Category Archives: Christmas

Whimsy & Wonder Christmas Trees Holiday Card

2 Replies

There is a new Suite in the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Mini Catalog called the Whimsy & Wonder Suite which I totally passed over the first time I looked through the catalog online. When I saw some videos of the package of the designer paper and the pink color scheme for the holidays I fell in love with it although the first card I made, this Whimsy & Wonder Christmas Trees Holiday Card, doesn’t even have those colors! Go figure! But this is what I came up with at the time!

The Whimsy & Wonderful Designer Series Paper is so stunning! If you don’t mind using some non-traditional colors for Christmas, even for a few cards and projects, I think you will love the designs and colors on this paper! All the sheets have foil accents on one side of the paper. Along with the pinks, blues, light greens, and images it is beautiful! It’s probably my favorite in the Holiday Catalog and I’m usually pretty traditional.

This card starts with a Mossy Meadow Cardstock base. Then I chose the dark green side of one paper with white dots, like snowflakes. I simply turned the paper over and saw the diagonal silver foil stripes on the other side and used that for the bottom portion of the card layer.

Some of the whimsical trees on another sheet of designer paper can be cut out with the dies in the Christmas Trees Dies. Of course, you can’t run the whole 12″ x 12″ sheet of paper through the Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine, so you need to cut out portions of the paper to die-cut. You want to leave a generous enough margin around the tree so the die can cut it correctly without ruining too much of the rest of the paper! On my card, the middle tree in the background was actually at the bottom of the page, not the full image, but I was able to die cut what was there and still use it! Some of my trees were glued directly to the card front and some are popped up on Stampin’ Dimensionals®. Most of the trees have foil accents in tiny dots or garlands.

The greeting is in the Frosted Gingerbread Stamp Set. I either didn’t have space for this card or didn’t care for the greetings in the Whimsical Trees Stamp Set. After looking through all my dies and judging the space on my card, I finally had to just stamp the greeting on a narrow strip of Basic White Cardstock and layered it on Mint Macaron Cardstock which matches the ink color. I used the silver pieces in the Silver & Clear Epoxy Essentials on each end of the greeting.

Maybe I should have stopped myself, but I added some Subtle Shimmer Sequins on page 37 in the Holiday Catalog in the upper background of the card. I couldn’t help myself even though with the accents on the trees and the stripes on the bottom paper, there is pretty much sparkle on the card already. But can we really have too much sparkle??!

The Holiday Catalog will come out on August 3rd! The online catalog will go live on that day for you to view. August is not too soon to begin your holiday cardmaking and crafting! Then you’ll be able to start making Christmas and holiday cards like this Whimsy & Wonder Christmas Trees Holiday Card.

Gingerbread & Peppermint Christmas Ornament Card

Leave a reply
Gingerbread & Peppermint Christmas Ornament Card

Here is my first Christmas card of the season, the Gingerbread & Peppermint Christmas Ornament Card! It doesn’t seem like it should be time to be thinking about Christmas cards, but the Holiday Catalog will be coming out in August so the fall and holiday craft season is beginning! You can see it already in the craft stores! There is no summer!

One of the sets of products I think a lot of people are going to love in the Holiday Catalog is the Gingerbread & Peppermint Suite. There are a lot of products in this grouping! You can choose stamps, dies, designer paper, ribbon, pillow box dies, Memories & More cards and envelopes, and more! This card doesn’t use all those things!

The card base is Real Red Cardstock with a layer of the Gingerbread & Peppermint 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper. This green design with white lines and red dots is actually the reverse side of the ornaments! I wanted a Real Red background for the ornaments I would die-cut, but I also made a layer underneath of Old Olive to help the Real Red stamp out a little more.

I used the Gingerbread Dies to cut out the ornaments, although you could do it with Paper Snips pretty easily. I popped them up with Stampin’ Dimensionals® and tied a little bow with Linen Thread on top of each ornament. You could use whatever twine or narrow ribbon you have. I might have used silver if I had some handy!

