See? I hoard supplies for a reason.

I wanted to wrap up some Christmas packages but realized I hadn't put any thought into giftwrap this year. Oh well, I'm a craft supplies hoarder! I went through my stash and thanks to it...(and a cup of hot chocolate)





I was able to put something simple yet workable together.


Brown kraft paper, plain tags, 50 cent spools of ribbon, ink pads and one dollar stamps saved the day!
I really do love using the brown kraft paper (or package/mailing paper as you might know it) - just think of it as a blank canvas that you can decorate with anything!

Leaves and twigs are not just for the mulch pile

I'm totally cheating today and reposting a few ideas I had last December - which is when I first started blogging and no one was reading my blog then anyway :)...holy cow! I just checked and I totally missed my blogoversary! When I stop house-sitting I will have to do something spectacular to make up for that.

My mom is going in for some pre-op prep today (before she has shoulder surgery for the second time this year - on the same shoulder) so I'm going with her instead of sitting at the computer and coming up with a new and fabulous, clever and brilliant idea.

I have mentioned the huge oak that resides in my yard...it provides me with all sorts of great crafting supplies but this time I'm using the leaves which I spray painted (yes, really) gold and copper.


I also gathered up these little twiggy lumps and coated the ends in glitter to make them look more like winter than fall.

And then I used the twigs for embellishment and the leaves I used as gift tags - simply wrote on them with a Sharpie and tied on with a bit of jute string.

It worked fantastically and I've visited some people I gave gifts to that were embellished with these tags and noticed they kept them! I thought that was pretty neat.

I bet you never again look the same way at all that nature littering your yard. ;)

FINALLY

Talk about the project that wouldn't end.

This right here is a Christmas present.

I am not even kidding you.

But I do have enough sense to be embarrassed about admitting it!

There's a perfectly reasonable (and totally long and boring) explanation as to why I just now finished it, but the key word is "finished" !! Weeee!!!

In fact it took me so long that I made a bracelet to go with it as "interest."

The reason for the post though, is the wrapping! I've seen several crafty and creative ladies taking ugly tins and making them into something really fun. If you've ever posted something like that, thanks for the idea!

I took a (sadly) empty can of Pirouette, spray-painted it black (after sanding it!) and do you recognize the flower? It was one of my leftovers from my vase project in the post below. It was a perfect embellishment (and also hid a square sticker mark that wouldn't sand off *wink*). I framed the image with polka-dot ribbon, bejewelled and monogrammed the lid and crafted a gift tag and hung it from the same ribbon as frames the image. I then lined the interior of the can with tissue paper and coiled the scarf in there - it fits perfectly! The bracelet sits atop it all. Easy and unique. Love it!

How tricky am I to get both the before and the after in the same photo? Oh so tricky!

(sadly the other one is also empty)

When I was photographing the scarf and bracelet it was dim and drizzling rain so I decided to take the photos on the front porch so I could get some light. When I was finished with the shots I turned around and was greeted by a rainbow. How lovely!

And to top it all my inspiration returned! I was complaining about losing it when B was in her funk. Ronnie got in on that with this post.



Well I don't know if I should call it inspiration or insanity. I made all of these in one night.





They are almost ready to go in the etsy shop! Whew. Once I recover that is...

More firsts and ideas for packages

If you read Monday's post you know I've been talking about all the projects I've tried for the first time. The next thing I tried was cardmaking.

I don't have a bunch of the fancy tools that hardcore cardmakers and scrapbookers have so I had to make it up as I went along.

Inspired by Karen's insane cupcake book (her description, not mine) I decided that would be a perfect thing to put on the front of the card.

I knew right away I wanted the frosting to sparkle because ever since I was a kid I've loved things that sparkle. Don't card cupcakes seem like something that should be sparkling?


I freehand cut the "frosting" and coated it in glitter. I also freehand cut the "cake" and "wrapper" part of the cupcake. I tried - on a sample piece of paper! very important! - to see what drawing on the ridges would look like. Uh. Yeah. Not good. Now what? Heehee! You'll never guess! I stole a tube crimper out of the shop (not the craft area, the fixing cars area) - mechanics, etc. use them to squeeze all the stuff out of tubes and each side of the rollers happen to have a crinkle cut. I stuck my cupcake bottom in there and turned the knob - out came perfectly crinkled cupcake!


With the bottom having actual texture to it, my frosting wouldn't fit so I glued a piece of foamy stuff on the bottom so it sticks up a bit and gives it some dimension.

I still think the candle looks like a lighthouse but hey, I learned stuff.

