Wide Ribbon Tags for Next Xmas

Okay, Xmas is over but before you put away the gift wrapping supplies, why not make some tags from your leftover wide ribbons?  It's so easy to use the i-Crafter dies to die cut tags and embellish them with 2-1/2 "wide Xmas ribbon.

I think this Xmas birds tag is really successful because it looks almost like a miniature painting.  I love the woven texture of the ribbon which makes it look so rustic.  I chose a sparkly ribbon for hanging but twine would look good too. Just the upper corners of the ribbon had to be hand trimmed before the ribbon was glued down to the tag with Fabri-Tac Beacon glue.

This snowflake ribbon has a beautiful iridescent design on a sheer fabric so I paired it with a dark blue glitter card stock.  I think I should have used a lighter colored glitter paper because it was difficult to keep the glue from showing. For these three tags I hand cut the hole for the ribbon.  The tag die probably won't cut through most ribbon fabrics so it's best to trim with a scissors.  

Oh yes, before shaping the ribbon to fit the tag, be sure to remove the thin wire enclosed in the seam of the ribbons.  The tag die set also comes with a little die that cuts the hole topper.  I think this little addition really adds to the finished look of the tag.  Take care to choose just the right hanging ribbon, yarn, or twine as that also can make or break the look of the tags.  I know that you're probably all done with the holidays and maybe have even lost the Xmas spirit, but do take this time to quickly put together some wide ribbon tags as you will surely be glad you did when wrapping gifts next year. Believe me, you will be so happy that you have a jump  start when December 2024 rolls around!  

 

Recycled Xmas Cookie Tin

We finished eating the cookies from this tin last Christmas but I couldn't bear to toss out the empty tin so it stayed in my craft room for a whole year!  Finally, it is time for Xmas cookie baking and so of course I need to make cookie containers.  

It was super easy to adhere a printed card stock paper to the tin.  The only problem was that the circumference of the tin was a 1/2 " longer than the 12" Martha Stewart card stock.  To cover up this space along the seam of the tin I added some ribbon on two sides of the tin and left enough length of ribbon to be able to tie a bow on the top of the tin. I looked through my stash of baking labels and found the perfect one to adhere to the front of the tin. 

I also adhered the perfect Echo Park sticker (pack purchased at HM Ben Franklin Crafts) to the top of the tin.  I used Beacon Fabri-Tac glue as an adhesive for this project because it grabs quickly, dries clear, and is fast drying....also it is a staple at HM Ben Franklin Crafts.  I am especially pleased with the outcome of this recycled tin because it now will have a second more beautiful life.  Please try to upcycle as much as you can because we don't need more waste filling up our landfills.  Making an effort to recycle should be a goal for all of us in 2024!

                          Merry Christmas to All and May there always be COOKIES in your tin!

Stencil Paste Decorated Xmas Gift Bag

After practicing with the Opal Polish stencil cream (available at HM Ben Franklin Crafts) on some tags, I thought it would be time to try it out on a Lawn Fawn three layer stencil.  I tried stenciling directly on the bag but that was a big mistake because the bag was too lumpy.  Undaunted, I decided to apply the stencil cream onto a printed striped card stock paper.  This worked well but I failed to take into account that the second layer of the stencil could not be successfully aligned due to the uneven surface of the first layer.  I ended up just adding berries with Stickle dimensional glitter paint from a tube.  Since the pastel green paste did not show up well on the card stock, I added some dark green glitter Stickle paint over the foliage.  The Happy Holiday words were created with Hero Arts hot foil plate and a foiling machine.  (Sorry that my photo doesn't show the words very well.)  Because I smudged stencil cream alongside of the square panel, I added some printed, woven ribbon and a holly sprig to camouflage the messy edges.  I really liked the resulting product which only goes to reinforce my conviction that there are no accidents in crafting....only opportunity to learn and improve!

 

Upcycled Xmas Cookie Bags

I love upcycling...saving the planet one bag at a time.  One of my favorite bags to repurpose are the Hawaiian Airline snack bags given to passengers on long flights.  They have a nice neutral lightly printed surface with great woven handles.  I always save these bags because I know they can be recycled into something pretty and useful. 

These two bags started with a gingerbread printed cardstock that was stenciled with chocolate stencil butter using an Echo Park 6x6 gingerbread pattern stencil.  Once the stencil butter was dry, the panel was adhered to the bag with Beacon Fabri-Tac glue and the Echo Park stickers were added along with the Doodlebug Design sprinkle holly shapes.

For this bag, only stickers were added to the stenciled panel.  A white gel pen was used to add frosting details to the stenciled chocolate paste gingerbread men.

To cover the Hawaiian Airline logo on the back of the bags, I added two more stickers.  I love the Echo Park sticker book (purchased from HM Ben Franklin Crafts) because it has an enormous amount and variety of stickers with a baking theme.  After I make a few more bags, I really have to get in the kitchen and start some cookie baking...wish me luck in getting it all done before Xmas!

