I decided to create a decorative heart garland with photos and pretty paper with just a few supplies that I had on hand. I created two types of heart ornaments, single photo heart ornaments and double heart patterned paper ornaments,  with Sugarplum Paperie’s Chocolate Kisses kit and strung them together.

Here are the supplies that I needed:

• 4×6 prints with 6 2×2 pictures
• Double sided patterned papers or cardstock
• Ribbon
• Hole punch
• Attachments (Stapler or Tape)

To create a photo heart ornament:

Cut the 4×6 prints down the center to create two strips of 2 inch x 6 inch and cut the patterned paper to strips of 4 inch x 6 inch

Adhere the strips of patterned paper to the back of each 2 inch x 6 inch photo strip. Place two photo strips facing each other and attach at the top. Note that I trimmed a bit of the side of my pictures so that the paper would frame the edge

Fold the strips over and attach at the bottom

To create a double heart ornament:

Cut the patterned paper to strips of 2 inch x 6 inch and 2 inch x 4.5 inch.

Place the two patterned papers facing each other, layer the solid cardstock on top of each side and attach at the top.

Fold the shorter pieces of solid cardstock over and adhere at the bottom to create the first inner heart. Repeat with the patterned papers to create the outer heart.

Hole punch each heart and string together to form your garland.

Supplies:

• The Most Wonderful Time by the Digichick Designers
• Comfort and Joy by Sugarplum Paperies
• Trimmer
• Circle Punch
• Glue
• Staple
• Ribbon

The first thing I did was print all my paper on photo matte. Do not use cardstock, especially for the second ornament, the paper is too thick. I created an 8×10 document in Photoshop (because my printer does not print borderless). I then made 8×5 squares of each paper I wanted to use. I printed my design on both sides.

The first ornament I will show you is a flower ornament. You will need one inch strips cut horizontally for total of 10 strips, 5 of each color.

You will now alternate your strips, then fold in half and staple the center. My stapler isn’t very long, so I had to fold my paper to get the staple in the center.

Now you will take each strip, place a small amount of glue on the tip and then fold over to create a loop.

You will repeat this process for each strip till you’ve made a circle.

Run a ribbon through it and hang on your tree.

The second ornament will be a ball. So we’re going to be using a circle punch. I used a 2″ circle punch.

You will need 12 circles so I punched 3 from each color.

You will then fold each circle in half and staple the center.

Now you will add your glue to each punched circle and you’re going to alternate “up” and “down” for each paper. The glue will either be up near the top of the circle or down near the bottom of the punched circle. I started with “down” for the first paper.

You keep gluing till you’ve made a complete circle.

Once complete, add your ribbon.  I slipped my ribbon in between where the ball meets on both sides.

Then hang on your tree.

Both projects are relatively simple and you can get your kids involved in making them. Until next time, have a blessed Christmas!

Items Needed:

• Snow Much Fun by Mari Koegelenberg
• Ring (Wood, Embroidery Hoop..) – mine is approx.  7″ in diameter
• Snowflake Punch
• Ribbon
• Glitter and Glue

Print the papers that you like and cut into 3/4 inch strips.   For a 7″ ring, you’ll need approximately 28 strips that are 4 1/2 inches long and 28 that are 3 1/2 inches long.  Trim the ends in V shape.

Wrap the straight end around the ring and glue.  Glue the long ones on first and then the short ones on top between the long ones.

Next, you’ll add the snowflakes.  In the center, I added a drop of glue and then alternating red and blue glitter.  Crystal glitter covers all the snowflakes.  Add some pretty ribbon and the cute snow people from Snow Much Fun next.  These have been printed about 3″ tall.

To hang, hot glue an office clip to the back and add ribbon.