Once you've gone to all this trouble to make things and make them pretty, you don't want to be sticking them in just any old gift bag or box. So to make it interesting, and to also make do with what I had - which was a Christmas clothing box with snowflakes and tapemarks all over it - I covered the box with brown paper and stamped a pattern all over it. I really recommend stamping the paper before you put it on the box (ancora imparo, right?). Then I grabbed some ribbon scraps and attached them to the box as well. For an extra embellishment I made a pom pom, thanks to Martha's instructions, and attached it to the top. I completed the look with a freehand cut, layered leaf-shaped tag. Now it's personal!

For the second box I just made a pom pom and attached it with a tag with funky cut edges and another piece of scrap ribbon to a pre-made Chinese take-out gift box. I love the red and silver.

My first real attempt at cardmaking, my first stamped wrapping paper and my first pom poms - check!

Making your mark

While I was looking for craft ideas for my Christmas projects I came across a lot of

"handmade is better" sentiments. Well I happen to agree! To promote the idea I made special tags for all my gifts to let the recipients know their gift was "made with love" - which it was, let me tell you. There is nothing like a ton of thought and effort to show someone that you care.


Thankfully, my cousin Dawn had loaned me an enormous amount of stamping supplies (a friend asked when seeing it, if she owned her own store!) to play with while she took a break from the hobby. Stamps, ink and even stacks of paper all at my disposal. Well of course I had plans to make Christmas cards, but I think we all know how far I went with that idea. Instead I used those supplies to make my tags.

For the tags pictured above I used only two sheets of paper, two colors of ink, one stamp, some glue and a gel pen.

What I wanted from the paper was a subtle yet elegant look so I chose ink that was the same color, but different tone and a stamp that was a beautiful swirly kind of pattern. Once you start stamping on one sheet, cover the whole paper with design - it doesn't take too long. Be sure to clean your stamp well before moving on to the next sheet! Then do as before.

Using a set of graduated heart-shaped mini cookie-cutters (from one of those kitchen gadget stores) I traced small hearts all over the paper. Then I went to cutting. Doing the project in steps like an assembly line makes the work a little smoother, but that doesn't mean your hands will forgive you for all the monotony of tracing and cutting.

Once they were all cut I used a little glue to affix the red to the green and let them dry thoroughly before writing on them. I considered printing the words on the paper but I thought that kind of defeated the whole idea so I used a black gel pen and hand wrote my message.

Some I taped to packages, others I punched a hole through and strung them on jute string.

Out of just two sheets of paper I got a large stack of tags - more than I even needed for Christmas - so I have leftovers for Valentine's Day! (Or St. Patricks Day or May Day or...etc.) Not to mention that all my friends and family know that their gifts were extra special.

The Second "R"

I remember when I was a kid there were commercials that encouraged us to "Reduce! Reuse! Recycle!" to an odd 70's tempo. Odd music aside, it's a good thing to remember. We always laugh when we find the strangest things in Grandma's cupboards because she refuses to throw them away but reusing is a great way to turn your garbage into something useful.

These three containers once held chocolate, spreadable Swiss cheese (SO YUMMY) and humuus and are now ready to hold gifts thanks to some scrapbook paper and scrap items from around the house.

1. I had thoughts about giving up on this one, but I kept layering until I got something that looked decent. Using a brown paper bag and scrapbook paper/vellum I covered the sides and top. There was a seam in the paper bag piece I used on the top so I covered it with ribbon and added another ribbon piece just for interest. Using a stamp, embossing pad, powder and heat tool courtesy of my cousin Dawn, I made the floral, dark green design on a separate piece of the same paper bag I used to cover the top. I am a huge amateur at stamping and I didn't trust myself to get it right on the actual lid. Once it was stamped and embossed I cut around the design and glued it to the lid. I also used ribbon to glue around the edge of the lid to hide the expiration date printed there. And you thought it was just to make it pretty!
2. Using the container itself as a guide, I traced around the top, bottom and side (to measure width) on the backside of scrapbook paper. Then I cut and glued them to whichever side they were intended for. I did, however, pencil in the words "top, bottom, top side, bottom side" on the backs since they were all slightly different. Then I took some jute string and wrapped it around and tied it in a bow, using a dried leaf from an old floral arrangement as an embellishment.

3. Scrapbook paper again! (Funny. Especially since I'm not a scrapbooker.) This one took more time than the others simply because the box was all one piece and I had to glue in sections, sometimes slitting the paper to allow some give. If the box had been two pieces it would have been much easier, but it's what I had! Once dry, I glued some black ribbon (albeit crookedly) to one side and glued a gold leaf (cut from candy wrapper foil of all things) to add a little sparkle. I was impressed with how nice the black ribbon complemented the whole thing.

Sure there are some flaws in the finished product but I am not one of those people who likes cookie cutter perfection. Flaws mean character!

Now, go dig around your garbage/recycling pile and see what you can find.