The greeting is one in the Frosted Gingerbread Stamp Set. I stamped the entire greeting a couple of times and tried different dies and ideas, but it was just a little too large for the space I had on my card. I thought about only stamping it on the inside of the card and not having any greeting on the front of the card. In the end, I used my Stampin’ Write Real Red Marker to color just the “Merry Christmas” portion of the stamp and used a small die in the Ornate Frames Dies. It just fit!

Then for a little bling, I tried out the new Subtle Shimmer Sequins on page 37 of the Holiday Catalog (when you get one!). They don’t have holes in the center so the glue doesn’t squish out when you adhere them! They come in two sizes and four colors: Matte Silver, Matte White, Metallic Silver, and Pearl White. I just used three Metallic Silver ones. I think it’s perfect!

Once you make a Christmas card design you like, make several more cards exactly the same….five, ten, whatever number depending on how many you think you will send out. That way you can have fun making cards of several different designs. That’s what I like to do. When you have the design figured out, the supplies out, you might as well make a batch of cards! Do it assembly-line style – cut everything, stamp everything, assemble everything, etc.

The July-December Mini Catalog (delayed a month due to shipping issues) will begin August 3 so get ready! It will also be Sale-A-Bration (yes, a second one this year!!) so as you purchase holiday items, you will earn free product with every $50 purchase! Something to look forward to during this hot summer!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE HERE!

Christmas Designer Paper Gift Tags

Leave a reply
Christmas Designer Paper

Don’t think you are on the wrong year on my blog! It IS 2021! But this paper is not! I was going through my stash of retired Stampin’ Up! designer series paper recently and came across this single sheet! I’m sure there was another sheet just like this but I don’t know how I used it. I guess I made tags, but I don’t remember. I don’t know the name of this paper or what year it is from. All I know is that when I came across it, instead of sticking it back in the pile, I just thought I should keep it out and actually make some gift tags out of it right away!

Christmas Designer Paper Gift Tags

Of course, all that really had to be done was cut the squares apart! Then I chose the matching colors of Cherry Cobbler and Garden Green and cut those for the back layer of the tags. The tags mostly don’t have a good place to put the “To:” and “From” so they needed to be layered on cardstock. The opposite side of the paper was a diagonal stripe in Christmas colors so no place to write and the paper needed a cardstock layer anyway.

As it turned out, I found a To & From in the Snowman Season Stamp Set so I used that and mostly stamped somewhere right on the front of the tag. For the tags with no good place to stamp it, I used a retired Square Punch and punched out several white squares and stamped on those, then glued to the back of the tag.

With a hole punch, I punched a hole in the corner of the tag and tied on some retired ribbon to match. That’s all there was to it! They will just be tags for our own gifts so they don’t need to be fancy. And having these on hand just might save a last minute trip to the store for more gift tags at Christmas time!

It is so hot here that I figured having a day of making cute, easy Christmas tags would cool me off! You might like looking through your old designer papers and see what you can find to make on a hot summer day!

A Little Christmas in April With the Tag Buffet Project Kit!

Leave a reply
Tag Buffet Christmas Gift Tags

How about a little Christmas in April using the Tag Buffet Kit?! While things are kind of quiet holiday-wise, think about getting this Christmas tag kit at a discount and make some tags for Christmas gifts ahead of time! I know I have had to go to the store at the last minute to buy more tags for Christmas gifts. Or you can even make these tags or parts of them and stick them on Christmas cards! Get a head start!

This Tag Buffet Project Kit is on the Stampin’ Up! Clearance Rack right now. The Tag Buffet Stamp Set is no longer available but you can use any stamp set that has Christmas greetings with these tags. There is no stamping involved except for the greeting, so really you could skip any stamping and just use the images. I really think this tag kit is beautiful and I enjoyed making my Christmas tags when the kit came out in the past Holiday Catalog 2020.

The kit comes in a cute holiday box. All you have to do is layer the kit contents to make the tag and thread the string through the top. Or use the pieces to make Christmas cards or any other project!

