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The Actor’s Survival Kit & Silhouette Promotion

A creative opening night gift idea that is both thoughtful and practical! The actors will be bound to break a leg or two after receiving this "Actor's Survival Kit."

Another op’nin’, another show
In Philly, Boston, or Baltimo’,
A chance for stage folks to say hello,
Another op’nin’ of another show.

–“Another Op’nin’, Another Show” from Kiss Me Kate

Perhaps the only thing that thrills me more than feeling the stage lights hot on my face as I bring a character to life before a live audience…is directing a show in which my actors feel the stage lights hot on their faces as they bring their characters to life before a live audience.

As director, I stand in the booth in the back, so I can take in the whole glorious scene, my chest puffed up all proud like a mother hen.

I still laugh at comedic bits I’ve seen a hundred times; I still get the chills and tear up at the same spot at the end of Act II.  These are rituals that never get old because during every performance, I witness a profound transformation…in the actors…in each unique audience…and in myself.  It’s the miracle of theatre.  And it’s what draws me back like a moth to the flame time and time again.

This past weekend, I witnessed that miracle in all three sold-out performances of The Prodigal Musical, an original musical that I have had the privilege of co-directing these past seven months.  (Yep, that’s part of why I have had to work extra hard on balance this year.)

Here’s a photo of our cast and crew:

The Prodigal Musical Cast & Crew

In preparation for opening night day, I thought it’d be fun to pull together some gifties for our devoted throng…something to help power them through our 6-performance-run.

I thought long and hard about a gift that would be both thoughtful and yet useful…and I came up with this lil guy:

The Actor’s Survival Kit

The Actor's Survival Kit: A fun idea for an opening night gift that is both thoughtful and practical! The actors will be bound to break a leg or two.

It’s about as practical as you can get!

Here’s the skinny on how to pull together your own for the “stage folks” in your life.

1.  Gather Your Supplies

A quick run to Target with my sister Lisbeth (in town visiting for opening weekend!) was all I needed to gather the necessary supplies for pulling these kits together.

Here’s what we were workin’ with:

The Actor's Survival Kit: A fun idea for an opening night gift that is both thoughtful and practical! The actors will be bound to break a leg or two.

(Note: some of these links are affiliate links, meaning if you make a purchase after clicking through, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.  Thanks for helping to support this site!)

The Actor's Survival Kit: A fun idea for an opening night gift that is both thoughtful and practical! The actors will be bound to break a leg or two.

Though if you’re making your own, feel free to branch out and include other practical items, such as …

  • lozenges
  • tissues
  • chapstick
  • granola bars
  • mug
  • transparent medical tape for mics
  • glow tape
  • bandaids
  • bobby pins
  • safety pins
  • mini flashlight

…etcetera, etcetera!   Have fun with it.

2.  Create Personalized Gift Tags

I decided to create personalized gift tags for each kit.  I wanted the tags to not only identify the gifts as “Actor Survival Kits,” but to have each actor’s name on them along with a “break a leg!” message.

Silhouette Cameo to the rescue!

The Printable Silver Foil is one of my absolute favorite of their specialty media products.  I’ve used it with my Halloween Party Treat Bags, Receipt Organization, Monogram Seals, and Chill Pills Gag Gift.

Silhouette brand Printable Silver Foil...perfect for making custom labels! via thinkingcloset.com

Free Cut File

I designed my gift tags in my Silhouette Studio Designer Edition software, but I’d love to share my cut file with you all for FREE to help you in your own Actor Survival Kit assembly.  You can sign up to download your free cut file using the nifty form below or by clicking HERE. {Fine print: this design is for personal use only and is not to be used for commercial purposes. Thanks!}

NOTE: You will need to download the following FREE fonts in order to work with this file and customize it: American TypewriterBudmo Jiggler, Callie Hand.

FREE Cut File for Silhouette Studio: The Actor's Survival Kit & Theatre Ninja Gift Tags. Perfect for the cast and crew for opening night!

Prior to printing your design, there are just a few preparatory steps to take.  First, change your media size from the 12″ x 12″ default to letter size.  Do that under the PAGE tab.  Then, select the REGISTRATION MARKS tab in order to click “show registration marks.”  Registration marks are the magical fairy dust to the entire print-and-cut process.  Essentially, they tell your machine exactly where your images are on the media when it comes time to cut.  So, as long as your design fits inside the registration marks, you’re good to go!

