Treat Bag Holder

I was browsing my Paper Crafts Magazine the other day and I came upon a marked page and a circled project that I have been wanting to try and this is the result.  The original is in the March/April 2012 issue on page 67.  It has a few differences but the general idea is the same.  The thing about crafting is that you have to make it your own.  This would be perfect for some candy, nuts, or anything in that genre for someone special. 

Here are the dimensions:

Cardstock is 2 3/4 x 11

With paper laying HORIZONTALLY on your scoreboard, score at 4 1/2 and at 6 1/2. 

Cut one edge with a border punch or decorative scissors.

Cut out a piece of patterned paper and border punch it and adhere to the back panel.

Decorate BEFORE closing!!!

I secured mine with a staple and tied the ribbon over the staple. 



Have fun and remember it is always homemade!

3x3 Card Set

I have been wanting to make some little card sets for a while to use basically when you need a quick card to put with a gift.  I saw some in the new Stampin' UP! Catalog and that was the "push" I needed to get on with it and make some!  You could do these with whatever type of stamp you wanted.  I chose to do them in two different ways today to show you two different ways to "color" the stamps.

The first set (fruit set) are colored different colors with the stamp pad used or with markers and then stamped onto the white.  This takes a little time and patience but the outcome is obviously very cute! 

The second set (the "nature" set) is a variety of stamps that were originally stamped in brown ink and then colored in with watercolor pencils and a blender pen.  This is a fun technique that I am still not great at, but it turns out very cute when done right!  :)  I especially like the tree stamp!  I may do a whole set with that stamp alone! 

The envelopes were cut out using the Cricut Beyond Birthdays Cartridge at 4 1/4.  It comes out to be a perfect size for the 3x3 cards.  I did do something a little new for me and that is I lined the envelopes and made them that much more cute!  It only takes a couple extra minutes to do that and it adds much more character.  Also, as a side note, these little 3x3 cards it perfectly into the little magazine holder that I showed you in a tutorial back a couple of months ago.  You can see that tutorial HERE on my blog as well as Beth's blog (where I saw the idea) HERE.

You could make these with any stamp.  The good thing about them is that they are quick and easy and you can make them to your liking.  I thought you could stamp babys on them, girl or boy themed stamps, demask stamps...etc....the list could go on and on.  Make them to fit your needs.  If you give a lot of gifts to kids, make them fit that need.  Keep a stash so that when you need that quick card, you can always go grab one in a flash!

Be creative and remember, it is always homemade!

Easy Gift Bag

I picked up the new Stampin' UP! Catalog a few weeks ago and of course it is filled with wonderfully cute ideas!!!  This is one of them.  It is on the back page (if I remember correctly) and it is just a simple addition of paper to a plain paper bag.  I added the brown strip at the top but other than that, it is basically the same idea.  This is just a really cute, easy gift bag idea because we all have these things in our craft stash.  A plain paper bag and some scraps is really all that makes up this bag.  Have fun and put one of these together when you need something cute but quick!  Have fun creating and remember, it is always homemade! 

Dressed Up Water Bottle Gift Idea

 

Seriously, how cute are these? (As promised last month, here are the dimensions of the water bottles that I gave out at the Stampin' UP! Party I hosted last month.) I have been wanting to try one of these for a while for something, I just couldn't find a reason to get it done!  So, I made one just for fun about a month ago and then decided to give each person, who came to the Stampin' UP! Party that I hosted, one of these for a "thank you" gift.  I think this would be a cute gift for a teacher at school or church...I actually almost made them for my kids' Bible class teachers but had already had something done (that you will see later) for that purpose.  :)

Here are the dimensions for the base piece:

2 1/2 x 7 1/2

Score (while laying horizontally) at 2 inches

Circle punch a hole at the short end of the strip so that you can fit it over the top of the bottle.  I used a circle punch that was 1 1/4 inch diameter.

The pink circle is about 3 inches in diameter.

The lemon is a stamp from Stampin' UP! that I punched out with the same circle punch that was used above.  They are all adhered with dimentionals.

The leaves were stamped on white paper and cut out and placed under the lemons.

I cut slits on the side of the pink circle and tied ribbon through the slits and tied a bow on the back of the bottle.  The lemonade pack is glued on with glue dots to keep it in place.

