Paper Ornaments

Sometimes I like to embellish my presents. This year I decided to put paper ornaments on the outside of my presents. I have seen these before and decided to give them a try.

I started out with six 4 inch circles of three different patterned paper. Could I type that any more confusing? That equals three 4 inch circles in one color, three in another and three more in another color or pattern. (For a grand total of 6!) I also found that a bone to help fold the paper worked well too.



Fold each paper circle in half.



Glue half of the back of one paper circle to another back's half. As you get down to the last circle, you will need to put the ribbon in. I like to tie a loop onto the top.





Then glue the last circle on.

After it dries for a bit, I tie a bead to the bottom where the ribbon dangles. Here is how my first attempt turned out.

Notice anything? Yeah, I put the ribbon loop on the wrong end- it is hanging upside-down. Perfect for Christmas in Dr. Seuss' Whoville!! If I had noticed it earlier, while the glue was still wet, I could have switched it.

Here are some other attempts.

And, sometimes the ends of the circles don't match up perfectly. You might want to trim them or just distress them a bit with distress ink to cover the white.

Toilet Paper Gift Card Holder

Does your husband/children leave this gift for you in the bathroom? Wanna learn how to turn this...

...into the cutest gift card holder ever? I LOVE the way my toilet paper gift card holders turned out! They were so easy to make too!! I cut into the tube with my shearing scissors. Any pair will do.

Then smushed it flat into the shape of an envelope.

Then painted it some festive colors for whatever occasion.

Added some polka-dots and stripes.

Glued just the edges- be careful to leave enough room for the card to slide in. You could also sew, tie, staple, etc the edges closed.

And there you have it! Slide the gift card/money/coupon in. Adorn with jute or ribbon. If I had more time, I would have used a button. I'll save that for next time!

Look how cute they are sitting on the Christmas tree!

Merry Christmas (card)

Christmas cards can be expensive! How come I never noticed this? Could it be because this year I waited until the week of Christmas to send them out, when I was spending tons of money on last-minute presents and grocery store trips?? Yikes! Not to sounds like a huge Bah Humbug Scrooge, I went down to the Cricut Studio (aka my basement) and made my own cards. Ten gluey fingertips and 900 hours later (exaggeration), I was ready to send them off into the unknown mists of the USPS.

So, from my family to yours, Merry Christmas and let us not forget the true reason for this day. "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.."

Jute as Ribbon, who would have thought?

This year for Christmas, I have been really into jute! You see, I had some pretty ribbon for my Christmas presents... I tend to procrastinate and so I was wrapping my gifts late at night when all of the sudden, I ran out!!! I went down to the craft area and I spotted some jute I had leftover from my white Halloween pumpkins - perfect ribbon material.

I have also been using reusable bags to wrap my presents in. I look at it as three gifts in one. Allow me to do the math: The receiver gets the original gift wrapped in the reusable bag which becomes gift number two. The third gift is to the environment because there is nothing to throw away!

And lastly, I tried to make a bow out of a recycled Target bag... I am not sure I like it. Any ideas on how to make it better? It has grown on me a bit...

Happy unwrapping all your hard work!!

Turtle Treats

I am of the mindset that calories don't count on Thanksgiving, Christmas and any major holidays. My co-worker recently made me some yummy holiday treats and they have quickly become one of our favorites! I have heard them referred to as Poor Man's Turtles. Call them what you want, but I call them Delicious!!

Start with pretzels. I use the square shape, you can use any shape. Put a Rolo on each pretzel. (Don't forget to unwrap them!)



Bake them in the oven at 200 degrees for 4 minutes.



After they come out of the oven, gently push a pecan onto the rolo and squish down. I do some with pecans and some with M&Ms because some of us don't like pecans.





Cool and enjoy! Yum-o!!

Cute as a Button Ornament

Need another ornament on the tree? Don't we all! Here is one that is cute as a button:

To start, I bought an unfinished ornament half price at Hobby Lobby. You will also need some buttons!



I then ripped up some tissue paper and used Modge Podge to glue it onto the ornament.



You might need to use a couple layers of tissue so that the brown from the ornament doesn't show through. Then choose some buttons.



Begin to glue buttons on the ornament after the tissue is dry. I also switched out the string hanger from gold to jute.









Made it Mondays



Get Your Craft On

You Complete Me, Hot Glue Skillet

I have had a lot of people ask me what in the world a hot glue skillet is. Allow me to share with you one item that without its existence, my craft room would not be complete.

Ladies and Gents, I present to thee, my Little Glue Skillet!

I bought it at Michael's (a local craft store).

All you have to do is cut up some hot glue...

And plop it into the skillet! Turn it on, let it melt and soon you can enjoy the ooey-gooey goodness of hot glue in liquid form.

I use mine when I need to dip things rather than put the glue somewhere specific. Be careful not to dip your fingertips though (it hurts! I know- it happened to me).

I did some online research in case you don't have a Michael's by you. I found hot glue skillets on amazon here. At Michael's I paid $4.79 ($7.99 plus 40% off coupon). I love it and it makes life easier!

PS: While I wish they did, nobody (Michael's, Surebonder, Amazon, etc) paid me at all to write this post. The opinions expressed are honest and mine. Happy Crafting!