Tag Archives: gifts

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 🙂

Gift folder for photos

14 Saturday Sep 2013

Posted by in 3D projects, Gift bags, Gift card holders, Using up scraps

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Hello!   Sorry for the gap between posts.  I had some time off work (a lovely holiday to Daydream Island) and then a very busy first week back at work.

While we were on holidays I had some beautiful photos taken and have printed off copies to give to various friends and family.    After I’d organised the piles of reprints on my desk I decided I wanted to make something a bit nicer than a boring envelope to put them in to give to people.

I have a whole collection of retired Stampin’ Up! designer series paper (DSP) lying around (it’s so gorgeous it’s kinda addictive!) so decided to try using up some of my stash.   Here’s what I came up with – some little gift folders just big enough to put photos and a small note card/message in:

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These are so simple to make!   Take a piece of DSP wide enough to hold a 4 x 6″ photo when folded in half, fold up the bottom to make a pouch and then glue down the edges of the fold so the photos won’t fall out.

This is very good for using up DSP in a variety of sizes.    Here are some of the little folders I made:

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One tip!  If you are using a narrower piece, make sure you have enough room to hold the photo after you’ve glued the edge.   I made this one and didn’t stick the glue close enough to the edge and it was a very tight squeeze to get the photo in!

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You could also make a smaller version of these to hold gift vouchers/gift cards.   They really are very easy!

I kept the front of these plain (other than the gorgeous paper) as I was in a rush.  But you could also decorate them like the front of a card.

Enjoy!

Caro

Simple – but stylish – gift giving

15 Monday Jul 2013

Posted by in Butterfly (retired), Full heart, Gift bags, Gift tags & wrapping, Punches, Small Heart, Using up scraps

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Hello!  Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Yesterday I showed you some cards I made using the Stampin’ Up! full heart punch.  I mentioned that you shouldn’t throw away the spare punched heart – and here’s why not.

After making the cards yesterday I needed a quick and simple gift wrapping idea to go with the cards.   Here’s a simple idea for a gift tag:

photo-5I used the cut out from the heart punch and another cut out butterfly on top (see how the wings aren’t fully stuck down to make it look like it’s flying?)   A little faux pearl and I think it looks perfect for a little girl’s present.

The tag is a mailing tag I got at Officeworks – you can get a box of 100.  I normally like making my own tags, but sometimes when you’re in a hurry this is a pretty good alternative!

I also have a stash of blank gift bags I get from $2 shops for this kind of occasion.    A few punches from card stock and scraps of pretty paper and you’ve got a lovely gift with virtually no effort.

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photo-4I think they look gorgeous (if I do say so myself!) – and certainly they don’t look the result of 2 minute’s effort.

If you don’t have any punches, you can still make a really pretty gift bag just by cutting pieces of paper to cover the front of the bag.

Have a look at some bags I made for my son’s daycare teachers last Christmas.  The designs were just cut out with scissors from some Stampin’ Up! designer series paper.

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Again, simple and easy – but really nice to receive 🙂

Thanks for reading

Caro

More covered notebooks!

02 Sunday Jun 2013

Posted by in 3D projects, Notebooks, Uncategorized, Using up scraps

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Hopefully you saw my other 2 posts about using up left over paper to cover notebooks – either mini notebooks or larger ones.

Here is another idea – using a simple blank ‘jotter’ style notebook but making it a little more special with a bit of pretty paper and a ribbon.     These books take less than 5 minutes to cover but are so much nicer to have on your desk or kitchen bench than a plain old notepad.

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photo-4To work out the length of paper you need, all you need to do is measure the size of the notebook (measurement 1) and measure the size of the spine (measurement 2).  The length of your paper will be  1 + 1 + 2.   The width will be simply the width of your notebook.

You could just cover the notebook, but I like to add a ribbon tie to keep the cover closed when it’s not being used (and ‘cos it looks pretty!)

Again, this is very simple.  Turn your notebook onto the reverse side once covered, run a strip of glue (eg Snail adhesive) along where the ribbon will go and adhere.

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Once you have stuck on the ribbon, simply turn your notebook right side up and tie a bow!