 

Snarky Cat Christmas Cards

As promised, here are my Snarky Cat Christmas cards. As soon as I could, I inked up the Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz images and snarky sayings.  I stamped them onto marker paper and colored them sparingly with Copic pens.  

It was simple to color and fussy cut the cats because they are messy images so I didn't need to be too precise.   

The Whimsy Stamps Tartan 6 x 6 pad provided the background papers.  I used the Whimsy Stamps small slimline stitched die to cut the fabric look card stock.  I made my own red card blanks and rounded the corners with a Crop-a-Dile corner chomper.

I thought that this last card looked unbalanced and there was too much blank space because the card was fashioned sidewards so I added some Doodlebug Xmas stickers.  I discovered some envelopes at Daiso that were a good fit for these cards.  However, these envelopes have a series of small red rectangles along one side of the envelope (for postage stamps, I think). I've decided to use Xmas print washi tape to cover over the rectangles...what a pretty solution!  I hope that these cards will make the recipients smile and feel that they are special because I took the time to send them a personally handmade card. Mail and handcraft some love today!

 

Stenciled Xmas Tags

These tags started as test swatches for stencil cream (Opal Polish), Stickles gel, and Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Christmas stencils.  I discovered that while the Opal Polish worked well with the stencil it took awhile to dry...and I'm impatient!  The stencils also were a bit too small to use on a card so they were best sized for tags.  The Stickles gel did not show up well on printed card stock but perhaps it would work better on a solid colored sheet.

To make use of the test swatches, I decided to adhere them to some tags I cut using a Little B large tag die. On this tag you can see a bit of the pearlescent sheen of the Opal Polish.

Echo Park 'Titles and Phrases plus the Ephemera pack provided the words for these tags....so many pieces in each pack....what a bargain from HM Ben Franklin Crafts.  The glitter in the Stickles gel shows up a bit in this photo but it actually is REALLY sparkly.

On this tag I used the tree stencil with the Opal Polish white paste.  It is really a lovely product and would be perfect with a snowflake stencil.  I love that the stenciled images have a slightly raised surface....a nice texture.

The stenciled Stickles paste trees are very subtle but definitely add some sparkle to a tree print card stock tag. I think some of the Echo Park words are simply wonderful, useful and humorous. These tags were a great way for me to use up my test swatches....waste not, want not!  I can always use more tags especially since most gifts are now just tucked into bags with tissue paper....so simple!

 

Snowy Vintage Xmas Scene Cards

  If you are a regular reader of this blog, you probably already know that I'm a big fan of anything vintage (extremely fond of antiques). When I spied the Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous 'Holiday Scenes' red rubber stamp set, it was a no brainer that it would be part of my Xmas stamp collection.  At first I wanted to watercolor the scenes, but later decided that they would look more vintage if they simply had torn edges that were stained a brownish color.  I stamped the vintage scenes onto watercolor paper to give it some texture. By wetting the around the scenes with water, I was able to gently tear the paper before applying the ink to the edges.                                        

I chose vintage print card stock (Authentic) for the backgrounds. The ribbon was purchased from HM Ben Franklin Crafts where they have hundreds of Christmas themed ribbons.  

To make the holly sprigs I used  Sizzix thinlits dies on red and green card stock. Everything was glued down with Beacon Fabri-Tac glue.  Finally to give the appearance of snow, silver LiquTex ink was flicked on the cards with a brush.  (I tried making the snow with white ink, but that barely showed up on the scenes.) I am happy with the old fashioned look of these cards and best of all they were super simple to make. During the holidays, having time to do EVERYTHING is nearly impossible so saving some time on card making is a bonus. Hope this blog post has given you quick techniques for cranking out some Xmas cards with a vintage look. 

 

Is it Christmas Yeti?

As soon as I saw the Winter Yeti Lawn Fawn die set, I knew I had to have it...it was just too cute!  

I decided to cut the Yetis from silver glitter card stock and pearlescent white card stock, both from DCWV  6x6 packs.  I reversed the edging so that the glitter yeti had a pearlescent border and vice versa.  Since there were some very tiny pieces, I decided to save time and frustration by coloring behind the face and colored in the hands and ears.  To save more time, I cut the scarf from colored sheet foam. Perhaps felt would have been a better choice...not sure if the die will cut through felt.  I used Fabri-Tac glue to adhere all the parts to the card.

The background papers were chosen from my stash of printed Xmas card stock.  I thought it would be cute to have the Yeti holding foil snowflake stickers or plastic gingerbread men and candy canes. HM Ben Franklin Crafts has lots of tiny ornaments that are used to make miniature Xmas tress.  

For the words I used hot foiled Spellbinders words.  Even though I am sending these cards out to various friends and family members, I tried to make them all a little different just for my own sanity.  I still have more cards to complete so please visit this site again to see what other designs I create. Hopefully, they will provide some inspiration for your Christmas crafts. Cheers!

 

Vintage-Look Christmas Cards

I love the vintage look in cards, especially for Christmas or Valentine's Day, so when I saw these Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz red rubber stamps, I HAD to have them!  These cards started with stamping on white marker paper with Momento permanent espresso dark brown ink. After trimming the images, the edges were stained with Momento caramel ink.  

