Quickie Little Gifts

OMG...I'm so sorry...this is another late post but written a week ago.  I couldn't find the finished product for a picture.  I probably already gave it away so I quickly made another 2 so I could photograph them.  LOL  Another senior moment or the Christmas season is getting the best of me!



So it's very cold here and the snow we got last Sunday it still here. It was the first measurable snow this season.   Funny the weathermen kept saying that my area would be getting about 2.5" and we ended up with close to 7"!!  I don't think many were prepared.  I still need to go get some salt because we didn't have much left.  There is also a cold snap heading our way.  I guess it's about time winter arrived.  We have been pretty luck with the most awesome fall!  Beautiful weather right through November! A new storm is brewing for the weekend.
With a cold front coming and me being one who would rather stay in, I decided to make little gifts for those who need to be out in this weather.  Whether be a Mail deliverer (like my PC??  LOL) or just people in general who must go to work.  So I'm making little packet covers for a tea bag.  I mean who doesn't like to snuggle up with a hot cup of tea?  Ok maybe some of you don't like tea but this could work for hot cocoa too!
Here's what you'll need:  
1  12x12 double sided DSP
1/4" score tape
scrap white, red or green card stock
Sentiment stamp of choice
corner rounder
2", 1 3/4" and 1 " circle punch
Label punch
From 1 sheet of paper you will get 3 tea folders.  Cut you 12x12 into 3 strips measuring 3 3/4" x 9 3/4".  Save scraps you will need them.  Next score each strip at 3 1/4" on both short sides.  As in below photo. 

 Fold on score lines and on last third cut off top piece to form triangle pocket.  (see above Photo)

Use score tape on bottom of triangle and fold inward to form pocket for tea bag.  Now just decorate!  If you want the piece you cut off can be used as a second pocket on the opposite side.  The bottom image shows that the inside has 2 triangle pockets.  Hope its not confusing.  
If you don't have any double sided DSP use what you have.  Fold the paper with printed side on inside and then cut 3x31/2 pieces of coordinating print and glue to white side of paper.  Example of that is in photo below.

Slip your tea bag into the pocket and your done.  Great little thing to give to bus drivers too.
I think I may have the grand kids make a few of these to give out and I'll make some for my D.I.L. to hand out at the school she teaches at.  After all the janitors should get a little something and the other teachers just might find one in their mail slots!

Have fun and til next time...........................

HAPPY CARDING!!

Crafting with Ama

With more snow predicted for the weekend I had decided that it would be a good weekend for a Sleepover and crafting with Ama (my grand kids call us Ama and Apa...pretty cute.)  So with the grandkids over we started crafting as the snow was falling.  The first would be those cute Christmas balls I made earlier with the rolled DSP inside.  This time I used bigger bulbs so the hole was larger for putting the papers in and I got plastic ones!!  Great thinking on my part because you would not believe how many times they dropped their ornaments!  Although not quite as full as the ones I had made previously they still turned out cute.  They also added some chunky snow glitter inside.  It doesn't show up well in photos but its there.

The next craft was a count down to Christmas.  I actually bought a kit from Hobby Lobby but since I wanted multiples I had my husband use the store one as a template and he cut a bunch out for me.  The blocks are 2"x2" square and the stand piece is 2"x4 .   I used scrap Christmas card stock that I had and cut all the necessary pieces out.  You will need a total of 14 squares(2 of which are for the sides of the stand) measuring  1  7/8 x 1  7/8 and 4 pieces 1  7/8 x 3  7/8.   The numbers are cut on my cricut and measured  1  3/4.  I used a label punch and stamped the sentiment on it and then glued and glittered the outline.  We used Mod Podge gloss to adhere everything.

And last but not least we made door hangers.  We have a ton of pine cones here since my yard is in the woods so I always have some gathered pine cones lying around.  All we needed was some jute and jingle bells.  Seriously what grandma wouldn't have jingle bells for holiday crafts?   That's right up there with glitter!  LOL

That's it for now!!!  Kids are going out sledding again and it's snowing again!!  Going to be a hot chocolate kind of day!

Stay warm and HAPPY CARDING!

Ooooppppssss............just noticed that I forgot to post this as well as another one!  Senior moments!  LOL

Paper Craft Gifts

Hello!!  Brunch is over and was fantastic.  We all had a great time and ate well.  
As I said before I had to unwrap a gift in order to take the picture I forgot to take.  Heehee.  But lets start with the boxes.
I made these with the box maker by We R Memory Keepers.  Great little tool for a quick box that doesn't really require many measurements.  Actually all you have to do is cut the right size paper for the box and then follow either small, medium, large or extra large score lines.  Fold it up and your done!