There you go – a fun flag wreath!  Hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

During a recent shopping trip I found the coolest paperweight at the dollar store.  It was backed with a not-so-desirable photograph of a butterfly, but I knew that with a little hybrid magic, I could make it into something spectacular!  For a buck, I was willing to give it a shot!!  So scour your local bargain shops and find yourself a paperweight and play along.  I’ve even seen these at my local craft stores, but your cost would go up, obviously.  Let’s get craftin’, shall we?!

You’re going to need:

• a glass paperweight
• clear glue of your choice (I used Tombow’s Mono Aqua Liquid Glue, what I happened to have on hand)
• digital designs
• felt or cork (optional)

If you want to kick it up a notch (and this tutorial assumes that you do), add to your list of supplies:

• packing tape
• either a laser printer or the ability to make a laser copy of your designs
• popsicle stick or strong nails

I’m using Mari Koegelenberg’s beautiful kit, All Spice.  Be still my beating heart!  I just love the colors in this kit!

1)  The first thing you’ll want to do is prepare your paperweight for crafting.  This may include removing the artwork that’s backing the paperweight using alcohol or Goo Gone to remove any remaining adhesive and washing/drying your paperweight.  I had already removed my butterfly and cleaned my paperweight before writing this tutorial.  I’m so sorry that I’m not able to share that lovely piece of artwork with y’all

2)  Measure your paperweight (approximate is fine).  It’s hard to photograph glass I’ve discovered, but just to give you an idea – - my paperweight is roughly 3 inches tall x 3.5 inches wide.  It is rounded and is beveled so that the back (where the design goes) is slightly smaller than the front.

3)  Begin laying your design out in Photoshop, creating for yourself a shape that is the approximate size of your paperweight.  I created a half-circle that was roughly the size of my paperweight.  Clip all your papers and design elements to this shape.  Once you have your design just as you’d like it, print onto cardstock.  Inkjet or laser prints will work just fine.

4) Any additional elements that will be applied to the front of your paperweight should be chosen, sized appropriately and printed with a laser printer on plain copy paper.   A laser copy will also work.  We’ll be using an image transfer technique for the front pieces and you will need a laser copy/print for this part of the tutorial.

5) Trim all design pieces (paperweight back, design elements for the front).  I didn’t photograph this (sorry!), but I laid my paperweight down on the paperweight back design piece, traced with a pencil and then cut out.

6) We’re going to first apply our art to the back of the paperweight.  Begin with applying a generous amount of clear glue to the back side of your paperweight.  This can be done in several ways, but I prefer to use more glue and clean up any that oozes out rather than not have enough to adhere my image.  Apply your clear glue as shown below.

7)  Place your printed design FACE DOWN onto the glued surface.  Next, flip your paperweight over.  Glue will ooze out somewhat.  It’s okay.  I’ve got damp paper towels on hand.   I like to use the weight of the glass and press and smooth out any bubbles.   By having the paperweight face up, you can see any bubbles quite well (see photo below).  Position the printed design just as you’d like it and then flip the paperweight back over. 

Note:  If you let the paperweight dry face up, the glue could stick to your work surface.

8)  While the first part dries a bit, we’re going to work on the top design.  Trim your pieces, leaving just a bit of white space, and place them face down on a piece of packing tape.  Flip your tape over and with a popsicle stick, burnish the tape so that the design is firmly adhered to the tape.

9)  Trim your pieces again, removing excess tape.  Soak in warm water for 5 minutes.

10)  Remove papers from water and begin gently rubbing the back of the design to remove the paper.  With gentle pressure and rewetting as necessary, the paper fibers should come off entirely and leave behind a clear “rub-on.”  Trim closely leaving just a bit of clear tape around your transparent design.

11)  Apply your rub-on to the front of  your paperweight with a bit of clear glue.  Again, have a damp paper towel on hand to remove any glue oozes.

12)  Let everything dry.  If you would like to back your paperweight with felt or cork, just trim your material of choice to size and apply with adhesive.  I chose not back my paperweight as I plan on displaying it upright at my desk.  Enjoy  your creation!!