Next I chose two Tim Holtz worn wall paper sheets and cut them in half. These were adhered to four Paper Accent red folded cards.

The stamped images were added along with some ephemera of plant images that were raised on foam dots for some added dimension.  Sorry, I forgot to show the Tim Holtz ephemera package in the bottom photo.

Finally, I used the Simon Says holiday word stamps and matching dies to create the words that were attached to the cards with foam dots. Gold ink and gold heat embossing powder were used to achieve the metallic look.  These cards were super simple to make and should work well to enclose the family newsletters that I am mailing out this year. Okay, I have a bunch more Xmas cards to create so I better get jingling! HO! HO! HO!

 

Recycled Japanese Bento (Lunch) Box

On a recent trip to the land of self-flushing toilets (Japan), my husband and I purchased lunch (bento) boxes for a train ride.  We were surprised that the traditional lunches came in pretty faux lacquer boxes. After eating the delicious contents, my husband wanted to throw away the plastic coated cardboard boxes but my crafty senses would not let him toss them.  Reluctantly, he let me pack the boxes in our suitcase...I did fill them with other purchases to save suitcase space. ..LOL!  Later on the trip I purchased some hanafuda card stickers that I knew I could use for future projects. (Hanafuda is a Japanese card game that I played as a child so I was really attracted to the colorful images.)  

Because the box already looked like a fancy lacquer box, all I had to do was press down the stickers and apply a coating of Glossy Accents (available at HM BFC) over each sticker. After letting the Glossy Accents dry overnight, I tied on the faux kimono fabric cording (discovered in my hoard of Asian bits and pieces drawer).  My husband cannot believe the upcycled remake of the 'throw away' lunch boxes.  He promised to trust my crafting instincts in the future...hahaha! I think this box will make an excellent cookie gift box...green tea (matcha) shortbread might be a perfect match.

 

Once in a Blue Moon

With crafting it is 'Once in a Blue Moon' that a project turns out just as it looked in your mind's eye.  This is my Once in a Blue Moon card.  I was testing out a new product, called Opal Polish, I found at HM Ben Franklin Crafts.  It is a thick paste that has an opalescent sheen when dry.  I used Blue Wisteria and applied it with my fingers...just discovered that the top of the jar contains a sponge applicator..LOL!  I just used one color but as you can see it dried pinkish, bluish purple.  After the paste was dry on the marker paper, I applied a little white tickles paste and let it dry, too.  The Stickles gel paste has some stars and glitter which are very attractive.  At first I planned to use a circle die to cut out a tag from the Opal Polish glitter paper. However, once I made the circle I decided that it looked like a blue moon....that started my imagination going!  I found my Hero Arts fairy die and a newly purchased pack of  12 glitter cards with envelopes (Paper Accents).  Both are from HM BFC.  I used the die on grey vellum paper. Be sure to run the die and vellum through your machine many times because the details are very delicate and some vellum papers are tough.  The last steps are to glue (Fabri-tac) down the moon onto the glitter card and then the die cut vellum to over the whole card. That's it!...super simple. As you can see the iridescence appears pink at some angles and bluish purple at others.  The photos don't show up the glitter blank card but it also has a slight iridescence. I hope this holiday season brings you many 'Once in a Blue Moon' experiences...just keep your eyes and mind open wide! 

                                           

 

Autumn Gnome Tags

I really like gnomes and fairies. I guess I like the idea that there might really be tiny creatures who exist in a secret fantasy world. Anyway, I just couldn't resist getting another gnome stamp set. This one is from Hero Arts and has some great gnome images.  These two tags were made not only to ink up the gnome stamp but to use up my experimental background papers.  I do a lot of trials with new mediums and I hate to waste the test pieces so I make them into tags.  The top tag used a scrap of foiled Pink and Main black toner autumn leaves that were foiled with the Minc machine.  The words were also Pink and Main black toner autumn phrases.  Sorry that the foiled areas and words don't show up well in the photo ....blame the lousy photographer. The gnome and mushrooms were stamped on marker paper and then colored in with Copic pens.  The gnome had a matching die which I used...love the Hero Arts bundle sets (dies and stamps together).  The mushrooms were fussy cut by hand.

The second tag also used an experimental background made from a brick stencil (Stampers Anonymous) that came with the mushroom stamps. I used a red (barn door) stencil butter with the brick stencil to create the stone look. Before the stencil butter was dry I sprinkled on some brown heat embossing powder. Once dry I heated the piece with a hot air gun to melt the embossing powder. This technique did not result in a rock-like appearance as I had hoped but the 'bricks' looked a bit more realistic.  My favorite part of making tags is finding the 'perfect' yarn/cords to match the tags.  I am pleased with the finished look of these tags especially since I was able to use some specialty yarns I discovered in Japan.  Having a stash of craft supplies to chose from is the highpoint of being a crafter/hoarder. Hahaha!