pick it up. I don't want to feel pressure where reading is concerned. It should be something that's 100% relaxing and enjoyable. In the new year, I want to let go of any pressure I associate with reading and pick the books I truly feel like reading and allow myself to feel the way I feel about them.

7 - Write a Novella

I'm not sure this is quite a reading goal, but it's almost a reading goal and will certainly require me to do lots of reading for research, so close enough. I was recently rereading a short novella I had written as a gift a few years ago and I think writing a new one, maybe for publication or at least sharing, would be a great goal to give myself for the new year. Recently, I've been really struggling with what to write next. I'm not writing as ravenously as I was a few years ago, churning out short stories all the time, and acting on the novel idea I've had feels incredibly daunting. However, I do feel ready to write something longer. My short stories could still use a lot of work, of course, but I want to see what I can do with a higher word count to play around with. I also feel it will be good practice to write and polish something a little shorter before I finally start in on my novel idea. Writing something shorter gives me a closer goal to hit and will (hopefully) give me a boost of confidence and a feeling of satisfaction that I can springboard into a longer writing project with. 

Book Rec and Drink of the Month

Photo by Işıl

For once, I will not be recommending a Hunger Games book, but only because I have already recommended every Hunger Games book that exists. I don't think I will stop thinking about this series for the rest of forever, though, so you certainly haven't heard the last of it.

Picking my recommendation this month was kind of hard because I haven't read much besides Hunger Games books since November, so I had to do a little delve back into my Goodreads to pick something I've read before. What I landed upon was one of my favorite series, The Magisterium. It's cowritten by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black, which should be a green flag for people who had very similar interests to me in middle and high school. I do, however, recommend this series with the caveat that the last two books somewhat ruin it for me. I read them, returned them to the library, then vowed to pretend they didn't exist. I can't remember too many specifics, but certain plot points get rather muddled and, despite it being a fantasy series, begin to feel almost outlandish. If I reread the series, I'm sure I could write an entire blog post just about the issues I have with the way the series ended (and I might in fact do that at some point because it sounds very tempting), but I do still feel like the first three books are very solid and worth the read. I found the magic system and the idea of counterweights super interesting and I loved reading about the relationships between Cal and his friends. 

As for my drink recommendation, I will be somewhat piggybacking off of last month's recommendation of peppermint hot chocolate to present you with lavender hot chocolate. I started making this in the fall by mixing about 2-3 teaspoons of lavender syrup into a regular mug of hot chocolate and as an avid lavender lover, I think this will be a perfect cozy and comforting drink as we delve deeper into the Winter months. (One day I will actually recommend a tea on the blog called Katherine's Tea Party, but today is not that day.)

To anyone who may be reading, I'd love to hear what your personal goals or resolutions for the new year are and I hope your New Year's Eve was safe and happy! Hopefully 2024 will treat us all kindly and be a year full of growth, joy, love, and books. I'll be back again in February!

[kambahpeoplesmap]

Kambah Turns 50 - planning for Sep 2024 for a community celebration

On Sat 26 Nov, a few of us met at the Diversity Hub on Laidlaw St to have a chat about how to mark Kambah's 50th.

Unfortunately, the sheep at the shops proposal was not successful with ArtsACT but that doesn't mean it's a bad idea. That was about making temporary flocks of sheep for each shops and getting the community to decorate them.

Kambah Turns 50 - a draft schedule for Sep 2024

Sat 7, Sun 8 Kambah Open

All the community/business/groups in Kambah open their doors to the community (everyone we can think - artists, gardens, clubs, shops, Youth Haven, churches)

Evening bonfire - ideal if we can do it on private land (not sure how likely that is)

Bushband, dance party (rave)

see-change e-bike tours of Kambah??

Sun 15 Well-being day

Urambi Hills weed-out/plantings, yoga, sports clubs come-and-try, cooking, gardening

Reiki day

Diversity hub

Thurs 20 Tuggeranong Arts Centre exhibition Kambah Turns 50 opens

Sat 21, Sun 22 Sep Kambah artists weekend - events by the artists

Sat Sun 28/29 Sep (noting this is Grand Final weekend)

Kambah and surrounds waterways/celebrating the river  

Oct long weekend - Sports focus? Bbq

Here are all the ideas we haven't slotted in or resolved.

Yet to work out how to:

Other groups/events we should connect to eg Uncharted Territory festival July 2024; Design Canberra; ACT Heritage Week; National Tree Day; other 'Days'

Sheep at the shops - still do it?

Long table lunch near COGS or Diversity Hub

Ian Marr stone sculpture for Urambi Hills - how to do that?

use the opportunity to do more for the environment centre/Food forest Sustainable grassland - btw diversity hub and cogs - kambah see-change

include a Barista battle - waiters race 

do more for/with music

have a kids/family day - might be Kambah Open

involve religious community

car culture

heritage - Glenn's walks? Kambah history day?

1970s design and landscape design features??

Who to include in Kambah Open weekend or a day

Cogs

Five ways 

Lions youthhaven

The Farm and music

Golf course - driving range 

Burns club

Tennis club

Diversity hub

Urambi hills group 

Mt Taylor parkcare

Coleman ridge

Kambah see-change

Other ideas to work in

Cleaning World Cup - Singapore - can we emulate that?

River health 

Family day ideas:

Collect and make - kambah rock hunt; 

Pet rock workshop and garden 

Gameify a behaviour - eg rubbish pick up