Then, you’re ready to load your Printable Silver Foil into your printer and click print!  If you have the option, I recommend using your highest quality print settings and select “photo paper” as your media since it’s akin in thickness to the foil.

Silhouette brand Printable Silver Foil...perfect for making custom labels! via thinkingcloset.com

When you’re ready to cut your labels, take your sheet of foil and place it on the stickiest part of your mat, so it doesn’t come unstuck in the process.  Then, start with your machine’s recommended cut settings for Printable Foil (adjusting your blade accordingly).

Now, I decided to keep the backing on my labels rather than peel the foil off as a sticker…so I ended up practicing with test cuts until I discovered that a blade of 10 on double cut worked best.  

Once the blade is all ready to go, let your machine cut away!  Your machine will first scan the registration marks, so it can then cut exactly where it should.  This step in the process never ceases to amaze me.  It’s magical!

FREE Cut File for Silhouette Studio: The Actor's Survival Kit & Theatre Ninja Gift Tags. Perfect for the cast and crew for opening night!

TIP: If your machine is struggling to detect the registration marks or the cut lines are not where they should be, shine a flashlight onto your machine as it scans.

3.  Assemble Your Survival Kits

And then, after pre-cutting my clear wrap and twine, I put together The Actor Survival Kits, assembly-line-style.  They were identical for the guys and girls except for the Downey Wrinkle Releaser for the gals…

The Actor's Survival Kit: A fun idea for an opening night gift that is both thoughtful and practical! The actors will be bound to break a leg or two.

…and travel-size deodorant for the guys.

The Actor's Survival Kit: A fun idea for an opening night gift that is both thoughtful and practical! The actors will be bound to break a leg or two.

4.  Tie up your kits with the gift tags.

I decided just to use jute twine for tying up The Actor’s Survival Kits since our show is set on a ranch out west, and it seemed fitting.  But use whatever ribbon or string you so desire!  I just strung my gift tags onto the twine before tying the final bow.  Easy peazy.

The Actor's Survival Kit: A fun idea for an opening night gift that is both thoughtful and practical! The actors will be bound to break a leg or two.

The Actor's Survival Kit: A fun idea for an opening night gift that is both thoughtful and practical! The actors will be bound to break a leg or two.

The Actor's Survival Kit: A fun idea for an opening night gift that is both thoughtful and practical! The actors will be bound to break a leg or two.

A creative opening night gift idea that is both thoughtful and practical! The actors will be bound to break a leg or two after receiving this "Actor's Survival Kit."

And I couldn’t leave out the backstage and tech crew!  They are there before the actors arrive and after they leave, working tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure each show runs smoothly.  So, I made some tags for them that said, “You Are a Theatre Ninja” and tied them onto some mason jar tumblers and water bottles.  They need to stay hydrated as much as the actors do!  (I included the cut file for this tag in the freebie download, as well.)

Creative gift idea for the tech crew of a theatre production: "You Are a Theatre Ninja" gift tags on mason jar tumblers and water bottles. Gotta stay hydrated!

5.  Stealthily Deliver Your Kits

The final and last step is to oh-so-stealthily deliver your kits to the green room before the actors arrive for their opening night (or day) performance.  Then watch and wait as everyone arrives and hearts are warmed!  It’ll be the perfect morale booster before the show begins.

The most fun part is stealthily delivering all of the opening night gifts before the cast and crew arrive!

Sneak Peek

And now, the proud mother hen in me wants to take out my metaphorical wallet and flip through some photos of our cast working their magic on stage.

Sneak Peek at The Prodigal Musical! Sneak Peek at The Prodigal Musical!

Oh, how I wish you could see this show live, dear reader.  Actually, if you’re in the Orlando area this upcoming weekend (July 26 & 27), message me on FB, so I can send you more info!  And prepare to witness the miracle of theatre.

Designer Edition Software 40% Off

Silhouette’s new promotion kicked off yesterday and runs through July 31st; not only does it cover new machine bundles, but the Designer Edition software, which is 40% off with my affiliate code CLOSET, and only goes on special sale a few times throughout the year. (And the best part is that you don’t have to pay any shipping because it’s an electronic download!)