Also on the Clearance Rack are these little Jingle Bells! You can get these for only $3.00 and add them to your Christmas tags! Or add them to any other holiday packaging when the time comes! Order a bunch and make a jingle bracelet for the holidays!

If you want any more details, read my blog post when I made my Tag Buffet Project Kit HERE.

You will also find other Christmas ribbons and even the Plush Poinsettia Specialty Papers on the Clearance Rack right now! Be sure you check it out while you are shopping! I already have my extra Tag Buffet Project Kit! If you don’t use all the designed pieces on each tag, you can probably use some of your own supplies and expand the number of tags you can make! Last year I enclosed a tag in a few Christmas cards that I sent out just for a little surprise gift inside my card. Remember, anything can sell out at any moment, but since now the big rush of the first day is over, I think you have a moment to look around on the Clearance Rack, not to mention the Last Chance Products and pick up some bargains for your stash!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE HERE!

Mini Coffee Carrier Christmas Gifts

Leave a reply
Coffee Carrier Trim the Town

I wished as hard as I could yesterday, but none of the rare Texas snow reached down to my part of the state, or even city! Outside of Houston, to the north and to the west got a few inches of snow which looked beautiful but it just didn’t come my way. Just rain ALL day and cold. Just not cold enough for snow! It’s been three years since we have seen snow, and I can tell you even a few flakes can be quite exciting here!

The cold and the snow reminded me of Christmas gifts I made using the Mini Coffee Carrier (retired) and the Mini Coffee Cups. Inside the cups I put a package of hot cocoa mix and plenty of candies (and maybe even a little cello bag of marshmallows). When I ran out of cups, I improvised with some retired bags from last year.

I decorated each Mini Coffee Carrier differently and decorated the cups as well. I didn’t own the dies to wrap paper around the cups so I had to decorate them some other ways because it is next to impossible to just wrap paper around a cup like that!

In the top photo, I used some Heartwarming Hugs Designer Series Paper (retired) to decorate the Mini Coffee Carrier and cut out some houses from the Trimming the Town Designer Paper (retired) plus a stamped and colored tree with some red enamel dots for the decoration. In my gift wrap I found tags I made last year from a Stampin’ Up! kit. How great was that to pull out some cute tags I had already made and were ready to use!

Coffee Carrier Gnome Victor

Here’s one made with the cute Gnome For the Holidays Stamp Set (retired) and colored with Stampin’ Blends! You can use lots of different shapes and sizes of die cuts for the focal point on these carriers.

Here’s how I decorated the cups to go with the gnomes. I used the Stitched Stars Dies in Gold Foil.

Coffee Carrier Snowman Kelly Full

I’ll miss this Snowman Season Stamp Set! I used some adhesive Snowflake Sequins (retired) around him. I also used the Glitter Star Ornaments (retired) on each Mini Coffee Carrier, just tied around the handle. I decorated the cup with a big die-cut snowflake from the So Many Snowflakes Dies. I ran out of cups so I just put the treats in a retired gift bag and tied some retired Christmas ribbon from last year around the package to make it look festive.

Coffee Carrier Snowman Kelly
Coffee Carrier Trim the Town German Eric

You might notice some German words on this one! That’s because it was for my son who took German in high school and went to Austria for his semester abroad back in college. One sheet of the Trimming the Town Designer Paper had all Christmas words in many languages plus English printed in thin strips so I just found a German phrase on there to use and cut out the words! He also got a package wrapped in Merry Christmas ribbon from last year instead of a cup, but I think that was cute as well!

Coffee Carrier Poinsettia Amy

This Mini Coffee Carrier with a poinsettia is one I posted HERE back in November. You can see more details about these Mini Coffee Carriers on that post, if you already purchased some and have some extras to use.

Coffee Carrier Cups Trim the Town cutouts

And here’s how I decorated some cups just by cutting out images from the large paper in the Trimming the Town DSP that had the town scene with the mountains in the background, people ice skating, etc.

