Papercraft gift handbags

A little different paper crafting today.  I made these cute little handbags, for table gifts.  They could include a tea light candle, chocolate or small gift.  Just a 6” square of paper for the bag section. 💕

Love the colours in this one, with a little pink ribbon necklace as a gift

First one I made, with a decorated tea light candle.

I have finished four of these handbags and need to make another 8 for our Pink Ribbon table gifts. Like everything, deciding what paper to use, takes the longest time....

Link to the tutorial I followed, can be found here 

Hope you have had a great weekend

Judy

Paper Christmas Trees

My sister Sue and I played with some really old vintage newspapers today - we each created three paper Christmas trees.

 

The first tree, from the left, was a paper ribbon tree.  We based this on the ribbon Christmas tree hanging ornament.  A wooden skewer was used for the upright which we then glued into a bark chip, stolen from the garden.  I placed a chipboard star on the top of mine, while Sue used a rusty star button, threaded through with jute.

 

 

Next, came the layered paper Christmas tree.  This one gave us the most trouble.  We cut out five different sized circles.  Folded them in half four times, and then concertina the folds ... OK on the large circle but by the time you got to the tiny circle (approx. 4cm) it was a little difficult. They are then threaded onto a wooden skewer in descending order.  Sue used a star spray on the top, while I used a angel bottle cap decoration

 

 

 

The final paper tree was a 3D one which we used to make when we were children.  I think we used heavier cardstock for these trees, but today we were playing with newspaper.  Cut out three paper trees, the same size.  Fold two in half, then layer them, one folded on the bottom, making sure you even up the sides, the full tree on top, and then the other folded on top again, but on the opposite side from the bottom folded tree ... I hope this makes sense, as I did not take any photos of the actual processes.  (if you need photos, just leave a comment)

 

Once you have the three layers together, carefully take them across to your sewing machine and sew down the centre, ensuring all pieces are stitched.  Open out and there is your tree.

 

 

 

You could play with the sizing of each of these trees to make a great mantle display.. I like the idea of adding some rusty miniatures around the trees.

Still 4 days to go on my challenge, what next?

Judy

Rat Trap - Altered

Do you see objects when you are shopping, and think "I can do something with that?"  I seem to do it all the time ... I was in a shop purchasing some notepads when I saw this packet of Rat Traps

 

I had some notepads in my hand at the time, and thought - Notepad Holders!

 

 

Can you see it, the snap, used to hold the notepad securely - easy to access

 

I removed a couple of the fittings, and just left the spring and snap.  Then I base coated it, just in case the rat graphic showed through the paper.

 

 

The paper I chose to cover it with, has a fabric type feel, and in the retro 1950 style ..I just used mod podge to glue it down and then sanded the edges.

 

 

I painted the edges black, and then attached some very strong magnets to the back .. I think I overdid it with the magnets, but it certainly will not fall off the fridge

 

 

 

Now to take it into the house for the test on the fridge - all good! 

It looks great just by itself without anything clipped onto it, nice piece of art of the fridge

 

 

Add the notepad to the clip

 

 

 

 

It will also be great to hold artwork, invitations, bills, reminders etc

 

 

 

Now I have one more rat trap left, and I am going to try a totally different look for this one.. same principle but maybe a vintage look with lace, or a floral one with artificial flowers ... I will see where it takes me.

 

Have a great weekend

Judy 

Button Jar Gift Tags

Combining my love of buttons, and handmade gifts, this idea from Kelly at Live, Laugh, Rowe was made for me.

 

You can download the file for the mason jar graphic from the site, print it out, and then you are right to go.  There were 8 tags to be made from one page.

 

So I grabbed one of my jars of buttons, and got started

 

 

Any shape or size can be used.  Here my 8 finished gift tags

 

 

 

These can be pinned to your gift, or punch a hole and tie on.

 

 

 

As you can see, I also used some corrugated card for the backing on some of my jars, I like the different texture it gave the tag.

 

Remember to also keep a separate sewing machine needle for when you want to sew on paper or cardboard.

 

Judy

Rainy Day Craft

I found a lovely rainy day craft on Pinterest this morning ...  recycle drink coasters into Post-It Note Holders.

 

The above photo, certainly looks much better than the original coasters.

 

 

This is what I started with ... ordinary drink coasters that you can pick up in any hotel or restaurant

 

Cover each side with scrapbooking paper, punch two holes in the top, thread some ribbon through, add your post-it notes, and you are all finished.

 

 

 

I tried to match the paper with the colour of the post-it notes I had on hand

 

 

 

Six finished little gifts, all done in a couple of hours.  Great for teachers, co-workers etc

 

Judy

More Cards

Remember when I promised to show the 50th Anniversary Card my sister, Sue was making?  Well, I did not get a photo of the final version, but these are some others she made.  She made a number so that the recipient could choose the one she liked best.

To show how you can make a gorgeous card out of virtually anything, Sue used flocked Christmas wrapping paper for the background of this paper, and then used a beaded hair accessory as the accent.
I love the bold colours.

 

 

 

Judy

Remembering Mum

A beautiful card my sister Sue made in rememberance of my Mum

 

 

Judy

Little Guest Book

My sister and I combined our talents today to make a small Guest Book for our nephews 21st birthday.

The requested theme was vintage ...  I think we have achieved that?

We started with a Accordion style book

Sue covered both the front and back covers with vintage scrapbook paper.  Then using the big cropodile I punched the eyelet holes ... we used jumbo eyelets in this book, and they are a real challenge to install correctly.  Even though the eyelets themselves are jumbo, the throat section that goes through the cardboard is not.

 

From there it was easy, added a key embellishment and mounted the numbers onto card stock and corrugated card.

We kept the inside simple, so there would be plenty of room for the guests to write their greetings.  It is only going to be a small party with family and a few close friends therefore a bigger book was not required.  

After this photo was taken, we mounted my nephews name on the left hand side... forgot to take another photo

We used birthday rubons for the top of each page.

The next couple of photos are not great, however I wanted to show you the accordion style of the book.

 My nephews girlfriend was very happy with the result.  She was the one that requested the book, so we gave her a call to come and inspect and make any changes. 

The only change she requested was that we add the birthday quote rubons to the top of the pages on the backside.  Easy.

A lovely afternoon spent with my sister.  I left her printing verses for a 50th wedding anniversary for a card that has been commissioned.  I will try and see if I can get a photo before she delivers it.

On the weather front - yesterday at 5:00 pm it was officially 44.4 degrees and even at midnight it was still 37 degrees.

Not sure what the temperature is at the moment, but when I checked at 4:30 pm it was 43.7 degrees.  Way too hot!  Lot of bush fires have started in the area due to a large electrical storm last night.  

Unfortunately we are not predicted to have a change in the weather at all this week, and are on high alert for fires.

Take care

Judy