Shop Scissors Blog

Star-Shaped Wreath

Just because wreaths are traditionally round doesn’t mean they have to be. This star-shaped wreath is just as eye catching, if not more so, and uses the same simple technique. All you need are a few basic tools and you will have a beautiful wreath to decorate your home in no time at all.

You will need…

• Golden cedar or other greenery
• 26-gauge floral wire
• Wire cutters
• Star wreath form
• Ribbon (optional)

1. Cut branches of golden cedar or other greenery into 4- to 6-inch pieces.
2. Gather the pieces together into thick bundles and secure each bundle individually with 26-gauge floral wire and cut with wire cutters.
3. Lay one bundle on the wreath form and wrap tightly with bundle of greenery halfway up. Without cutting the wire, add another bundle over the top half of the previous one, overlapping the two bundles and continuing to wrap with wire.
4. Repeat the process until you have fully covered the star frame. Cut wire with wire cutters when you have finished wrapping.
5. Add a bow or consider hanging with two ribbons.

For more holiday craft ideas or to purchase a pair of wire cutters, visit us at ShopScissors.com.

Holiday Craft: Mini Stockings

You most likely have traditional stockings in your home, but consider making these mini stockings as a fun addition to your holiday décor. If your tree is too small to hold 24 stockings, hang them from a ribbon and use them to decorate your wall. They are perfect for holding sweets to mark the 24 days of Advent. You only have to print the numbers out on your computer and then glue them to the stockings.

You will need…

• Felt
• Ribbon
• Fabric pencil
• Sewing scissors
• Pinking shears
• Sewing machine
• Straight pins
• Awl
• Metal-rimmed rags
• Stocking template

1. For each stocking, trace the stocking template onto felt twice with a pencil and cut out. Pin the two felt pieces together at the heel, toe and instep.
2. Cut a piece of ribbon just longer than the width of the stocking’s opening. Position it about ¼ inch from the top of the stocking and pin in place. Machine-stitch the front, back and ribbon together, leaving the top open. You should be stitching about ½ inch from the edge.
3. Use pinking shears to trim around the seam.
4. Use an awl to punch a hole in the two pieces of felt in the upper right hand corner.
5. Thread a narrow piece of ribbon through the hole and tie on the metal rimmed tag.

Cyber Monday: Scissors and Box Opener

Black Friday has passed and Cyber Monday is upon us. While some retailers have reserved many of their online deals until today, many deals have been available since Friday. This is the case with the E-Z Open Scissors and Box Cutter, currently available for only $11.90.

This is the perfect pair of scissors to buy in advance of the holiday scissors. With their corrosion-resistant 8” stainless steel blades and box cutter, these scissors offer a safe, easy way to open boxes, cartons and shipping packages. These scissors feature a unique trigger release that extends the box-cutting blade for easy, safe use. When the pressure from the trigger is released, the blade retracts back into the handle of the scissors.

Don’t use your sharp household scissors for opening boxes and presents this holiday season, which can cause them to grow dull. Using regular scissors for opening boxes is also less safe. Instead, better ensure safety with the E-Z Open Scissors and Box Cutter.

Black Friday Deals!

Looking for the perfect holiday present this year? Or maybe a little something just to fill those stockings?

Consider giving your children fun holiday scissors! We offer Santa Claus, Christmas Tree, Snowman, and Reindeer scissors that are sure to delight as children use them during craft time at home or school. These scissors aren’t just for kids, however. The 8” stainless steel blades provide a smooth, clean cut and are perfect for slicing through wrapping paper and curling ribbons on packages.

Also, check out the discount on our E-Z Open Scissors & Box Opener, the perfect pair of scissors for the holiday season. These durable, stainless steel scissors provide a safe and easy way to open boxes, cartons and shipping packages. The box-cutter extends from the handle only when you need it to provide for safe, injury-free cutting.

