3D Tree Gift Wrap

Last night I invited two of my girl friends to wrap our Christmas presents together. We decided it was waaaaayyyyy more fun to wrap together than by ourselves Christmas Eve. We chatted and talked for hours! Before we knew it the clock had struck midnight and the cell phones began to ring as husbands wondered “What the heck are you doing?! Why does it take so long to wrap presents?”

Here are just a few of the reasons why it takes a little longer:

Making a gift look extra special for the recipient takes time and care. Pretty Handsome Guy would poo poo our efforts, but so be it. We had fun and that is all that matters!

Using Martha Stewart craft paint and holiday stencils on plain brown craft paper.

I set out some supplies, some water — and most importantly — Renee brought some Trader Joe’s Holiday Joe Joe’s! Mmmmm!

We had fun wrapping and crafting and creating!

I encourage you to invite a friend or two over to wrap with you this year. Enjoy some “down time” with some special friends. Or just pull up a chair in my dining room as I create a few more creative gift wrappings!



Materials:

  • Wrapping Paper
  • Wire Ribbon
  • Butterfly hole puncher (or other hole punch shape)
  • Colored scrapbook paper or other colored paper
  • Snowflake embellishment sticker
  • Elmer’s glue

Start by using the butterfly hole puncher and punch out oodles of little butterflies.

Crease and fold the butterflies in half to give them some dimension. It is okay to leave a few butterflies flat.


Gift wrap your present as you normally would. And add your ribbon and bow on diagonal corners.

Use Elmer’s glue to place random dots onto your package.

Lay your butterflies on top of the glue. Keep adding butterflies until your cluster is done.


Add a snowflake embellishment and one butterfly on the bow.

Think how adorable snowflakes or stars would look on dark blue wrapping paper!

“These are a few of my favorite things (butterflies in December!)”


Materials:

  • Wrapping paper
  • Curly ribbon
  • 1 – 12″ x 12″ scrapbook paper
  • Shiny embellishment dots or stickers
  • Elmer’s glue
  • Optional: Green construction paper or scrapbook paper for fringe grass at the bottom


Wrap your gift in wrapping paper.


Cut a small square out of craft paper for the trunk. Fold your scrapbook paper into quarters…


…and cut along the fold(s) using the template below.
When you are done you should have two identical trees.

Glue the tree trunk down using Elmer’s glue. Run a bead along the spine of the tree and glue the first tree down on top of the trunk. Run a second bead of glue along the spine of the first tree and lay the second tree on top but slightly lower than the first.

Fold the left and right sides of the tree up to give them some dimension.

Add some embellishments or stickers to decorate your tree.

Optional: Adding Fringe Grass

Cut out a strip of green construction paper or scrapbook paper for your grass line. Tape two pieces together if you need to make it longer.

Cut fringes into the top edge of the green strip.

Using a pencil, roll the fringes over the pencil. I found this worked best on my thigh.

Glue your strip of fringed grass onto the package using Elmer’s glue.

Use your finger to push some fringes up and others down until you like the look.

Finish off your package by tying some curly ribbon onto it.

“Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree”

Please join me tomorrow for some more creative gift wrapping ideas!

Rudolph Gift Wrap

Are you ready to have some fun today?! Making recognizable holiday characters is sure to be enjoyable. It brought me back to some preschool craft projects we used to do in school.

Materials:

  • Black felt or black construction paper
  • Cake size paper plate
  • Buttons (2 eyes, 1 nose, 5-6 mouth)
  • Red Ribbon
  • Snowflake stickers, snowflake paper punch, and/or other embellishments
  • Wrapping paper in a plain color
  • Elmer’s glue
  • Hot Glue Gun

Preheat your hot glue gun. Wrap your present with the plain wrapping paper.

Cut out a hat shape using the black felt or construction paper. Feel free to use this template or make your own.

Cut a piece of red ribbon for the brim of your snowman’s hat. Then gather your snowman pieces and lay them on the package.

Use the hot glue gun to glue the cake plate upside down to the package. Glue the ribbon onto the hat. Attach the hat on the package letting the brim overlap the cake plate.
Cut another piece of ribbon (12″ or more) for the snowman’s scarf and fold it in half. From the fold, pinch and fold about 2 inches back on itself. This will be the snowman’s scarf knot. Play with the scarf and “knot” until you like how it looks, then use the hot glue to affix it to the gift box.
Use hot glue to adhere the buttons to the cake plate in the shape of a face.