I never have enough magnets on our fridge to hold all my kids’ artwork, my endless to-do lists and all the little bits of life I want to keep handy. Bottle Cap magnets are a fun and useful solution, adding a seasonal pop of color and cheer, and helping me stay a little more organized this Christmas season.

Here’s what you’ll need to make a set of your own:

• Holly Day Wishes Page Kit by Pixel Gypsy
• bottle caps (I used six for my set, acquired from the empty Jones Soda and Blue Moon bottles in my recycling bin)
• 3/4″ round ceramic craft magnets
• 1″ circle punch
• E600 glue or other superglue
• Diamond Glaze or ModPodge Dimensional

I began by creating a 4×6 canvas in Photoshop. With the papers and elements I wanted to use open, I created six 1″ circles, clipped my paper to them, and added my elements on top. Print this 4×6, either at home or at a local 1-hour photo (my preferred method), and punch out your circles using your 1″ punch.

Set your punched circles aside for now and glue magnets onto the back of  your bottle caps. A little dab of E6000 or Superglue will have those babies stuck for good!

Now flip them over and add your punched circles inside. I like to use a double-sided adhesive to tack them to the bottom of the cap. This way they don’t float up once I add my top coat of glaze. With all your punched circles fit snuggly into your caps, add a thin layer of Diamond Glaze or ModPodge Dimensional glaze to the top. I like to make a circle around the outer edge, then fill in the middle. Use your finger, a toothpick, or an opened paper clip to pop any small air bubbles you might have floating in your glaze (and DON’T shake the bottle before you open it. That’s a sure recipe for lots of bubbles on your project).

Let your glaze dry completely and you’re done! I added mine to a baking sheet to create a little memo center for my gift lists and favorite cards.

MATERIALS

• Comfort and Joy: Evergreen designer kit from Sugarplum Paperie
• paper cutter
• glue
• brown ink (ink dabber optional)
• scissors or paper distresser
• 3 inch circle punch
• baker’s twine
• jingle bells
• small red clothes peg
• mason jars
• hot chocolate powder
• small marshmallows
• milk chocolate chocolate chips
• candy canes or peppermints

Cut a 3 1/2 x 2 1/4 inch rectangle from both the green polka dot and green herringbone paper and glue them together. Ink the edges of the green paper and the red tag with brown ink.  I like to use an ink dabber as it gives a softer application of the ink {see picture 1. below}. Glue the red tag on the front.

Using the cream paper, print out “Candy Cane Hot Cocoa” {I just used a word processing program with the font Budmo Jiggler in red} and trim to approximately 1 1/2 x 1 7/8 inches.  Ink the edges as above and mount on the dark brown paper.  To give the edges a more distressed look, use a paper distresser {picture 2.} or the edge of your scissors {picture 3.} to rough up the edges. Glue this on an angle to the front of the tag and glue the word “magical” just under the right top corner.

On the back of the tag, I printed out the following instructions on the cream paper: “Directions: Mix all ingredients together and add to 1 cup of warm mil or boiling water. Store remaining ingredients in an airtight container. ENJOY!”. This was trimmed to approximately 2 inches x 1 7/8 inches and mounted again on the dark brown paper. The edges of the brown paper were distressed and glued onto the back of the tag.

Wrap brown twine around the bottom of the tag and tie. I added a small red clothes peg and a small candy cane sticker to the back of the tag for a little extra embellishment.

{Please note that the green papers are reversed on this tag compared to the tag shown above}

To make the hot chocolate mixture, layer hot chocolate powder, crushed candy canes or peppermints, marshmallows, and chocolate chips in a mason jar.

