Cookies in the Oven Tags

I immediately grabbed the Lawn Fawn 'sprinkled with love' stamp and die sets when I saw them in HM Ben Franklin Crafts.  I knew that I could turn the oven image into a really cool shaker tag by cutting out the window, gluing acetate film to the back of it, and using two die cut thin white foam pieces to form the cavity for the shaker elements. The stamped and colored cookies in the shaker oven added a bit of whimsy to the tag. 

 I liked that I didn't have to color much on the oven (just a little light grey here and there) but I felt the tags were not Christmasy enough so I added green acrylic crystals for the knobs, a shimmery Heiko ribbon and a bit of miniature holly garland.  If you shake the oven tags you will be able to read the message inside, 'homemade for you'. I will happily attach these tags to my homemade Xmas cookie bags....mmm-mmm-mmm cookies! Time to get out my favorite recipes and start baking!

Holiday Treat Card Holders

The Hero Arts coffee drink stamp set (from HM Ben Franklin Crafts) inspired me to make these gift card holders ( for S________ lovers).  It was easy to use the Hero Arts Ombre ink pads to stamp the cups in blended shades of green or red.  The banner tags were made from striped papers from the 6x6 American Crafts printed paper pad purchased at BFC. Even though the Paper Smooches tag die was a bit long, I easily altered it to fit the envelope. I let the top of the banner tag peek above the envelope to serve as the loop to attach the twine tie.

The card holder was made with a Tim Holtz Sizzix envelope die with fasteners. If you can't find this die anymore, you can substitute a purchased white manila envelope and stamp holiday motifs on it.

Here is a closer look at the toppings for the drinks.  I used Queen and Co. sugar and diamond sprinkles on a cream topping of Bo Bunny white pearlescent paint (comes in a squeeze tube) and added stamped holly sprigs (in the set) decorated with green Wink of Stella and red Stickles.

This was an easy project that can be tied onto a co-workers desk as a surprise Xmas gift.  It would also make a good decoration for a party favor tree.  Use your imagination to delight your special coffee loving friends. Craft a smile today!

Gingerbread Baker Tags

Spotting the Stampendous gingerbread man stamp and die set at HM Ben Franklin Crafts, really made me jump for joy!  Every year I try to at least craft handmade tags for my holiday baked goods(....not mailing out too many Xmas cards these days...ah, the electronic age...nothing gets saved and treasured).  Anyway, this set makes it easy to create the cutest gingerbread people which were quickly turned into tags with the addition of a punched hole and holiday twine.  I chose Doodlebug paper from a 6x6 pad because it had tiny prints which were perfect for the aprons. The paper and twine were both purchased at Ben Franklin Crafts....the best place in the islands to satisfy your crafting needs!  Happy Holiday Crafting!

Xmas Flip Around Gift Card Holder

 These days I mostly give gift cards ( for Ben Franklin Crafts, of course) for Xmas gifts.  I think I have an odd taste in gifts so I hesitate to trust my shopping skills.  Anyway, when I saw the Sizzix die set I was excited for the possibility of using it for all occasions.  It was so simple to cut out the printed card stock (love that Doodle Bug Designs 6x6 paper pad) and assemble the card with double stick tape.

 To disguise the gift card and make it match the flip card, I covered it with Doodlebug printed Xmas washi tape....lots to choose from at BFC.  The Little B dies were used to cut the foil paper (DCWV) words which were glued to the washi covered gift card.

Here is the back of the card. Little sprigs of artificial holly were glued to the tabs that hold the gift card onto the Xmas card.

This view of the flip side of the gift card shows the tab cut outs that secure the gift card in place.

I feel this Sizzix die set is one I will employ many times over the years because it is so basic and useful.  Included in this set are lots of word and floral dies that I did not use for this card.  If you have a crafty friend, this might make a great Xmas gift. Happy Xmas Crafting and Shopping!

Woodland Animal Calendar Magnets/Coasters

Recently, while finding craft goodies in a clearance bin at HM Ben Franklin Crafts, I discovered a really cute set of woodland animal stamps from Inkadinkado.  This set came with some blank coasters (for those of you not old enough to know: Coasters are what you put under sweating drink glasses to protect grandma's nice table).  For some reason coasters seem to disappear in our house, so I thought this would justify purchasing this stamp set.  Also, I am amazed every year at Karen's (Scrap Happy) production of coaster calendars during the holidays but always think she should have a way to recycle her cheerful crafts....they are too good to toss at the year's end.  (I usually stick on a new calendar to her coaster magnets but here is my version of the magnet that can be re-made into a usable coaster.)

After stamping and heat embossing 'thankful' in gold on the coasters, I stamped the leaves and animals.  Then I sprayed Krylon low odor gloss (from HM BFC) to protect the coaster top and to make the calendars easy to remove at the end of the year.  After cutting and adhering 4" circles from an adhesive magnet sheet (from BFC), the coasters (with the addition of Vippies calendars) become calendar magnets!  Okay, my coaster magnets are no way as lovely as Karen's, but grandma would love them for her precious table...yes, she would!

Hint: If you can't find coasters, you can make your own by using the Martha Stewart circle cutter to make 4" circles from watercolor papers and chipboard then gluing them together.

Autumn Leaves Jump for Joy Shaker Card

This shaker card started with very cute Lawn Fawn stamp and die sets (purchased at HM Ben Franklin Crafts) and some awesome inexpensive leaf sequins from Eva's Etsy store (see Crafting This and That shown on the side bar of this blog).  First I used a Spellbinders die with a straight side that was positioned along the fold of the card before running through my Big Shot machine. Next I cut two pieces from thin brown foam sheets using the same die.  Through the front of the card (cut from a leaf patterned card stock) I used the EK Success leaf punch to cut an opening and traced the leaf onto the foam sheets before punching them out, too.  I trimmed a little off the foam leaf openings so none of the foam showed through the window.  A piece of acetate was glued to the back of the card front opening and the foam pieces were glue together and onto the solid brown card front.

 The leaf sequins and tiny punched out leaves (Fiskars punch) were added to the leaf shaped cavity before the leaf printed front was glued onto the card.  The animals and leaves were stamped and colored with Copic pens before die cutting them out (use a little washi tape to secure the dies perfectly over the image before running through Big Shot).  I used the Misti to align the words before stamping the inside of the card. Finally, all the colored die cut images were adhered to the card with double stick tape or sticky foam dots.  This card was completed in one try, which made me very happy...."I jumped for joy and was so thankful!"

Thanks A Bushel Tags

 Friends are always doing sweet, helpful things for me, so I am continually scouting for cute 'thank you' stamp/die sets.  When I discovered the cute Lawn Fawn apple set at HM Ben Franklin Crafts, it just JUMPED into my shopping basket.  The sentiments and faces for the apples are what really make this set adorable.  The Paper Smooches topper dies and (We R Memory Keepers) corner cropper tool helped to turn some autumn card stock into perfect tags to dress up my thank you gifts for this fall.

Oh yes, the Misti (shown in my last post) truly made it easy to center the words on the topper and allowed me to re-stamp and heat emboss when it wasn't perfect the first time.  Love this tool!