09 Tuesday Feb 2016
Posted in Thoughts and comments, Using up scraps
Not sure what to do with those left over strips of paper?
What about folding them in half and using them as little hello love notes in your child’s lunch box?
I’ve started popping little hellos in my son’s lunch and he LOVES it. I don’t do it every day, just now and again, but the hug I get at the school gate shows me how much he loved it 🙂
Thanks for reading
Caro x
08 Monday Feb 2016
Posted in Birthday, Cards, General occasion, Gift bow, Kids cards, Punches, Using up scraps
Hi
On the weekend I found a bit of time to make some cards. I pulled out my gift bow punch and decided to make some cards using up my scrap stash. Here is one with a plain bow:
Cute, but I decided it wasn’t quite pretty enough, so back to the stash for some “bling” and voila!
Cute quick cards that took about 5 mins each to put together.
Thanks for reading 🙂
Caro x
28 Thursday Jan 2016
Hi
Today I want to show you an idea I had for making a gift boxed set of cards using a plastic container that some salad leaves came in.
When I was getting my rocket leaves out of the fridge a few days ago, I thought that the container would be just right to hold some square cards.
I thought while I was in the upcycling/recycling mood, I should also use up some of my spare paper stash. So I grabbed some old Bravo Burgundy (Stampin’ Up!) card stock and matching designer series paper, some punches and a pile of paper doilies I had in my “random craft stuff” box, and here’s what I came up with:
It was a layering job of DSP and card stock. I used my 2 3/8 inch scallop circle punch and the 1 3/4 and 1 3/8 inch circle punches. The “For You” sentiment is from the Chalk Talk stamp set.
I then decorated the plastic container to match the cards.
A quick tag using the scallop tag topper punch, some matching ribbon and voila!
I made this for someone very special to me who is forever sending cards to other people, so hopefully she enjoyed receiving some cards of her own.
Thanks for reading.
Caro x
01 Tuesday Sep 2015
Posted in Birthday, Cards, Corner rounder, General occasion, Punches, Using up scraps
When I was rummaging through my stash of saved scrap paper the other day I came across some designer series paper I’d previously cut into the perfect shape to go on a card front. I have no idea what I was planning to do with them originally, but a few minutes with a corner rounder punch and some ribbon and ta da!
At about 2-3 minutes a card, what could be easier?!?
Thanks for reading.
Caro x
30 Sunday Aug 2015
Posted in General occasion, Star, Thoughts and comments, Using up scraps
Today I went to show you a few more cards I made from some colouring in some scribbles I’ve done.
I cut a star out of this one and made a notecard:
Then made this one from the cut out mirror image:
I made a few from some cut out heart shapes I’d scribbled as well:
It’s nice taking some random scribbles and making something people will hopefully enjoy.
Thanks for reading.
Caro
05 Wednesday Aug 2015
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
24 Friday Apr 2015
Posted in General occasion, Kids cards, Kids party, Star, Using up scraps, Washi tape
Hi
Just a quick post to share with you a card I just whipped up in less than 2 minutes for a kid’s birthday party this afternoon.
I had a vague thought the other day that some washi tape I was recently given with stars on it might go well with my star punch. A piece of card stock, a few strips of washi tape and a star punch and ta da!!!!
What do you think? Not bad for 2 minutes?
Thanks for reading
Caro
08 Tuesday Apr 2014
Tags
gift tag, gift wrapping, Scallop Tag Topper punch, Simply Sketched, Stampin Up, using up scraps, Wine bottle gift tag, wine bottle gifts, wine bottle topper
Hello
Today I wanted to show you a wine bottle tag I made to give to a good friend for his birthday.
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. Â 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.
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:
And isn’t it perfect how one of the smaller dies from the labels framelits fits so perfectly inside the scallop topper tag 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:
Now 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
08 Saturday Mar 2014
Posted in Home decorating, Thoughts and comments, Using up scraps
Hello – thanks for visiting Caro’s Pretty Things!
In keeping with the name of this blog, I quite like taking ordinary things and making them a bit prettier. Â For example, I can’t just take a normal note pad along to meetings, conferences etc, I need to have it look pretty!
See – much less boring!
It is amazing how ordinary, everyday things can be transformed with just a teeny bit of paper, glue and ribbon. Â For example, who would want to keep rubber bands in a boring old jar when an old vitamin container with some DSP and some ribbon looks sooooo much nicer?!?
Why don’t you have a look around at home and see what stuff you have that could be given a new lease of life?
Thanks for reading
Caro x
08 Tuesday Oct 2013
Posted in Thoughts and comments, Using up scraps
Hi
Have you ever finished making something and had a whole heap of small pieces of pretty paper left over? Â Me too, so I thought I would show you what I did with a recent pile of left over strips of designer series paper (DSP) from Stampin’ Up!
I made new pretty paper!
I got a piece of white paper the size of a card front and glued the leftover strips of DSP to it. Â I then trimmed off the edge so I had a gorgeous patch work style front for a card.
I had enough pieces to make two.
Now I just need to figure out what to do with them – I’ll show you when I figure it out.
This would be a great thing to do with kids too – even with torn up strips from old magazines or catalogues.
Enjoy!
Caro x
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