If you didn’t get to use your Mini Coffee Carriers and Cups, maybe you can think about ways to decorate them for next Christmas or even during the year with other papers and decorations, maybe for a birthday or other celebration. These were fun to make and easier than I would have thought! Once you get going, the ideas start flowing!

I didn’t get my snow yesterday but I’ll keep hoping!

Heartwarming Hugs Thank You Card

Leave a reply
Heartwarming Hugs Thank You Card

Now that the holidays are over, it’s time to write a few thank you notes for gifts you received. At least that is the old-fashioned way of doing things and I think still the best! Which would you rather receive? An email on your computer or a handmade card in the mail with a handwritten note thanking you for a gift you gave or sent to someone?

Christmas may be over but you can still get out any leftover Heartwarming Hugs Designer Series Paper that you have and make a whole assortment of cards! If you look closely at the paper, it has no Christmas or holiday designs, just reds and greens. You can still use this paper for almost anything because it is not specifically designed for Christmas!

This easy card just starts with a Real Red card base with a layer of one of the patterns in Heartwarming Hugs. This paper is on the Year-End Closeout Sale at Stampin’ Up! but the inventory is running low so if you want it, order it soon! I wrapped a piece of Silver 3/8″ Metallic Edge Ribbon around the middle of the designer paper before adhering it to the card base.

The greeting is stamped in Real Red Ink in the Good Morning Magnolia Stamp Set. I die cut the greeting with a scalloped rectangle in the Stitched So Sweetly Dies. Then this was layered on another die in the set in Real Red. If you wanted to embellish this card further, you could add one kind of jewel or another on the sides of the Real Red die-cut.

Add a Whisper White layer to the inside and write your thank you note for your lovely gift or gathering or whatever you want to write! The recipient is sure to be impressed with your manners and cardmaking skills!

Happy Day-After-Christmas!

Leave a reply
After Christmas 2020

Happy Day-After-Christmas! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! Probably a different one for most of us, but I have to say, thank goodness for Zoom!! It’s the next best thing to being there! All our kids and spouses and girlfriends gathered on Zoom at 2 pm and opened our gifts! I didn’t know how that would work out but it was great and fun! This photo is of the aftermath!

The box in the middle of the coffee table is where I put my laptop and my husband and I sat on the sofa with our gifts nearby so we could open them. We are slow opening presents on a normal Christmas, taking all afternoon (we aren’t first-thing-in-the-morning people!) and being on Zoom was no different!

I have to say, being “with” our kids on Zoom kind of messed with our heads afterwards! I kept thinking they were around somewhere. My husband was thinking of things he wanted to say or ask them as if they were in the house. This morning when I looked out the kitchen window I wondered if they had seen the neighbor’s Christmas decorations! But really, it was a fun afternoon and now we have some nice and quite unique gifts to figure out and learn to use. USPS was only late with one gift and that has already been delivered in California very early this morning. Amazon and UPS did really well, I think, on almost all the gifts.

So if you didn’t receive everything you wanted from Santa, don’t worry! He is at Stampin’ Up! ready to pack up anything you want to order for yourself to get back at the rest of them who didn’t give you the perfect gift! Or maybe you just deserve to pick out something for yourself after taking care of everyone else! Did you see the skit on Saturday Night Live last weekend with the “family” singing about all the gifts they received and the mom says, “And I got this robe!” Then the kids say “and there are more presents!” and the mom’s face brightens in anticipation of more gifts for her besides the robe, but it’s really gifts for the dog! A rare, pretty funny SNL skit!

Go take a look around at Stampin’ Up! and see what you want for yourself! The store is always open! The Giant Year-End Closeout Sale is going on now with some bargains, plus a few things left on the Clearance Rack!

Hope you had a very happy Christmas!

A Christmas Poem For Stampers!