Have fun and design one however you would like.  There are so many different flavors of the Crystal Light powders....think outside the box.  For a tea packet, make a tea bag.  For a raspberry packet, make a raspberry embellishment.  You get the picture.  Make one for someone today and remember, it is always homemade.

Soccer Treats

These are the treat bags that I made for our soccer team at the end of the year party.  My husband was the coach and we had a little celebration as a team last week.  My husband had purchased a trophy for each child and I made some goodie bags for them as well.  I bought a few packs of various candy/snacks and placed them in a clear treat bag and topped them off with these cute little soccer tags.  The craft paper base is 4 1/4 x 5 1/2, folded in half and stapled to the top of the bag.  The green piece (in honor of us being the "green team") is 5 1/2 x 1 1/2 and is adhered with double-sided adhesive.  This adds color as well as doing a great job of covering the staples!  :-)  The soccer ball was cut out using my SCAL software, but I know that Cricut makes several sport cartridges that have soccer balls on them.  They turned out really cute and seriously took no time at all!  Can't you tell that I do anything that takes little to no time???  :-)

Have a great day and remember, it is always fast and always homemade!

Mother's Day Gift

Well, my Mom loves cards but loves them even better because they are made for her at no charge!  Guess who signed up for that????  ME!!!  I really like to do this as you know so, I usually make her a couple matching sets and then raid my stash for others that I know she will like and use with all her card writing that she does.  If you follow my blog, you have seen three of these card sets that are shown in the fronts of the bags but the baby onesie card.  I plan to do a video for this card sometime soon!  I promise! 

So, these packs of cards are what my Mother got for Mother's Day.  She was thrilled!  This is an easy, cute, and very useable gift for your Mother for any day of the year.  This year, since I have my blog, she made an "order" for the packs that she wanted.  She specifically wanted the black and white set and now she is content.  She has been bugging me since they were on the blog....took me long enough, huh?  :-) 

I hope you take this idea and give packs of cards to those who will put them to good use!  Enjoy, and remember, it is always homemade!

Teacher Gifts (Caramel Popcorn)

Teacher Appreciation week was a couple of weeks ago and this is what my son and I put together for all of his preschool teachers.  He helped me make Cooking Light's Caramel Popcorn recipe and then he helped me with the cards as well.  I cut out the popcorn kernals on my Cricut using my SCAL program and then he drew "smiley faces" on the popcorn (upside down, but hey, he was proud of them) and then he signed each card.  I placed the popcorn in $.50 containers from Target.  GREAT gift!  Teachers don't want stuff that is just going to take up space....give them something to eat or actually use....think outside the box!  These turned out so cute and he was very proud of them! 

This was a very cute, quick gift that you can do for anyone!  This would be a fun activity for a surprise date night for your hubby after the kids went to bed!  Get a movie and pull out the Caramel Popcorn in these cute little boxes.  I think this might happen in our house sometime soon! 

Have a great day and make a homemade gift for someone today.  Remember, it is always sweeter when it is homemade.

Card Set Holder

This turned out so much cuter than I anticipated!!!  It looks great finished and put together with the black and white card set that was on the blog last week!!!  It is perfect for a gift or to store finished cards.  The original idea was on http://www.kardsbykadie.blogspot.com/ in January 2012 and I saw this on http://www.southerninkerbelles.blogspot.com/ during February!  I changed the size of theirs so that I could fit A2 size cards in it instead of 3x3 cards.  I use and make mostly A2 size cards and I wanted something that would work for me, so, after a few test runs, I got the measurements right and made a 2 part video for you!  Enjoy and get started!  You WON'T be disappointed with the outcome!  The measurements are re-written below the videos.

PART 1

PART 2

Measurements:

12x12 piece of Cardstock

Score at 5 1/4 and at 6 3/4

Turn Clockwise

Score at 1 3/4 and at 6 1/2

Cut as seen in video

Trim a 1/2 inch off of the top flaps and bottom flaps

Trim 1 3/4 of an inch off the middle flaps

Fold as seen in video

Top indention for the slant cut is 3 1/4 from the side

Side indention for the slant cut is 3 3/4 from the top

Glue and fold as directed in the video

Here is the finished project all wrapped up as a gift to someone of your choice!!  I mean, wouldn't you get excited if you got this as a gift????  Thanks to Kadie and Beth for the inspiration for this card holder!!

Have a great day and remember it is always homemade!!!