Ok...... well most of the boxes are covered up by another ornament that I made.  But you all know what boxes look like so on to the 1st ornament.  I was at a holiday open house at a local nursery and on one of the trees were these cute little wooden ornaments with decoupage papers on them.  The wooden blocks that they used were about 3" x 4" x 1/2" .  They were very cute BUT I could make them.  So off to Hobby Lobby where I found these small ATC size blank wooden plaques.  They had a real tiny hole in the top middle and came 8 to a pack for $2.99.  I had alot of left over pieces from my Graphic 45 papers that I trimmed to fit.  I stained each plaque a walnut color and then decoupaged the papers on them.  I then coated them with a thin layer of Glossy Accents and sprinkled Martha Stewart Tinsel Glitter on them.  After dried I added a swirly hook through the little hole that I made just a wee bigger with an awl.  I then just hooked them onto the ribbon over the boxes.  Cute right?  I love them and now need to go get more wood for more ornaments.  Here's a close-up of 1 of them.  Isn't that glitter awesome?

Inside each box was the other ornament.

Hard to tell from photo but this is just a glass clear ornament with rolled up scraps of DSP stuffed inside until it is full.  Add a bow and swirly hook and TA DA cute ornament.  Now I will admit this is time consuming.  Each piece of paper is about 1/2" wide by 6" long and it takes well over 40 rolls per bulb and that is for the regular size ones.  I bet the larger ones would take forever.  I made six so far and let me tell you my fingers were sore from rolling around a skewer.  But once done they are so cute.  I bet you could color coordinate to a persons likes too.

Everyone also received a small plastic test tube, from Michael's Halloween clearance, that I filled with just a few of my favorite things.  1 being the steel tip for glue by Art Glitter.  Love that tip and I use glue alot.  This rarely clogs and if it does you can clean it out with real hot water.  I also put in the tubes a Dr Brown Baby bottle brush.  This is pretty tiny and cleans out those tips pretty well.  Strictly by accident I realized that it was usable for my craft supplies because I had them here for cleaning grandbabies bottle inserts.  Now I can't live without them.  Another item is the metal lacier for turkeys.  Ideal for poking holes in glue tips or for pushing out the clog.    The tube itself is great for in our craft totes.  We will be less likely to loose those tiny things when kept in the tube.  Plus the tube is plastic so it won't break.

Hope you enjoyed my paper crafts and the little favorite things tubes.  Now I'm off to my next project...Getting my Christmas cards mailed!!

Til Later
HAPPY CARDING

Holidays are Coming!!

With Christmas coming we have started our decorating.  What a lot to do!!  Sometimes I think I should start decorating in September just like the stores do.  Then by Thanksgiving all I need to do is sit back...relax...and enjoy the scenery.   This year I did start the week before Thanksgiving hauling everything up stairs and making sure everything with lights still work.  I am happy to report no re-stringing was needed!!  In between all of that I still had to take care of the grand kids and finish the gifts for my lady friends for our brunch that is actually taking place on Sunday. I have come to the realization that at this time of year it is a shame that my friends have access to my blog!  LOL  I mean seriously........how am I to share with you things that they will be receiving, without them seeing it here first??  Frustrating for sure!  But I can tell you that I had to unwrap the gift because I forgot to take a picture!  Yep I'm THAT organized!  heeheehee  So I got a picture...re wrapped....and added embellishments to my packages.  Oh!!!! AND I made all the boxes for the gifts!  You'd think I'd be tired of boxes! LOL  All the small bows were made with my bow maker that my husband made me a few years ago.  Love that thing and could not do without it!  Perfect bows every time...and we all know how difficult it is to make those tiny bows we use on our cards.  I will post those gifts after brunch on Sunday.

This weekend it is also Dickens in Dundee here.  The entire town is decked out for Christmas.  There are living windows, carolers, Santa, horse and carriage rides, reindeer and certain businesses open their shops for cookies and hot cocoa treats for all on Friday night.  Candy Canes too!  These are all small businesses as Dundee is a quaint little town in the Old town district.  Saturday there is the Dickens in Dundee parade, gingerbread house making and community tree decorating contest. Busy busy weekend.  I also have my annual cookie bake with my sister and our DIL's on Saturday.  A special tray is always made for our firehouse too.

Well that's it for now and don't forget to check back for Paper craft gifts later!

HAPPY CARDING!  