Leave a reply
Christmas cards

Can any of us relate to this poem?? I knew there were some stamping poems out there, from many years ago, and after searching I found this one in a forum from 2005! I don’t think the Demonstrator knew where it came from, it was shared with her from others, so I have no idea who came up with it, but they knew what they were talking about! I can think of one dear stamping friend in particular, but I think it applies to most of us! (Except for those people who had their cards done last summer! But what fun is that?!)

Enjoy! And have a Happy Christmas Eve!

The Week Before Christmas (In a Stamper’s House)

‘Twas the week before Christmas, and the house was a hush
Save the stamping of rubber in a last minute rush.
The cardstock was cut with precision and care
In hopes that a greeting would soon be stamped there.

The children were tucked in their beds around eight,
But now it’s ten-thirty… How’d it get so late?
And I in my PJs with bleary red eyes
Had finally arranged all the stamping supplies.

It started out simple. (It does every year.)
Just make a few cards for friends who are dear.
I pressed ink to paper. (It looked crisp and clean.)
A sprinkle of powder, heat to a sheen.

When what on my green Christmas card should appear?
Why, a tiny gold Santa with sleigh and reindeer.
On pigment! On powder! On heat from a gun!
Now ribbon and glitter! Can I make eighty-one?

“I can do it!” I said with all of my might
And looked at the clock – ’twas well past midnight.
I went straight to stamping out card after card.
“This might take all night, but at least it’s not hard.”

But after I finished, they looked a bit lame.
I didn’t want fancy, but these were too plain.
And then in a twinkling, a thought came to mind.
“I’ll just dress them up, and then they’ll be fine.”

So I went to my craft room and looked all around,
Then back to the table with all that I’d found.
My Fiskars I brandished (I wasn’t a quitter),
And soon I was covered in EP and glitter.

The cap of a marker I held in my teeth.
I’d lay in some color or maybe gold leaf.
My broad little face was all beaded with sweat,
But I wouldn’t give up – well, not at least yet.

There was glue on the table and ink on the floor.
I laughed at the sight though my fingers were sore.
I did not complain, just kept up my work.
When more things went wrong, I did not go berserk.

When finally finished, one card about six,
It looked pretty good after all of my tricks.
I’m keeping this one. My work on it shows.”
So clutching my card, up the stairs I arose.

I crawled into bed at the crack of dawn,
Creativity all spent, motivation all gone.
But make no mistake, I promise one thing:
You’ll all get your cards, but not ’til next spring!

–Author Unknown

Brightly Gleaming Square Christmas Cards

Leave a reply
Brightly Gleaming Square Christmas Cards

We’re down to the wire but you may still need some easy Christmas cards to make to put with a gift (or even mail late!) so take a look at these Brightly Gleaming Square Christmas Cards that you can make!

You can make square cards any size you like. I made these 4 1/4″ x 4 1/4″ by just cutting across a full sheet of cardstock horizontally at 4 1/4″. Since the paper is 8 1/2″ wide, when you fold it in half you have 4 1/4″ so that works out perfectly! You could also do 3″ x 3″ for a gift enclosure. Just trim your paper at 3″ x 6″.

You can make it super simple and just add a layer of designer paper, but I added some Copper Foil behind the designer paper on two of the cards. The first card has a base of Mossy Meadow Cardstock, then foil under the Mossy Meadow pattern of the paper, all just regular margins like we make on our cards.

The card on the right has a card base of Pretty Peacock Cardstock. When I went to make the foil layer underneath the Pretty Peacock pattern, all I had were scraps of the Copper Foil so I just cut two strips of foil and put them on two sides of the designer paper. It looks like I designed the card that way, not that I ran out of paper!

For the middle card, I used a card base of Very Vanilla with a layer of Night of Navy underneath the designer paper.

Each card just has a stamped greeting that is die-cut and then layered on another die-cut. You could use punches or simply cut squares or rectangles for the greetings and layers. I won’t even list the dies I used, just use what you have!

