Category Archives: 3D projects

Using up my stash – gift card holders made from envelopes

02 Wednesday Sep 2015

Posted by in General occasion, Gift card holders, Gift tags & wrapping, Using up scraps

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If you’ve been reading my blog the past week you’ll know I’ve been working my way through my pile of spare card stock and designer series paper to make some cards using my scraps and offcuts.  

I came across some pretty strips of paper and some envelopes – perfect for making my favourite quick and easy gift card holders!

  
I did a post a while ago showing you how to make these in detail.  But these are seriously the quickest and cutest idea for gift giving ever!

Take any size envelope, fold it in half, cut the flap in half, stick down one side, decorate and you’re done!

   
    
   
A card, present and wrapping all in one cute little package!

Thanks for reading. 

Caro x

Concert tickets gift card folder 

05 Wednesday Aug 2015

Posted by in Gift card holders, Gift tags & wrapping, Scallop Tag Topper, Using up scraps

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I have bought some concert tickets for an upcoming birthday present. But the tickets are those ugly print at home ones, which are hard to get excited about! So I picked up a brochure for the event and decided to make a kind of gift card holder for the brochure. 

  
I made it from scratch and figured it out as I went along so didn’t take any measurements. I did take photos at each step though so I’d remember what I did for next time!

The first step was to roughly figure out the dimensions to make the flap that holds the brochure, and the fold for the cover:

  
  
Doing this on top of a scorer if you have one makes it even easier. If you don’t, just fold and smooth along the creases. 

Next step was to cut off the excess so the gift folder wasn’t too wide:

  
(In retrospect it would be better to do this step first so you’re not cutting folded paper!)

Then I put some sticky strip along the sides of the “holder” part: 

 

Then fold up to make the folder:

 

I then used the extra strip I cut off to decorate the front of the folder:

  

Then I decided that wasn’t pretty enough, so I added some ribbon:

  

Then I decided that STILL wasn’t pretty enough, so I needed a gift tag!

  

And voila!

  

This same technique can be used for smaller gift cards, vouchers etc – just adjust the folds and cuts. A great way to use up those scraps of paper you’ve been saving for a rainy day!

Now I just have to be patient because I can’t give this gift for another 2 weeks!

Thanks for reading.

Caro x 

Kids craft – egg carton mini Easter baskets

16 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by in 3D projects, Cupcakes and other tasty treats, Gift bags, Kids craft ideas

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Hi

Just a quick post today to show you some cute little Easter baskets we made for the kids at my son’s daycare.   He had so much fun making these – it kept him occupied for the best part of 2 hours!

Egg carton Easter basketsI cut off the top and closing edge of some egg cartons, then he had a lovely time with his crayons decorating the little egg cups.    I then cut these up and we stapled little strips of curling ribbon to make handles for the baskets.    Then came the fun part – filling them with Easter eggs!

He took all the baskets in to give to his friends – he was very popular that day!!!!!

They looked so cute all piled up ready to be given out.

Egg carton Easter gift basketsThanks for reading.

Caro x

Easter treats with the scallop tag topper punch

15 Tuesday Apr 2014

Posted by in 1 1/4 inch circle, 1 3/4 inch scallop circle, 3D projects, Cupcakes and other tasty treats, Gift bags, Punches, Scallop Tag Topper, Using up scraps

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Hello

Today I wanted to show you some little Easter gifts we made for the teachers at my son’s daycare.

Easter treats with the scallop tag topper punch

There are so simple to make even a 4 year old can (mostly!) make them – and he (mostly!) did.

I cut a series of strips of card stock 4.9cm x 21cm long.   (21cm is the width of the short edge of an A4 piece of card stock.   I’ve found if you cut 4.9cm instead of 5cm wide, not only does the piece fit beautifully into the tag topper punch, but you get 6 strips out of 1 sheet of A4 paper – bargain!)

I scored 8cm in on each side and then punched each end with the tag topper punch.   I used my 1 1/4 inch circle punch to make “the window for the bunny’s house” (as my son called it).   The chocolates are mini Lindt bunnies that I found in packs of 5 at Kmart.   I put a mini glue dot on the bottom to hold the bunny in place, then tied up the top of the tags with ribbon.

James was quite happy with how they looked undecorated:

Simple tag topper punch Easter treat

I however felt the need to ‘pretty it up’ a little further, so made a “window sill” (again, according to James) to go around the window.

