Hi Everyone! It is Christmas Eve and we're enjoying our family holiday celebrations. With our son being four this year the holidays have been a lot of fun. He has gotten into enjoying Christmas music and I REALLY enjoy listening to his versions of classics. Feliz Navidad is Feliz Naneena and Jingle Bell Rock is Jingle Bell Rocks. I often have "Dradle Dradle Dradle" singing through my head after I leave a room that had him in it. Our Elf, Udie (named after the song in Dora the Explorer), has been finding herself in a lot of silly places and effectively working when the naughty bug kicks in.
During this busy time of year, I don't find a ton of time to craft but I do squeeze some time in here and there. I did hold my annual holiday gift giving class for my card class girls earlier this month. It is always a popular class because it is a great chance to make quick and easy gifts for co-workers, teachers, neighbors, etc. Earlier this month I showed you the chalkboard ornament that doubled as a gift card holder but today I thought I would share with you a few other gifts I made this holiday season.
I made this "Merry" banner using an old Little Golden Book that was Christmas themed. I love Little Golden Books, they remind me of my childhood. I remember having a shelf full of them. They are also really cheap and easy to find now at thrift stores and used bookstores. The letters were made using my slice machine. I used the same concept I use for my superhero and princess banners, you can find those on my
Etsy Shop (for those of you keeping track, the superhero banner is by far still the favorite over the princess banner!). I also have this cute little "Merry" Banner posted in my shop if you are looking for a cute decoration for you or a loved one.
Next up is a little Petri dish (found at the Dollar Store) filled with Ju Ju Coins and decorated with "Rudolph's Spares" on the cover. I saw something very similar online (sorry, I don't have the original link) and knew we had to create this quick and easy gift in class. It is just a fun way to package a little candy for your recipient.
This one is my favorite (and just between you and me, it won't be gifted to anyone because I'll be keeping it for myself). It is some Peppermint Bath Sugar and smells heavenly. You can find the recipe all over Pinterest. I adapted mine and used some seasame seed body oil instead of the expensive almond oil that is hard to find. It smells great and leaves your skin feeling nice and soft. Half of the recipe was dyed with red food coloring and layered in the jar together to give it a nice candy cane look.
Of course who would ever say "no" to a glass Santa filled with chocolates? He is even harder to resist with that cute gift tag! There is enough cuteness here to make you want to break that newly formed New Year's resolution before it even starts.
Everyone could use a few more gift tags! These use the hot trendy washi tape that you can find EVERYWHERE right now (including Target!).
Next up: old school milk carton containers. One is holding hot cocoa and the other is holding peppermint marshmallows. Two neccessities when the weather gets cold around here.
And last but not least, I modified this coffee cup card template I saw on
Stamsnsmiles blog so that the template opened from the top to hold a surprise gift card.
To make it even more special, I sewed up this quick coffee cup cozy on my sewing machine. Seriously, this is a project you can have done from start to finish in under one hour (including the sewing time). I used the cup cozy template that I found on
Hawaiian Paper Doll but I did make it about 1/4 inch bigger on the top and bottom and about an 1/2 inch longer on each of the sides.
That's all for now! I hope you and your family have a great (and safe) holiday this year! See you soon, I got to take a break to get ready for Santa's big appearance tonight!