These cards I made are difficult to photograph because of the pretty foil accents on the Brightly Gleaming Specialty Designer Series Paper. This paper is, as I write this, on the Giant Year-End Closeout sale, discounted 50%! It’s very pretty so you might want to grab some if it is still available.

Square cards are quite the thing these days. The only thing is that if you mail a square card in a square envelope you are supposed to pay a surcharge. But these square cards will fit in our regular Medium Envelopes so no worries. But if you are just enclosing one with a gift or handing one to someone, you can use or make a square envelope with no issues.

These cards with just a card base, layer, and greeting are simple to make. Change up the designer paper or colors and greetings and you can make a card for a birthday or congratulations or whatever you need. Remember to check out this pretty paper in the Stampin’ Up! Online Store. It is well-worth 50% off for sure! If you need last-minute cards, try these Brightly Gleaming Square Christmas Cards!

Don’t Forget! Giant Closeout & Clearance!

Leave a reply
Year End Sale 2020 Banner Info

As we are busy getting ready for Christmas this week, take a moment to breathe and relax by looking online at the Stampin’ Up! Giant Year-End Closeout! Remember, the August-December 2020 Mini Catalog (Holiday Catalog) is retiring January 4th. Some products will carry over to future catalogs, but a lot is leaving.

I hate to see the end of the Holiday Catalog, yet by the time the holidays are over, I am ready for the fresh, new things in the next catalog! The January -June 2021 Mini Catalog (Spring Mini) will go live January 5th as well as Sale-A-Bration! If you are a regular customer of mine, you probably have received (or will receive soon) both the Spring Mini Catalog and the Sale-A-Bration Brochure. Be sure to watch your holiday mail! I know some customers have received theirs but with the mail so unpredictable these days, yours may still be on its way! (Or the mail person is enjoying reading it before giving it to you!!)

Stampin' Up! Clearance Rack

Also, the Clearance Rack was “refreshed” not long ago but there are only a few products left! Be sure to check it out. You might find a bargain or two that you “need”!

I hope you are closer to “done” with your Christmas preparations than I am! I’m still doing my cards, believe it or not. It’s my favorite thing to do but it always get saved until last and then it’s a rush. Sending my Christmas cards always reminds me of my mother. She always had her Christmas card register booklet with everyone’s addresses and would write notes inside in her pretty handwriting and address all the envelopes. We had typewriters and return address labels (I think) but no computers to write a Christmas letter. I remember when the mailman would make two trips in a day to deliver Christmas cards! Now that was the “good old days!”

Don’t miss out on the bargains that are available now. Maybe you need a Christmas present for yourself (although you know it won’t arrive until after Christmas!). I’m probably going to pick up something I want this afternoon just because! Take care of yourself, too!

Happy Holidays!

Buffalo Check Decorated Candle

Leave a reply
Buffalo Check Decorated Candle

I was watching someone’s Instagram “story” and saw in her home these black and white buffalo check candles. I think black and white is trendy in some Christmas home decorations this year. It gave me the idea to decorate a glass candle holder I had with a red and black buffalo check which is a little more traditional.

If you have a real candle, a flameless candle (even better), or a votive or candle holder of some kind, you can decorate it with your papercrafting supplies. We can do so much with our stamping supplies! That is why it is such a great hobby!

I haven’t used it in awhile, but I got out my Buffalo Check Stamp. This is a large background stamp, as we used to call them. You can purchase either the “cling” or the “wood-mount”. If you choose the cling, you need the largest acrylic block on which to mount it. I have always liked to use my background stamp stamp-side up, ink it up, and then lay the cardstock I am stamping on top of it. Then I take a scrap paper to cover the cardstock so I can rub all over with my fingers to make sure every area gets inked up.

This stamp was a little tricky but I got lucky! Obviously I wanted to line up the pattern going around the strip of cardstock that was going to go around my votive holder and it worked! Somehow I managed to lay down the strip in just the right place, at least close enough.