Print out the red snowflake to cover the jar lid {I printed mine just a little bigger than 3 inches and punched it out with a circle punch}.  Glue this on to the lid.  Punch a small hole in the corner of your tag, string with baker’s twine, and add a jingle bell.  Tie to secure.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Supplies:

• eyes from Spookie Dookie kit by Karen Lewis Designs
• Standing Pillow Box template and cutting files by Kelleigh Ratzlaff
• Sweet and Crafty kit by Quirky Twerp (papers and element for the reindeer’s nose)
• Autumn Leaves by Kelleigh Ratzlaff for the reindeer’s ears
• Epson Premium Matte Photo Paper
• Photoshop
• black ribbon by May Arts
• ribbon buckle by Memories
• red line tape (also known as Terrifically Tacky Tape, or TTT)

I started by adding the pillow box png file to Photoshop. I wanted to fit two boxes on one 8.5×11 canvas, so I duplicated the pillow box layer. I clipped a red paper to one box and a brown paper to the other. I added the leaves for the ears to the canvas, and clipped the brown paper to those as well. I flipped one of the leaves horizontally by going up to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal. I added the eyes from the Spookie Dookie kit by Karen Lewis Designs, and used a red brad element from the Sweet and Crafty kit by Quirky Twerp to create the nose. I added a slight shadow to the nose to make it stand out a little.

Here is what my canvas looked like when I was done with the design portion of my project.

I printed my document and then cut out each box. I scored along the scoring lines and added red line tape to the side flap.

Before assembling the box, I should have drawn a mouth using a Sharpie marker, as it is much easier to write on a flat box! Next, I adhered the sides of the box together and then folded up the bottom. I added red line tape to the bottom of each leaf and attached them to the top corners of the box.

Look at how cute he is! My daughter is thrilled with him and wants to claim him for her own. I could have stopped here, but I wanted to keep creating!

I decided to make a Santa-esque box next. I cut the box out and scored it. I learned my lesson with the reindeer mouth, and before folding up this box, I added a strip of red line tape across the entire box, about 1/3 of the way up from what would be the bottom once the box was folded.

Then I slid my buckle onto my ribbon, and adhered both to the box by laying the ribbon and buckle down on top of the tape and then pressing down firmly. I made sure my buckle was in the middle of what would be the front of the box.

After that step was complete, I added red line tape to the side of the box.

I finished assembling the box and giggled to myself at how cute it had turned out! The buckle does make it tip forward while empty, but it was not anything a few pieces of strategically placed chocolate couldn’t fix!

This pillow box is so versatile. I could have used it to make an angel, a snowman, an elf, a cat, a pig, a bunny, an owl… you get the idea! As I said before, the possibilities are limited only by your imagination!

If you use this pillow box to make a little creature, be sure to leave a link so I can check it out!

Supplies:

• Happy Holly Days Add-on Paper Pack by Karen Lewis
• Every Day of the Year : Papers by Sugarplum Paperie
• Every Day of the Year : Solids by Sugarplum Paperie
• Circle punch
• Sewing machine
• Scissors or die cut machine

The first step was to select and print my favorite solid and textured papers and I used a variety of different patterns and colors from Happy Holly Days Add-on Paper Pack by Karen Lewis, Every Day of the Year : Papers by Sugarplum Paperie and Every Day of the Year : Solids by Sugarplum Paperie. I printed them double sided.

I used my 1 inch circle punch to punch out  red circles for the holly berries and used my Silhouette to cut out the holly leaf shapes. You can also cut the leaves out freehand. The number of each shape that you will need to cut will depend on how long you want your garland to be and how much space you would like in between each shape. I used about 6 berries and 4 leaves per 12 inches.  Once you have cut out all of your shapes, lay them out in rows, laying two of each shape on top of each other and alternating between a berry shape and leaf shape.

With a sewing machine, sew each shape down the center.

Fold out each shape for additional dimension and step back to enjoy your newest festive decoration.

Happy crafting!