Embellish your package with snowflake stickers and/or paper snowflake hole punches. Glue the hole punches with a small dot of Elmer’s glue.

Well look at that! You just brought Frosty the Snowman to life!



Materials:

  • 2 twigs
  • Brown craft paper or paper bag
  • Wrapping paper (preferably a plain color)
  • 2 buttons for eyes
  • 1 Red pom pom
  • Red Ribbon
  • Snowflake stickers or hole punches
  • Jingle bell
  • Elmer’s glue
  • Hot glue gun

Preheat your hot glue gun. Wrap your present with the wrapping paper.


Cut out a reindeer head from the craft paper or a paper bag. Feel free to use this template or make your own.

Lay out the head, sticks, buttons and pom pom nose on the package .

Coat the back of the reindeer head with Elmer’s glue and attach it to the gift. Run a thick line of hot glue onto the back of the twigs and attach them over the reindeer head. Attach the eyes and nose with hot glue.


Tie a bow with the red ribbon. Attach a gift tag and jingle bell to the bow and then hot glue it to the package.

Add paper punch snowflakes using Elmer’s glue and/or snowflake stickers.


I think Rudolph is pretty cute, don’t you?

Stick around, I’ll have some more creative gift wrappings for you tomorrow!

Pin for later!

Every year I try to come up with new and creative ways to wrap Christmas gifts for my friends and family. For me, making beautiful packages is almost as fun as opening the gifts Christmas morning. In fact, I usually invite a few friends over to wrap presents with me. We spend a few hours chatting, cutting paper and creating little present masterpieces.

After last year’s get together, I needed to stock up on more gift wrap supplies. A quick trip to Walmart provided plenty of embellishments, paper, and exciting new crafting supplies.

I was especially excited about trying the X-ACTO template, decorative edge scissors and the swivel knife. I’ve never seen these products before. Fun, fun, fun!

Want to join me for a little gift wrappity wrap party? Go ahead and grab these supplies and I’ll show you how I created my scrapbook inspired presents.

Materials:

Let’s start with this red and white graphic shape gift.

Begin by wrapping the present with a solid color gift wrap.

Use the Elmer’s double stick tape underneath the edges of the paper for a hidden (no tape lines) closure.

Cut a piece of the Colorbok decorative scrapbook pages (die cut lattice page) to the same height of the package and about 2/3 the width of the gift. Trim along the edges of the design using the X-ACTO swivel knife.

Rub the Elmer’s glue stick onto the back of the lattice pattern. Then flip it over and press it onto the gift.

Fold a letter size sheet of paper into quarters. Draw one quarter of a decorative shape onto the paper (I tried to emulate the lattice hole design.) Make sure that your paper folds are in the center of the shape.

Cut out the shape you drew on the paper. Open the paper up and use it as a template to trace and cut the design out of black foam board.

Use the regular X-ACTO knife (and a brand new blade) to cut around the template. (Take your time with this task. You can make multiple cuts from different angles if you need to.)

Play with the layout of the graphic shape on your package. Mentally note where the graphic shape will go, then lift the black foam board shape off of the present.

Wrap ribbon around the present forming a cross shape. The center of the cross should line up with the center of your graphic shape. Tape the ribbon to the back of the package.

Adhere the black foam board shape to the center of the ribbons. (I find the CraftBond medium glue dots are super strong and perfect for the task of gluing the foam board shape.)

Dress up the black foam board graphic by outlining the shape with Elmer’s sparkle glue.

After the glitter glue has dried, write the recipient’s name using the silver Painters opaque paint marker.

Add  a ribbon to the top using another glue dot to hold it in place. You can learn how to make professional bows from Mural Maker & More.

And you are finished! Isn’t that beautiful? I really like the graphic shapes and the layers of textures.

Let’s try another gift wrap design! This green and red gift with a monogram letter is just as easy to create.

Begin by cutting out a piece of scrapbook paper. Lay the X-ACTO decorative shapes template on top of the paper and carefully run the X-ACTO swivel knife around the edges. Be careful not to cut or chip the template edges. Because they are plastic, they can break. I “tiled” the template to create an elongated shape.