For decoration, I wrapped around a piece of Real Red Satin Ribbon and then tied on some pieces of greenery I had in my craft stash. I also had some of those red berries that I stuck in there. Maybe I could have added some other embellishments I have but I stopped with this. I could also have added a greeting on the candle. You can do so much with a project like this yet keep it very simple.

Look around your house and surely you will find some votive holders or maybe vases or who knows what that you can decorate for the holidays for little decorations in your home or maybe on your holiday dinner table. Here’s another votive holder I decorated by cutting out images from the fall Gilded Autumn Designer Series Paper. Just use your imagination and you will come up with a fun decoration for a Christmas candle or votive or even to give one as a gift!

Make Snowman Gift Tags

Leave a reply
Snowman Christmas Gift Tags

How about making some Snowman Gift Tags for your presents you may be furiously wrapping at the last minute?! Here are three ideas you can use! Everyone loves snowmen!

As I was wrapping my gifts, I came across the center Layered Snowman Gift Tag that I had made several years ago. Sometimes we save the tags from packages we open and I put them away until the next year. Then we can reuse them as long as we check the “To:” and “From:” on the tags so there are no mixups! I decided to update my snowman tag.

Layered Snowman Gift Tag

This is a fun tag to put on a package! Much better than those plain To & From tags you buy, 1000 in a package and have to tape on!

To make this tag, I die cut the largest circle in the Layering Circle Dies and then chose two smaller dies (about every other size) for the body and head. I sponged the edges with Balmy Blue Ink just a little and popped them up on Dimensionals. Just make a hat out of a piece of Basic Black and the brim with a piece from the Classic Label Punch with the ends cut off.

To decorate the hat I just cut a sprig from a Forever Flourishing Die and the three little Real Red flowers from a die in the Budding Blooms Dies. There are certainly a whole lot of other leaf shapes and flowers, whether die-cut, punched, or cut out by hand that you could use! I added the tiniest Gold Glitter Enamel Dots to the flower centers.

The snowman face I just drew on with markers. The ribbon is Seaside Spray Metallic Ribbon to represent the snowman’s scarf. Punch a hole in the top if you want to tie on a ribbon for a tag or even just use the snowman as a decoration on a package!

Monochromatic Snowman Gift Tag

This Snowman Season tag is really easy since it just uses one ink color, Balmy Blue. First I made a tag out of Balmy Blue Cardstock with the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch and then added a layer of Whisper White. I stamped the one snowman from Snowman Season in Balmy Blue and added the “To: From:” at the bottom. I used the Silver 3/8″ Metallic Edge Ribbon for the tie (one of my all-time favorite ribbons!).

Large Snowman Season Gift Tag

This tag I made a little fancier since the other two were pretty simple. But this one is still simple! I just cut a 3″ x 4″ rectangle of Balmy Blue Cardstock and layered with a piece of Whisper White. The snowman from Snowman Season is stamped with Memento Ink and I did the little bit of coloring with various colors of Stampin’ Blends, even a tiny bit of Balmy Blue around the sides of the snowman for shading and to look a little cool and icy. I also just scribbled some Balmy Blue under the snowman to look like snow. Some glitter would have been nice, too! The snowflakes are stamped from the set and the greeting is from the set. I cut the words out separately after stamping so I could arrange them on the tag. Then I added some Adhesive-Backed Snowflakes (which may be sold out now but you can use other gems and jewels!) for a little more bling!

Once you get started making tags, you might not be able to stop because you will come up with more and more ideas and they don’t have to be fancy! If your packages are wrapped already, you might consider having fun stamping and making tags for next year AFTER Christmas when you maybe have some free time! These Snowman Gift Tags are fun and easy to make and the gift recipient will likely enjoy them!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE!

Reindeer Candy Cane Treat

Leave a reply
Reindeer Candy Cane Treat

Here’s a cute Reindeer Candy Cane Treat I found online looking for candy treat ideas. This isn’t what I intended to make at all, but once I saw it I had to make it since I did have a box of candy canes! I did see lots of different versions, this one I believe was made by a Demonstrator in the UK. She used a 12″ x 12″ piece of cardstock whereas I used a regular size of cardstock, forgetting that hers was larger! But it all turned out all right in the end!