SUPPLIES USED

• DIGITAL PRODUCTS – ROSETTES SET 1 by THE CUTTING FILES
• ELECTRONIC CUTTING MACHINE
• PATTERNED PAPER
• GLUE GUN
• ALEENE’S TACKY SPRAY, GLITTER
• RIBBON, LACE, PAPER FLOWERS, PEARLS
• SPELLBINDER FLORAL DOILY MOTIF

The small floral pattern from ROSETTES SET 1 was cut at 2 1/2 by 11 1/2 inches.  Each ornament used TWO of these strips.  This kit is so great because you don’t even have to score the fold lines, they are already made for you when the piece is cut out. 

Next, make hills and valleys along the score lines skipping one each time. This makes each side of the fold about a half inch.  Trim off one side of a fold from each side of just ONE of the strips as shown. This is done so that when they are put together the folds continue in the same pattern.

I tried several different glues and found that the glue gun was the best way to put the ornament together because it adheres so quickly. You can use another type of glue but it takes a while to stick and I am all about fast! Lay the trimmed side on top of the other strip as shown.

Attach the other side forming a circle.

Gather the circle together and flatten it out. Squirt a little glue down into the center to hold it in place.

I wanted a little (ok a lot) of sparkle so I sprayed the entire ornament with Aileene’s Tacky Spray and dipped it in glitter.

For the hanging portion, a one inch satin ribbon was folded in the center and pressed down about half way.  The entire piece was about 24 inches long.

A bow was tied about 4 inches down from the fold of the loop and a little dot of glue was placed in between the two to hold it in place.

I punched out a flower shaped circle (you can hand cut a circle if you like) to attach over the center and to have something to attach the ribbon.  The ribbon was then glued to the back of the ornament as shown.  The bow was pulled over the top of the ornament towards the front with the know laying just within a fold.

The front of this of this ornament was decorated with some lace and a paper flower.  I also dipped the flower in glitter. One can never have too much glitter.

For the next ornament, I used the Spellbinder die to cut a shaped layer for the front.

Some pearls, a ribbon bow and simple ribbon hanger were added to finish it off. Oh yeah, more glitter too.

I chose to go Victorian on my ornaments because they are going to my mom who has a Victorian themed tree, but the base can be decorated in any theme you choose.  Make a bunch and give the kids some bits of lace, ribbon, buttons, whatever and see what they come up with!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great, handcrafted holiday!

I’m not sure about you but I absolutely love Christmas!  One of my daughters, Miss Molly, was born on Christmas Day too, so Christmas is extra special around here!  I decided to make some sweet tags. These are one of my favourite things to create. I always make tags for gifts at Christmas…they can really make a present!  I packaged them all up in a sweet Christmas pocket!  I hope these Christmas tags get you in a festive mood!

Supplies needed:

• Kelleigh Ratzlaff’s Fat Envies Template Set and Cutting Files
• Mari Koegelenberg’s 12 Days the Kit
• White Card & distressing ink (I used Antique Linen by Tim Holtz)
• Twine
• Hole Punch
• Adhesive & foam dimensional pads
• Craft supplies to decorate tag – bells, rhinestones
• Sizzix Framelets and Die-Cutting Machine for shaped tag (Not needed but adds that little something extra) You can just cut out tag with scissors if you don’t have a die-cutting machine.

1. Gather your supplies and print out papers and elements in your software.

2. Cut out your Fat Envie using your cutting machine or you can print out the PDF file and cut by hand. The add tape to two edges to adhere later.

3. Using two different size dies – large die for the cardstock and a smaller die for the patterned papers, cut out using die-cutting machine (I have a cuttlebug).

4. Distress tags and fat envie using distressing ink and sponge applicator.

5. Adhere paper to cardstock.

5. Punch a hole through the top, then string with some twine. Cut out printed elements and adhere to tag with dimensional foam pads then decorate and make pretty!

6. Wrap twine around fat envie and I decorated mine with another tag (I added my own text on the label that I did in my software) 

Have a great day!

Hugs, Bonnie x