Just Do It!

This gift box will be just the thing for a friend at a crossroads. I filled this lovely gable box with some yummy cupcakes and will take them over to her this afternoon.

Now, to the really good stuff – the tag!

Using PTI’s Library Card tag, I die cut My Minds Eye patterned paper for this large gift tag. Next, I die cut Hawaiian Shores felt using the large limitless layers die, then white cardstock with the Fillable Frames die. With another piece of MME paper, I cut it using a PTI border die.

I stamped the white frame with the stars from Star Prints and “Just do it” from the same set. I used orange chalk to outline the frame to give it more emphasis. I pop dotted the frame and stuck a couple decorative pins into the foam pop dot. (Learned that little tip from Dawn McVey this morning!!) Don’t you love little tips like this?

I’m loving this color combo! And when you have a tag that stands out like this, you can get away with leaving the box plain.

Have a great weekend – it’s going to be in the 60’s in NC. Can’t wait. I’ll be the one doing backflips around the house (actually I’ll be doing them in my head since I sure as hell would end up in traction if I attempted it!)

Traci

Handmade Holiday: Day 8

Gift Boxes are one of my favorite things to make to put small gifts into. My daughter, Rachel, is getting small shiny things (if you know what I mean) for Christmas, so I needed several small gift boxes.

Using my Cricky (Cricut) and the Tags, Bags, & More cartridge, I cut out three gift boxes and decorated them just a bit. All the paper is K&Co.

You see how those trees are upside down on the box above? That’s the “Live and Learn” part of crafting I talk about all the time. Did I recut it? Nope. It’s all right! I let go of perfection a long time ago.

Remember: It doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s handmade!

These next gable boxes, I picked up at the new Container Store in our area! Can I get a big WOOHOO? Love that store. These babies were adorable and just $.99 each.

Yikes! It’s almost Christmas. Gotta run and go pack up more gifts…

Traci

Easy Gift Bags

One of my favorite easy crafts is making cute gift bags out of inexpensive kraft bags. You can get a pack of 12 kraft bags at Michael's for around $5. For those of you who are math-challenged like me, that's $.42 each! (yes, I used a calculator.)

I taught a little workshop last night on gift bags and here are some of the projects we did:

Just punch circles from that stack of patterned paper you have (I know you do!), attach a quote sticker and you're done.

Patterned paper and stamps (from Papertrey Ink) make this bag completely giftable for any occasion.

This goes to show you that a kraft bag CAN be elegant. I die cut a wool felt (I LOVE that stuff) mat and stamped a simple sentiment and a couple flourishes. Don't forget that felt adds such warmth to any project - even paper projects. My favorite thing about this project? I can use it for a guy or gal.

Here, I cut a piece of solid red fabric and frayed each side for a rustic feel for the mat. Using my Cricut Imagine machine, I print and cut those holly leaves. Then I used a small circle punch to punch a couple of pink berries. Added some clear glitter for some pizazz and an old clothespin to complete the homespun look of this bag.

Creatively yours,

Traci