The Silhouette Studio Designer Edition contains all the same functionality as Silhouette Studio plus the following designer features (with my favorites highlighted in bold):

  • Ability to open, manipulate, and cut .svg files
  • Rhinestone tools to convert designs into rhinestone templates and create your own rhinestone designs
  • Sketch tools to convert designs into several styles of sketchable art
  • Creative knife tools to allow you to clip designs using different patterns
  • Enhanced eraser and knife tools to modify designs with more precision
  • Built-in ruler and guide lines for precise alignment and drawing
  • Shear window, which allows for more shape manipulation (video demonstration)
  • Eyedropper tool to transfer properties between shapes
  • Pivot point rotation feature to rotate shapes with greater ease

Plus, click here to check out a YouTube video tutorial showing these designer features in action.

Silhouette Promotion

For those of you looking to make the leap into the wonderful world of Silhouette crafting, there are some amazing machine bundles that will keep you busy for quite some time with all the goodies they include.  See the graphic below for a glimpse of what they include, and click HERE to learn more!

When checking out, you can use my code CLOSET to get these sweet discounts. Happy shopping!

Silhouette Promotion on machine bundles and 40% off the Designer Edition software from July 22 - July 31 using the code CLOSET!

The overture is about to start,
You cross your fingers and hold your heart,
It’s curtain time and away we go.
Another op’nin’,
Just another op’nin’ of another show.

–“Another Op’nin’, Another Show” from Kiss Me Kate

Full Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post; however, I received free product in exchange for an honest review. This post contains affiliate links, meaning that if you make a purchase using my code, I receive a small commission. Please rest assured that as always, I only recommend products that I use and love. And I seriously heart my Silhouette Cameo!

{Linking up here.}

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14 Comments

    1. Oooo…good question, Alicia. I think many of the same items would apply…though here are some practical and fun ideas for a Director specific survival kit:

      Tumbler / insulated mug.
      Beverage of choice (H2O bottle / coffee / teabags / or even a Starbucks gift card).
      Granola bars or energy bars.
      Clipboard / notepad.
      Highlighter and pen for note-taking.
      Post-its.
      Chapstick / lipgloss.
      Stage tape / medical tape for actors / bobby pins / safety pins (to help solve last minute emergencies…although those would also work well for stage managers!).
      Copy of a book on directing. A great one is “A Sense of Direction: Some Observations on the Art of Directing.”
      Small items related to inside jokes with the director or specific to the show itself.
      Pocket-sized note-card with an encouraging quote, something along the lines of “You’ve done an incredible job as our director. Now, sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!”

      You’ll have to let me know how your kits go over! And if you have a moment to send me a snapshot, one of my favorite things ever is featuring reader projects on social media and on my blog. Here’s where to reach me. Break a leg!

  1. These are so, so cute, Lauren! I bet the cast was thrilled with them! And I love that you included photos from the performance for those of us who live a little too far away. It looks like it was amazing! Go ahead and puff that chest out, mother hen!

  2. Wow! Found you – and this – through Pinterest, and the timing is just great! I’m also one of the work/life balance strugglers as I work full time, run my own business on the side AND am co-directing a traditional British pantomime this year. This is great and I’m going to use it for sure!

    Thanks so much – ingenious!

  3. 1) My youngest is a wannabe actor, studying performing arts at school and a member of our local youth theatre, I’ll pin this great gift idea for just the right moment.
    2) You are just so lovely! What a lovely thing to do for the cast and crew (overuse of the word lovely, sorry but I think you really are!)

  4. Lauren~

    I absolutely love this! =) I’ve shared it…..and it just makes my heart happy that you spelled theatre correctly! 😉 It’s my pet peeve. heehee

    It was great to see you at Haven…..and to discover a fellow thespian! I will look forward to following along….blessings…..xoxoxoxoxo

  5. Wow, you think of everything! What a lovely idea! I’m sure it took so much work but was worth the effort! I’m even thinking this would be a great idea to bring to an actor on opening night instead of, or in addition to, flowers. So unique! Well done!

  6. Such thoughtful and considerate gift bags! My son is a classical musician and I will keep this in mind. I love it when people are so passionate about the arts!!

  7. Awww….I can feel your joy emanating through your words. So proud of you! (And your cast & crew!) So awesome! These are fantastic gifts – so thoughtful. I’ve pinned this to my gift idea board. These would be great for Marley’s next school play, too!

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