the hybrid chick

I love making handmade gifts for friends and neighbors – especially during the holidays! The problem is, this type of gift often requires more time and effort (and sometimes added expense) on my part. These are ALL things that are usually in short supply in December.

My solution? A quick and easy gift that I can mass produce for very little expense!!

I have found that food is always a great place to start when coming up with a gift. While shopping my local Target I stumbled on Jiffy Pop while picking up some microwave popcorn. Remember Jiffy Pop? Yes, they still make it!

I thought it would be fun to buy for the kids and then my idea started forming … I could dress it up to make the perfect gift! At just over $1 each I could give them to all of my neighbors, too!

Supplies used:

• Fabulously Festive Kit by SarahJ
• Foam Dimensionals
• Self-Adhesive “bling”
• Scissors
• Terrifically Tacky Tape*
• Ribbon*
• Jiffy Pop*

* (items not shown in photo)

First, I designed my Jiffy Pop cover in Photoshop. I started by creating a 7 inch circle with my marquee tool and using it as a clipping mask to make sure my design would fit the space. After I finished my design, I printed a “flattened” copy with all of my elements as a part of the cover so I could just print, cut out the circle, and finish my gift … SO EASY!!!

Then I decided that I wanted to “jazz it up” just a bit by cutting out some of the embellishments rather than having them flat. To do this I created a new 8 1/2 x 11 inch document where I moved all of my pieces that I wanted to cut out away from the main circle and printed. You can see both print samples in the photo of my supplies. I cut out my pieces and got ready to assemble my cover. I attached my “frame” with my greeting to the front of the cover using Terrifically Tacky Tape, only adhering the sides and bottom. I left the top open so I could include a personalized note or a gift card to a local movie rental shop!! I added some “bling” to the tree, popped it up, and put two of my presents on foam dimensionals. The assembly from here is simple … just pull back the foil edge on the Jiffy Pop, tuck your cover inside, and reseal the edges!! Embellish with ribbon and you’re done!

The great thing about this project is that you can print out and assemble lots of these in a VERY short period of time by using the “flattened method” or you can spend a bit more time on the details and make it extra special. Either way you are sure to have a unique gift that your friends and neighbors will love and remember!!

Other Articles by karistamps:

• Composition Notebooks - August 16th, 2009
• Photo Bracelet Winners!! - May 19th, 2009
• Photo Bracelet - May 13th, 2009
• Nugget Tin - April 10th, 2009