Off the Page Challenge: Nutcracker by Jennifer Beason

Hello, Doodlebug fans!  The design team and I have been challenged to share an "off the page" project. If you've seen my work before you know that's pretty much all I do. So I feel like I'm kind of cheating a little bit. (lol) But hopefully, you'll be inspired to try using your DB supplies for other types projects, as well as layouts.

I decided to use this assignment to get started on my Christmas projects. I know! I know! It's only August, but I'm planning on making a few of these for my Esty store, so I'm getting a head start.

For this Christmas countdown Doodlebug cardstock, patterned paper, round sprinkles, sequins, stickers, and die cuts were used along with some other crafty supplies including the Nutcracker which is available from Hobby Lobby, for about ten dollars. The original base of the Nutcracker was removed and replaced with a paper mache box.

After painting the head and hat, a cardstock zigzag border was cut on the Silhouette and glued in place along with a thin strip of patterned paper. I hand cut the eyebrows and mustache from cardstock and glued them to the head, the cheeks were painted on, and the mouth was created with my Silhouette software, then cut out and applied. Black sprinkles were used for the eyes, I added a spot of white paint to each one to add a little life. The hair and beard were made from pieces of a feather boa, that were trimmed into shape. Be warned....you will have tiny feathers flying everywhere if you decide to try this at home. :)

I couldn't decide on what patterned paper to use for the jacket, so I used a mixture of papers from the Polar Pals collection. The buttons are layered silver sequins and tiny black sprinkles.

The cute penguin stickers were mounted to some thick chipboard before attaching them to the chipboard countdown sign.

The painted boots were dressed up with strips of gingham-linen cardstock and small circles cut from patterned paper.

The base of the Nutcracker was painted inside and out and holds the chipboard numbers to countdown the days until Christmas. Hope you have had fun seeing how I used my Doodlebug supplies on this project. Thanks so much for joining me, please come back tomorrow for some more "off the page" inspiration. Jennifer :)