To make the Reindeer Candy Cane Treat, cut a strip of cardstock 11″ x 2″ (just a smidge under 2″ so it fits in the punch!). Each end is punched with the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch. Score at 2 3/4″ and 5 3/4″. Add strips of Tear & Tape to form the pocket to hold the candy canes.

Reindeer Candy Cane Treat Assembly

Fold on the score lines in a zig zag fashion.

Reindeer Candy Treat Side View

Fold the bottom portion up to form the pocket. The front tag punched end will become the reindeer face!

I punched a 1/2″ circle out of retired Red Glimmer Paper. You could use any red cardstock, foil paper, or the velveteen paper. Use whatever you have. For the eyes, I used some googly eyes I had in my drawer. Of course you can use small circles of white and black for the eyes.

Insert the two candy canes into the pocket. Tie a red ribbon in the punched hole at the top. I also added a bow around one candy cane just for fun.

Just play with this idea and see what you come up with! Use what colors and materials you have. I think it makes a really cute and quick and easy reindeer candy cane treat!

Wrap Gifts With Designer Paper

Leave a reply
Wrap Gifts With Designer Paper

If you happen to run out of wrapping paper as you wrap your Christmas gifts, or gifts any time of year, consider this idea: Wrap Gifts With Designer Paper!

This is a gift for my son and this particular pattern of paper in the Toile Tidings Designer Series Paper I thought would be a fun one for him since he sees some of these animals when he is out hiking where he lives. This paper was in the Holiday Mini Catalog LAST year but surprisingly was carried over to this year. Right now it is discounted on the Year-End Closeout by Stampin’ Up! so it really is a good deal. There is even some “official” Toile Tidings wrapping paper discounted over 50% off on the Clearance Rack right now.

I did not make a box, I just adhered this paper on to the box the gift is packed in. He’s going to have to rip the paper off to get inside the box! I only had one full sheet of this animal paper and another partial sheet so I had to piece it together somewhat. The top is not really a lid, it is another sheet of paper with the checked design folded over the top and that is also just adhered to the box, not really a lift-off lid. I used the Stampin’ Seal+ adhesive for a good strong bond.

The reason I am posting this gift-wrapping idea is to give you a reason to use up your designer paper (maybe especially retired paper that we all hoard!), maybe look for some paper that makes the gift more personalized, and keep you from rushing out to the store for more wrapping paper! You can use some of your old ribbon (or new!) as well.

Now yesterday at the same time I was getting ready to wrap this package, Sara Douglass, Stampin’ Up! CEO was going live on Facebook showing an easy way to make designer paper gift boxes with NO CUTTING! I felt like we were both a little bit on the same wavelength! I just sort of tried her method when I made the lid of my box, although, as I said, it’s not a lid that lifts off, it is glued down. But I did the corners as she did!

Here is the link to Sara’s video on Facebook (if it works!). Don’t forget other gift-wrapping ideas you can use rather than spending a lot of money on wrapping paper or rather than running out to the store.

  • Use designer paper or cardstock to make small gift bags.
  • Use designer paper or cardstock to make small gift boxes.
  • Use gift bags you already have from shopping and decorate the front right over the store printing.
  • Stamp on plain white computer paper or cardstock to make your own designer paper to wrap a gift.
  • Decorate kraft or white lunch sacks you may have in your pantry to hold a gift.
  • Stamp on or use brown packing paper you might receive in shipped gifts and then embellish the package with Stampin’ Up! ribbon and embellishments.
  • Make your own gift tags with kits, punches, or die-cut squares, rectangles or circles.

Those are just a few ideas I hope you will find helpful as we all get pressed for time! I think we all have designer paper that we can spare for wrapping gifts that will make a high quality gift presentation! Keep that idea in mind of wrapping gifts with designer paper whether for Christmas now or future occasions!