Lay the cut out scrapbook paper on top of another piece of coordinating scrapbook paper. For this 2nd sheet, I decided to use the decorative scalloped edge scissors to compliment the X-ACTO decorative shapes curved template. Cut out the second sheet about 1/2″ wider than the first one.

Remove the scrapbook papers and tape a ribbon around the present. By using the Elmer’s removable double stick tape you can hide how the ribbons are secured. Be sure to have the ribbons cross high up on the gift to allow room for the monogram.

Add some more double stick tape to the backs of the scrapbook paper. Center the smaller piece on the larger one. Then, adhere the papers on top of the ribbon using the double stick tape.

Print out a large letter from your printer. Trim some of the excess paper from around the letter. Lightly tape the letter printout on top of a piece of black foam board.

Using a fresh X-ACTO blade and knife, carefully cut out around the outline of the letter.


Use some Elmer’s Craft Bond Medium Glue Spots on the back of the foam board “A” and adhere it to the present.

Write the gift recipient’s name onto the letter using the silver Painters opaque paint marker. Tie a separate bow and then adhere it with more glue spots.

You now have an adorable monogrammed present for someone special.


These two Christmas presents are too beautiful to open. But, if you put them in front of five and seven year old brothers, they won’t hesitate for a second to rip into the frilly bows and lines of these presents. So, save these for someone special! 😉

How did you like this tutorial? Want to learn more ways to spruce up the presents under the tree? Check back everyday this week to see some more creative gift wrappings.

 

 

 

Disclosure: This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for #Elmersholiday #GlueNGlitter #collectivebias and #CBias. I was paid a small fee to shop at Walmart and use a selection of X-acto and Elmer’s brand products. The ideas, tutorial and opinions expressed in this post are solely my own.

 

Today I have a special guest with a special holiday project. Laura is going to show you how to make those adorable tree branch ornaments! But, first, let me tell you a little about Laura.

This is Laura with one of her four fur babies!

Laura writes about making on her blog Laura Makes. She writes about a variety of projects including crafts from knitting to making mosaics (and everything in between), food & drinks (mainly vegetarian), baking, and home improvement projects with a focus on healthy living and environmentally friendly projects. She even faux tiled the concrete floors in her home using soy based concrete stain. The results are nothing short of amazing!

Laura’s Stained Concrete Floors

Will you all please give Laura from Laura Makes a warm welcome!

Every year, I make some percentage of my gifts rather than buy them. At first I started out with grand ambitions and would pick one or two recipients to get a labor-intensive gift like a crocheted afghan. In the last few years, I’ve scaled my efforts back and now make small gifts for multiple recipients. I typically will make a handful of one style of gift to boost my holiday time efficiency.

This year I started thinking about what type of ornament I could make from materials I had lying around. I settled on ornaments made from branches we cut off our trees a few years back. Basically, I cut thin slices of the branches, added a painted Christmas design and a ribbon for hanging and they are ready to go!

So you’re probably wondering how you can do this too… Well, you’re in luck because I’m ready to share!

Step 1: Cut your wood slices

Find a branch with a diameter of 2 – 3 inches (or large enough to fit your design) and cut thin slices. I used a reciprocating saw with a 9” wood blade on it to cut slices about an inch thick.  I just have a photo of the saw, but remember to securely clamp your branch before starting to saw it and to wear safety glasses while operating the saw.

Step 2: Sand your wood slices

The reciprocating saw left a rough finish so I used sanding blocks to create a smooth surface. I first used a very coarse grain sandpaper to get the surface level and then a fine grain sandpaper to create a nice finish. The sanding blocks were very handy – I held the block still while moving the wood slice to sand the surface.

Step 3: Drill holes for small eyelets

This is as easy as it sounds. Use a small drill bit to drill a hole in the top of your wood sliced and then screw in a small eyelet. This will allow your gift recipients to hang your ornaments. You can pick up small eyelets at any home improvement store.

Step 4: Create your designs

I like to create my own linocuts (a print-making method) so I decided to create reproducible designs by basically making holiday stamps for my wood slices. You could also simply buy stamps or paint a design if cutting your own stamps isn’t your thing.