Let it snow

I had a hunter gatherer adventure in the yard a few days ago and found an abundance of little twigs with buds on them under the oak tree. They were so interesting looking that I figured I could do something with them. None of them had long enough stems to be put into an arrangement but I thought they might go nicely as a gift embellishment with my gold and copper oak leaves. The only problem with doing all this gathering from nature is that it usually looks a lot more Thanksgiving than Christmas. To remedy that I relied on two old craft icons: tacky glue and glitter. Glitter is usually one of those things left to children's crafts along with the popsicle sticks and wiggly eyes, but in moderation, glitter can be a nice Christmas craft resource for adults as well.

With a crummy paintbrush from a child's paint set I applied Aleene's Tacky Glue (I love Aleene's!) on the tips of the buds and sprinkled them liberally with irridescent clear glitter. Oddly the only "white" glitter I had was glow-in-the-dark and I didn't want to scare my friends with glowing twigs so I opted for the clear.

Now they have a "frosted" appearance much more appropriate to Christmas!

Frosting your findings works on any number of items to be found around the house. Just make sure to apply your glue over one surface and your glitter over a second with a sheet of paper beneath. That way you can pour the unused glitter back into the container for the next round.

If you're into making more faux snow at your house try this fantastic idea I found while browsing around paper craft patterns. Such humble ingredients become such great decor - I love it!

Put a cork in it

I became an accidental collector of glass bottles. My whole house would probably look like an

apothecary if I had them all out at once - but I have to admit, I kinda like that look. Rows of glass containing bits and potions. I don't know if I like that containment/organization or if I like how the contents of the bottle can make it so interesting, like a decoration itself.

Bottles are also great gift wrap! Fill them with the objects/substance of your choice, tie a bow and tag on them and there you have it.

If you don't already have some glass bottles they are easily found at craft stores like Michael's or garage sales or even Goodwill. Corks to keep the pretties contained can be found at craft stores, although I think mine came from Hi-School Pharmacy of all places.

The bottles in the photo are holding sunflower seeds, columbine seeds and...I'm drawing a blank on the third. Well that will be a surprise when I plant them! (and it's also a good reminder to label your bottles) All of the seeds I took from flowers growing at my Grandma's house. When I plant the seeds I will have living reminders of her and the beautiful yard she kept. [Problem for you is that there aren't many flower seeds still around in December - so write that down for next year and gather them in the fall.] "Living reminders" are a touching and thoughtful gift that your gardening friends will appreciate.

How about a message in a bottle? Make sure the bottle you buy has a large mouth and write a message or things you appreciate about a person, roll them up, tie them up and place them in the bottle. The recipient can take one out every day until they are all opened.

Have an herb garden? Fill bottles with dried herbs or herb salts. Or flavor an oil or make a vinegar and give them away in pretty bottles with accompanying instructions/ideas for use.

The only limits you have in using bottles are what can fit in the ones you have. So go forth and be creative!

When I wrote the title for this entry it reminded me of a quote I recently came across that I thought was a great: The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right time, but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.

Free is a very good price

A few years ago I got into embellishing packages. Gifts themselves are great, but having someone say, "wow!" before they've even opened your gift, is a lot of fun.

Last year I used copper-colored paper and gold-colored paper and used flatback faux jewels, jewel-toned curling ribbon and even peacock feathers to dress up the tops of packages (thanks to my neighbor Liana who gave me a grocery bag full of feathers when her peacocks molted). The packages looked rich (in color, not necessarily cost) and sparkly and became a decoration themselves as they sat under the tree.

This year my color scheme is coming from nature. I have plain brown paper for wrapping (I already had some, but I also found some in the gift wrap/card aisle at K-Mart) and a spool of 1"green grosgrain ribbon bought for just over a dollar at Joann Fabric and Crafts. Now for gift tags! I've been buying the sticker kind since they are easy, pretty affordable and have some cute patterns - but that doesn't go with the creative and hand-made spirit! What I looked for was something I had available to me in quantity. Now what do I have available to me in quantity in fall....

I'm not sure why but the oak leaves stuck out to me from all the other leaf choices as the most Christmassy. I tried to gather them before too much rainfall to make sure the leaves I had were as whole as possible. Then I took my leftover spray paint cans from another project (I am the spray paint queen) and did two batches: one in gold, the other in copper. The gold leaves really stand out, which was good when I forgot to bring them in one night and there was a wind storm and I spent the next day hunting gold leaves out of the yard. The copper leaves simply look like a darker, shinier version of their natural selves. I could have left the leaves alone but I was actually hoping that the paint would act as a sealant and prevent any more decay. And don't worry about time, mine dried very quickly and I was able to get both sides done in under 20 minutes.

When it comes time for Christmas wrapping, I will affix the leaves with small ribbon or maybe a jute or cotton string. Using a dark ink pen, or paint pen I can write the recipients name on the leaf. So there you have a sparkly Christmas embellishment and gift tag all in one - and it didn't cost a thing!