For more information or to check out our other deals, check us out at ShopScissors.com.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s easy to constantly be focused on your shortcomings: what you don’t have, what you are not, where you want to be. Thanksgiving is the time of year we are reminded to be thankful for what we DO have. Riches fall far below the things that really matter in our lives and Thanksgiving is a great time to reflect on those things.

Here at ShopScissors, we want you to know that we are thankful for YOU, our customers, and wish you a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

How to Debone a Turkey

Looking for some last minute help for deboning your Turkey this Thanksgiving? All you need is a 7 or 8-inch boning knife, sharp kitchen shears, a cutting board and cotton cooking string. With these few easy steps you will have your turkey deboned and ready to serve in no time at all.

1. Prepare your stuffing. If you’re using vegetables, make sure you cut them before you touch the turkey.
2. Rinse the thawed turkey under cold water, pat it dry and place it on your clean cutting board. You may want to consider placing a towel over the cutting board, under the turkey, to keep it from slipping while you are deboning it.
3. Cut the giblets and neck using your kitchen shears and, if you want, set aside for later use.
4. Using your kitchen shears or boning knife, remove the backbone of the turkey and, if you want, set aside for later use in a soup.
5. Use the tip of the boning knife to carve the right side of the turkey’s ribcage, going downwards. Your goal is to separate the bone from the flesh without slicing the backside breast skin.
6. Snap the wing joint from the breastbone, then cut through the cartilage.
7. Cut down the ribcage and around the wishbone, being careful to avoid piercing the skin.
8. Grasp the leg with one hand and use the other hand to locate the thigh joint that connects the breast. Break the joint by pressing the upper thigh joint forward while you pull the turkey toward you. Cut any connecting cartilage.
9. Carge the meat away at the thigh flat bone’s top side, then remove the gone. Carefully scrape the meat there while leaving the skin untouched. Pop the joint, cut through the cartilage again and remove the upper thigh bone.
10. Repeat the process on the other side of the turkey, all the while being careful to avoid piercing the skin.
11. When you have finished deboning the turkey, add any stuffing and then bring the two sides together and sew together using a cotton cooking string or metal skewer. The breast side should be facing up when you sew it, with the seam facing down.

For more tips or to purchase kitchen shears, visit us at ShopScissors.com.

Homemade Holiday Greeting Cards

With the kids at home stuck in the house while you prepare for Thanksgiving, you may be searching for some fun craft ideas to keep them entertained. Why not kill two birds with one stone and ask them to create some fun holiday greeting cards for you to mail out after Thanksgiving has passed? Check out these holiday greeting card ideas from Disney.

Christmas Tree Card

You will need…

• 8 ½ by 11 inch card stock
• Vellum
• Craft foam
• Scissors
• Paintbrush
• Hole punch
• Ribbon

1. Cut a piece of the cardstock in half, then fold each of the pieces in half to give you two cards.
2. Cut a 3 ½ by 5 inch rectangle of vellum.
3. Place 1 piece of vellum on a soft surface (you can use folded up paper towels or a piece of craft foam). Use the pointed end of a paintbrush, a chopstick, a letter opener, or the tine of a fork to scratch a Christmas tree (or any other appropriate pattern) onto the vellum. Just be careful to avoid pushing through hard, or you might break the paper.
4. Center the vellum on the card and punch two holes at the top, about ¼ inch apart, without going through the card, itself. Thread a ribbon through the holes, holding the vellum in place.

 

Holiday Lights Card

You will need…

• Scrapbook or origami paper in various colors and patterns
• Yellow scrapbooking paper
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Plain notecards or card stock

1. Cut out a number of colorful candles from the scrapbooking paper.
2. Cut out an equal number of candle flames from the yellow paper.
3. Arrange the candles and candle flames on the card stock and glue in place.

For more craft ideas or to purchase a pair of Fiskars scissors, visit us online at ShopScissors.com.