Decorated Easter treat with the scallop tag topper punch

To make this decorative border, punch a 1 1/4 inch circle from some scrap paper – leaving room for the border around the edge of where you’ve punched.   Then take your 1 3/4 inch scallop circle punch, centre the hole and punch.  Voila – a decorative scallop border perfectly sized to fit your punch!

Here’s hoping his teachers like their little Easter treats.

Caro x

 

 

 

Scallop tag topper punch wine bottle tag

08 Tuesday Apr 2014

Posted by in 1 1/4 inch circle, 3D projects, Framelits, Gift card holders, Gift tags & wrapping, Labels collection, Punches, Scallop Tag Topper, Using up scraps

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Hello

Today I wanted to show you a wine bottle tag I made to give to a good friend for his birthday.

Scallop tag topper wine bottle gift tag

I used an off-cut of Not Quite Navy card stock I had lying in a scrap pile, and cut the end with the scallop tag topper punch.   I used my 1 3/4 inch circle punch to make a hole for the bottle neck to go through, then scored to make the fold for the wine bottle cover.

Scallop tag topper wine bottle gift tag

The card stock was too wide to fit in the slot in the tag topper punch so I slid it over the plastic part of the punch, and then under the metal cutting part to make it work – leave me a comment below if that doesn’t make sense and I’ll try and explain better!   I then just cut diagonally from the edge of the scallop to the edge of the card stock to make the pointed shape.   This picture may give you a better idea:

Scallop tag topper wine bottle gift tag

And isn’t it perfect how one of the smaller dies from the labels framelits fits so perfectly inside the scallop topper tag punch?

Labels framelits inside the scallop tag topper punch

The image here is from the Simply Sketched stamp set (a 2013-14 Stampin’ Up! hostess gift)

This gift coordinated nicely with one of the cards I made and showed you a few months ago:

Simply Sketched simple bird cardNow that I know how easy it is to make a wine topper using the scallop tag punch, I think there may be a few more gifts like this in my future!

Thanks for reading.

Caro

 

Upcycled container card sets

10 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by in 3D projects, Blossom, Card sets, Cards, General occasion, Gift card holders, Love notes, Punches, Tutorial

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Hi!

I mentioned in a blog post the other day that I love to look at ordinary, every day things and figure out how to make them prettier.   The other day I was in my kitchen rinsing out some plastic containers that berries and cherry tomatoes had been stored in, when it occurred to me that they would probably make perfect little gift card holders?  And they did!

Yesterday I showed you some gift cards I made with the Stampin’ Up! blossom punch:

Blossom Punch gift card setHere’s what the cards looked like packaged up in a plastic cherry tomato container!

Upcycled tomato container gift card holderYou can see a little better on an angle:

Upcycled tomato container gift card holderThe cherry tomato containers comfortably hold 8-12 note cards plus envelopes.

Check out these little blueberry containers!  They hold 4 cards plus envelopes.

Upcycled berry container gift card setI decorated the inside and the top of the containers so they look really cute inside and out:

Berry container gift card setBerry container gift card setAnd here are a few sets looking very cute all grouped together:

Upcycled plastic container gift card setsI am so excited with this idea.  I may never recycle a plastic container again!!!!

Now to find the lucky recipients of some little gift card packs … 🙂

Thanks for reading

Caro x

Easter Bunny treat boxes

04 Tuesday Mar 2014

Posted by in 1 1/4 inch circle, 3/4 inch circle, 3D projects, Big Shot, Boxes, Candy Wrapper, Dies, Extra Large Oval, Gift bags, Home decorating, Kids party, Punches, Small Heart, Word Window

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Hello

Given we’re starting to head towards thinking about Easter crafts I thought I would show you some pictures of some little Easter gift boxes I made last year for our Easter brunch.

Candy wrapper Bigz die easter treatsThese are made with the Stampin’ Up! Candy Wrapper Bigz Die which is retired from the current catalogue, but thankfully making a return at a whopping discount in the current Clearance Rack *.

Here is a close up of one:

Easter Bunny gift box

The eyes are made with circle punches, the nose is an upside down small heart punch, and the ears are made from the extra large oval punch and the word window punch (cut off). I drew on the whiskers but you could probably be fancy and use twine.

These looked so cute on the table and lots of mini eggs fitted beautifully inside.

I hope that kick starts you thinking of some cute Easter craft!  Thanks for reading.