Too easy 🙂

Rudolph bottle topper

01 Saturday Jun 2013

Posted by in 1 3/4 circle, 3/4 inch circle, 3D projects, Bird Builder, Gift bags, Gift tags & wrapping, Large Oval, Word Window

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HI there

As you have probably noticed, most of my blog posts so far have been the result of sorting through all photos of things I’ve made and sharing them with you.  This post is similar!

At Christmas time we always seem to have lots of bottles of wine as gifts for family and friends.  (I’m not sure if that says more about them or us!)  I got a bit sick of buying bottle gift bags this year so thought I’d come up with something a little more personal.

The result was this little Rudolph bottle topper, and I think it’s pretty cute (even if I do say so myself!)

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I used some offcuts of Riding hood Red card stock I had lying around so didn’t measure the width but it was roughly 7 cm wide.    I used my largest circle punch to punch a hole for the bottle to go through and then scored below it and folded.

To make the Rudolph I used my small oval punch for the head, a 3/4 inch circle punch for the red nose, half of a 1 3/4 inch circle for the body, the ends of a word window punch for the ears and the leaves from the bird builder punch for the antlers.

I used a snowflake image from a retired stamp set to decorate the background, but any small flower stamp in white ink would probably look like snowflakes?

The bottles looked really cute under the tree with their little Rudolph neck covers 🙂

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Next time I might try making birthday or general occasion bottle toppers – I may never buy a bottle bag again!

Thanks for reading

Caro

Covered notebooks and matching pencils

28 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by in 3D projects, Decorative Label, Gift tags & wrapping, Modern Label, Notebooks, Using up scraps

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The other day I showed you how to make mini notebooks covered with DSP.  Today I wanted to show you how effective it can be to take ordinary A4 exercise books and decorate them with DSP.

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This was a little present we gave to a family friend who was starting university.   I covered a bundle of A4 exercise books in coordinating DSP and covered some matching pencils.

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I made a label where she could write her name or a subject name for each book.  The larger pink label is punched out in melon mambo using the Stampin’ Up! Decorative Label punch, and the smaller white label is punched out using the Stampin’ Up! Modern Label punch.

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To make the covered pencils, measure the distance between the end of the eraser and the beginning of the wood at the bottom.  Cut a piece of DSP to that width, with enough length to wrap around the pencil 2 or 3 times.    I’ve found it’s easier if you wrap the paper around the pencil a few times before trying to glue it on – it just works a bit better when you come to stick it down if it’s already a little bit “bendy”.    I run a line of Sticky Strip (double sided tape) along the edge of the paper which will be the last to stick down and use Snail adhesive to cover the rest of the DSP and stick it as I wrap around the pencil.

This is a really nice idea for a simple gift for someone – particularly someone like me who loves their stationery!

Thanks for reading 🙂

Peg magnets

28 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by in 3D projects, Beautiful Butterflies, Blossom Builder, Gift tags & wrapping, Notebooks, Tutorial, Using up scraps

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Here is another idea I borrowed from the very talented Tanya Bell’s blog – this time, making magnets or paper holders out of pegs covered with DSP.

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These are so easy to do!  Step one, measure the size of your peg (cheap wooden pegs are the best).   Step 2, cut out lots of strips of DSP (this is such a great way to use up tiny little pieces you couldn’t figure out what to do with but couldn’t bear to throw away!).  Step 3, stick onto the peg!   Snail adhesive works well but starts to lose its “stick” after a few months so double sided tape like Sticky Strip is best.

I turned my pegs into magnets by sticking some magnets onto the back side of the peg.   One tip I learned here – if you want to use the peg as a magnet, either don’t decorate the reverse of the peg, or definitely use sticky strip to adhere the DSP to the paper.  Snail adhesive is not strong enough to keep the DSP stuck to the peg once it is stuck on the fridge with a magnet!

Here are a bunch of pegs with the DSP stuck on, waiting to be decorated.

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And here are a bunch more, after being decorated with butterflies, birds and flowers.  I’ve used die cut and punched butterflies, the bird from the Stampin’ Up! bird builder punch, and various flower punches.  Pearls and rhinestones can add some added ‘bling’.

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They can look quite cute packaged up in cellophane bags for a small gift for someone.

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Adding some pegs with a little covered notebook (see yesterday’s post) can also look really cute.

20121209_220108So next time you finish a project and have a thin piece of DSP left over, why not turn it into a cute little peg fridge magnet?