Thanksgiving Decorations: Make a Pilgrim

Looking for some last minute crafts for the kids to decorate your home for Thanksgiving? With just a few simple materials, you and your kids can create this dashingly dressed Pilgrim.

You will need…

• Craft glue
• 4-1/2 by 6 inch rectangle of tan paper
• Cardboard toilet tissue tube
• Black and white felt
• 1 inch pieces of yarn
• Markers
• Pipe cleaner
• Silver paper
• Scissors

1. To make the body and head, glue the tan paper around the cardboard tube, then glue a piece of felt approximately 2-1/2 inches wide around the lower portion of the tube as the pilgrim’s jacket. Cut out a strip of felt 6-1/2 by 1 inch for the collar and yarn pieces for the hair and glue them onto the body.
2. To make the legs, place each of the 1-inch pipe cleaner pieces at the end of a strip of long black felt. (See image) Top with a matching felt strip and glue the two strips together. Cut out a boot shape from the black felt and glue two felt boot shapes together at the end of the pope cleaner foot and then glue the top of each leg inside the cardboard tube.
3. To make your pilgrim’s hat, you will need to cup a strip of black felt one inch wide around the top of the tube body. To create a brim, cut out a 3-inch circle of felt, then cut a 1 ¾ inch circle from its center. Slide the grim down to the bottom of the felt strip and glue it into place. Take the smaller circle and glue it to the top of the tube. Cut three small buckles from the silver paper and glue to the hat and shoes as the final touch. Use a marker to draw on a face.

For more children’s craft ideas or to purchase children’s scissors, visit us online at ShopScissors.com.

Feature Friday: Left-Handed Scissors

True left-handed scissors can be challenging to find. Left-handed individuals are often forced to use scissors that are not, which leads to paper tears rather than cutting or the inability to cut cleanly along a line.

Left-handed scissors have the blades reversed so the top blade is on the left, allowing you to see your cutting line. The natural squeezing of the hand pushes the blades together so they can cut a clean line, as opposed to pushing them apart and causing the paper to bend between the blades.

Purchasing a good pair of left-handed scissors will make tasks go more quickly and smoothly and, for children, reassure them that the challenges they were having with scissors were not their problem.

To purchase a pair of left-handed scissors, visit us online at ShopScissors.com.

Multi-Task with Holiday Crafts

With the temperatures dropping outside, it can be challenging to keep your kids entertained indoors. This can be especially difficult with all the tasks that need to be done before the holidays arrive: shopping, decorating, baking, and preparing to entertain family and friends. However, there are things you can do to entertain your children and knock a few items off your to-do list. Try engaging your kids in some fun holiday crafts that will allow you to multi-task as you spend quality time with your kids.

Greeting Cards
Holiday greeting cards are an important holiday tradition that can be both monotonous and time consuming. However, turning them into a holiday craft project allows your kids to get involved and makes the time pass much more quickly and enjoyably. You can work side-by-side with your kids creating cards or you can allow them to create the cards while you work at diligently filling them out as each one is made.

You will need…

• Cardstock
• Embellishments
• Glue
• Scissors
• Markers

Holiday Gift Tags
Whether you are giving out gifts for Christmas or Hanukkah, homemade gift tags can make your presents a little more special. With just a few craft supplies, your children will be able to make beautiful gift tags perfect for any holiday. You can even take your multi-tasking to the next level by working next to your kids wrapping gifts while your children decorate the tags. Perhaps by the time you finish your wrapping, the gift tags will be complete and ready to attach to the presents.

Holiday Ornaments
While ornaments are typically associated with Christmas and Christmas trees, ornaments can be decorated for any holiday. You can typically find craft supplies in your home to create ornaments that are inexpensive and personal.
Some supplies you may need…

• Photographs
• Popsicle sticks
• Close pins
• Glue
• Scissors

For more ideas or to purchase a pair of holiday scissors, visit us at ShopScissors.com.