Scene cards for Christmas

Well it's a foggy day today so it's a good day to sit around and finally share these scene cards I made with my fellow card makers over the weekend.  First let me say they looked WAY easier than they actually are.  All the fussy cutting and trying different layout arrangements took alot of time!  Second...this was ALOT of fun.
  I found a video on YouTube by XANNERO1 found here .  Her cards were stunning and the ladies and I were eager to make them with the same papers.  What I didn't realize was that it was an old set of papers.  They are by Graphic 45 (which I love) and it's the Twas the night before Christmas collection.  After a lengthy search I finally found someone on eBay selling packs of 8 different sheets and lucky for me she had 6 packs available.  So I bought all 6 and sat down to figure out dimensions.  Not so easy because some of the measurements, when following the videos, were not accurate and though she said to go to her blog not all measurements were there either.  It took me about a week, fiddling on and off, to get everything rights.  Actually after I typed it all and we actually started making I found some mistakes so corrections were required.  But all in all they are cute cards.  Fully closed I believe they measure 4.5 x 6.  I should have measured them before I put them away.  Sorry.

I think I need to decorate my trees more on the first card.  The back sides are just the plain black card stock and 1 of the ladies decided to add a little ribbon and tag.  Mine is not done yet so I'll share hers.

Isn't that cute?  She did that because it was a cute way for the card to close.  The way it was designed it is called an envelope card so after folding it up on the score lines you would secure the flap with some score tape and then add an address label to the other side.  So the card and envelope are all the same piece.  Cute idea but personally I wouldn't take a chance mailing it this way because the sides are not closed so anyone could actually peer inside or it could get snagged and then torn open and by the time the recipient gets it ...well it could be a total mess.  I suggest you either hand deliver or use a regular sturdy envelope to go through the mail.  Extra postage will probably be required due to thickness.
Well that's it for now .....til next time..................................

HAPPY CARDING

HOLIDAY BOX DECORATION

Hello again!  Can you believe that the holidays are almost here???  I feel like I have so much more to do and not enough time.  Boy that's familiar.  Seems I say that every year.  LOL
So I love to decorate EVERYTHING!!! Windows, door knobs, cabinet knobs, lamp switches, etc.  Like I said everything and these little boxes do the trick and don't cost a fortune.

At first I was going to give these out for gifts but then the recipient couldn't use it for long.  So I decided to just hand them out whenever I saw someone I wanted to give a little gift to.

The red one is 2.75 x 2.75 and made with the box maker by We R Memory Keepers.  I used an old set of Sizzix dies for letters to spell HO using the positive part of the cut on all 4 sides.  Guess the green on the red box doesn't show up so well so I'm making a few more that pop out more.  The 3 box strand is a template for a 2x2x2" box with jute strung through on a diagonal with a jingle bell between each box.  Once again I used the positive cutting of the letters to embellish all 4 sides to spell out JOY.  The twine is strung through the little opening between the box and the lid as your closing it.  I started with the top loop being weaved through the back left corner of the lid as your closing it , pulling the tail end through the box and coming out the right front opening of the bottom of the lid.  Hope I didn't totally confuse you.  Then repeat for all additional boxes. (Top left back, bottom left front)  The third on I strung straight with 3 wooden beads between box and this time used the negative cutting of the letters to spell NOEL.  I punched tiny holes in the middle of both the top and bottom lids and strung them together that way.   I have probably made at least 20 of these so far with various words.  

Well now I really need to get on with these scene cards so til next time............

HAPPY CARDING

Scrap Holiday Tags

Hello!!!  Long time...I know sorry.  Life got crazy with medical issues of my daughter in law and we had the birth of a new granddaughter.  Who, by the way, is totally a doll!  I get lots of baby-grandma time with her and just love all the cuddling.
So slowly, I am getting back into my craft room and I started with making some Christmas gifts.  Sorry can't post those!  heehee  Santa wouldn't approve but what I can post are the lovely tags I was able to make from my scraps.  First I made a trip to the Dollar Tree to get some file folders.  These can turn out at least 80 tags when cut up.  You get 10 folders in a pack. Take 1 folder, cut off the tabs (save these to make grommets) and cut the folder in half.  Then cut each piece into 2 3/4 x 6 1/2 tags.  These are large so you will get 4 from each half folder. Totally 80 if you do them all this size.   I love this size tag and it is the one I use the most.  Another great medium size is 2 3/4  x  5 1/2 and a smaller size of 2 3/4 x 4. You should be able to get 10 tags from each half if you use these sizes and that would be a whopping 100 tags from just one $1 pack!!!  Now that's a deal!

The 5 tags on the bottom right are the 6 1/2" long ones.  Top and middle are the 5 1/2" ones and the 4 on the bottom left are the 4" long ones.
The grommets on all of these I made by cutting out 3/4" circles and punching a hole in the middle and they turn out nearly perfect.  I'm a strong believer that your tags need the extra support for the ribbon, jute, yarn or whatever you choose to use. 
 In the next few days I hope to share some scene cards that I'm C.A.S.E.ing from a you tube video I saw.  I'm trying to figure out all the dimensions before I post and I will put up the link to the video then too.  Sooooo stay tune and til then................................

HAPPY CARDING!