Caro x

*As always, please let me know if you’d like to purchase any of the Stampin’ Up! products you see on my blog, or any of the other products in the catalogue for that matter 🙂

Tea light candle holder

19 Wednesday Feb 2014

Posted by in 3D projects, Boxes, Gift bags

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Because I hadn’t posted on my blog for a few months, I am showing you something I did at Christmas time in February!  I guess you could get really organised for next year and make some now!  Or you could change the colour scheme and this would make a nice little housewarming or thank you gift at any time throughout the year.

Tea light candle holder boxes

I got this idea from a video on YouTube by Pootles Papercraft. **    They were so easy to make.  These are a batch I made for some of my son’s various teachers.

I think I might have found myself a new ‘go to’ quick gift – some nice candle holders with a little decorated box of tea light candles to go with it.

Thanks for reading

Caro

** I didn’t follow the directions in the video perfectly (the video shows you how to make a fold flat box).  I didn’t bother with the fancy folds described in the video to make my boxes fold flat.   I just cut a simple flap and stuck it down like a normal box.  If this doesn’t make sense leave a comment and I’ll try and explain what I mean 🙂

Storage idea: sponge daubers

17 Sunday Nov 2013

Posted by in 3D projects, Boxes, Thoughts and comments, Tutorial

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Hi

Today I want to show you a fabulous idea I got from a fabulous Stampin’ Up! demonstrator in the UK – Sam at pootles.com.uk.   If you haven’t checked out her blog and videos on YouTube you must.  Now.  I insist!  (But please do come back!)

Look at my new (and OK, I admit, extremely anally retentive!) way to store my sponge daubers!

Sponge dauber storage box

I use these little daubers all the time, but spend ages in my drawer hunting for them, and then cleaning them before I use them to get rid of the last hint of colour from the last time I used them.  No more! Inspired by Sam’s blog post I bought a new set and  I now have a lovely little box with a sponge dauber for every colour I own.

The sponges are stored in one of Stampin’ Up!’s wood mount cases (you can now buy the cases in lots of 4 and they are soooooo handy!)

This is my box on the inside:

Wood mount case sponge dauber storage box

Sam at pootles.com.uk has a great video on how to make the inserts for the box.

I ended up changing the dimensions Sam gives for the inserts just ever so slightly for mine.  I used 9 strips of card stock 12.5 cm long and 2 cm wide, notched at 1 inch spaces.  (I know that is a weird switch between metric and imperial, but trust me, it’s easier that way!)   Then I used 4 strips of card stock 17.8cm wide with notches every 1.8 cm.  This gives you 5 rows of 10 spaces each for your sponges.

Card stock inserts for sponge dauber storage

To make the notches I made 2 cuts with my scissors on either side of my pen mark (perhaps 2mm apart) and just removed the tiny bit of paper in the middle.

One of the things Sam doesn’t show you in her video is how she got the little circles of colour on the colour chart in her box to show which dauber goes where.    Watching the video, she says it was a very messy process to do – and that I can believe!   So before I made my own box I did some thinking about how I could avoid the mess of inking up all the sponge daubers all at the same time.

I decided to make a 2 sided cover for my box.  A front cover where I could control the mess and dab on one colour at a time, and a blank grid to go on the inside where I will let the daubers ‘do their thing’ over time. (I also took the opportunity to re-arrange and re-ink my ink pads as I opened each one – oh, I was in my own little organisational-nerd heaven this afternoon!)

I cut a piece of white card stock 12.5 x 17.8cm and used my ruler to draw a grid the same dimensions as the notches in the card stock.   I used a few mini glue dots on the blank spaces in my ‘cover’ grid to stick it to the plastic on the cover of the box.

Thanks to Sam for a brilliant idea – and I am so chuffed to have all my daubers so neatly arranged 🙂

Thanks for reading

Caro x

Envelope punch board

13 Sunday Oct 2013

Posted by in 3D projects, Envelopes

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Hi there

Just a quick post today to show you an amazing new tool from Stampin’ Up! which will be available in the Australian market on 22 October – the envelope punch board.  I can’t wait to get my hands on one of these.

Just check out what this baby can do!

I’m going to get one ASAP and will show you what I come up with.   I hope to never use a boring normal envelope ever again!

Please email me at caroprettythings@gmail.com if you’d like to get your hands on one too.

Thanks for reading

Caro