I started by drawing my designs on paper – a snowflake, a Christmas light bulb, and a Christmas tree. I traced the outline of my wood slices so that I would be sure to create designs that fit on the slices.

After that, I transferred the design onto my carving blocks.

And then I used my speedball cutter to carve out my designs.

Step 5: Get that design onto your wood slice!

Whether you make your own stamp, buy a stamp, or paint your design free hand, it’s now time to get the design on to your wood slice. Because two of my designs were meant to have two colors, I used a paintbrush to apply my paint to the stamp before stamping the wood slice. Of course, before doing any stamping I first tested my carved stamps to make sure they looked how I expected and also tested the amount of paint that need to be applied.

The snowflake design only used a single color so I used a small brayer instead of a paintbrush to apply the paint.

I found that it worked best to lay the stamp on the table, place the wood slice on top of it, and press down with firm (but not hard) pressure. This helped transfer the paint to the wood even if some small ridges remained after the sanding step.

The trick is getting the right amount of paint on the stamp so I recommend practicing on paper for a while before moving on to the wood slices. If I painted the paint on too thick, I would first lightly place the stamp on paper to absorb some of the extra paint. Of course if you are just painting directly on the slices you can just jump to that step! I made one freehanded design of a snowman for a particular snowman lover in my life.

Step 6: Embellish your designs

Because I felt that my Christmas bulbs and trees turned out a bit plain, I broke out some leftover red glitter glue to embellish them. For the red bulbs, I painted on the red glitter glue. For the trees, I added little dots to signify tree decorations.

Step 7: Seal your ornaments

I wanted to add some sort of sealant coat to my ornaments for protection. I settled on Mod Podge because I had some at home. Experimentation taught me that I couldn’t use a sponge applicator to brush on the Mod Podge or it would smear the paint even though it was dry. Instead, it seemed that using a paint bush to dab the Mod Podge on top of the paint worked the best.  When first applied, it looks somewhat white but it does dry clear.

Before drying:

After drying:

Step 8: Add a way to hang those ornaments

I used ribbon to create a small bow at the top of the ornaments and also to create a loop so that the ornaments can be hung. Hooray! They are complete and ready to be gifted!

Don’t you just love her ornament idea?! I was watching Celebrity Holiday Homes on HGTV last night. And one of the designers who was decorating Jo Dee Messina’s home, glued her family photos to the center of a wood cut out and turned them into ornaments. I bet Laura inspired him!

Thanks for sharing your tutorial with my readers Laura!

Do you want to be a guest on Pretty Handy Girl? Go ahead and submit your idea! I love having people over.

Welcome back to another Tool Tutorial Friday! Before we begin I want to congratulate Wendy, who won the Tomboy Tools Magnetic Hammer! Wendy said, “Thank you for continuing your education for women on power tools! I learn so much from your posts. I’m also glad to know that my son wasn’t the only one with multiple arm casts! Pink hammer – cool.”  You are very welcome!!!

Now, on to the tutorial. Today I have a very important power tool that is a very neglected tool in my home. In fact, it is so infrequently used that I need some help from a more experienced handy girl. Anyone want to volunteer to write a guest tutorial on using a power vacuum cleaner? I could really use your expertise.

Or this equally valuable tool:

I have forgotten how to use it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Anyone?

Well, I hope you don’t mind that instead of the usual tool tutorial friday, I’m going to give you a Holiday Home Tour instead. Get ready for this amazing tour of my utterly beautiful home! All decked out and ready for the holidays!

Welcome to my mudroom. I spent a lot of time decorating this room. You can see the holiday decor is so abundant it is essentially overflowing!

My dining room is decked out for the season with ribbons, glitter and glue. Even the advent presents are beautifully laid out (in the tote bag.) And I spared no expense when it came to decorating the walls. I used a unique combination of paper bags, boxes and ribbon to adorn them.

Follow me, right this way. Aren’t the garlands of fabric simply beautiful on our stairway? I just love the simplicity of the swags. Pink and silver running shoes add the perfect punch of color.

The kitchen has a child decor theme. Complete with reindeer food and some presents displayed on the counter. Rudolf would be thrilled to eat here.

The living room is decorated from floor to ceiling. I decided to go with a casual and convenient theme this year. When the holidays are over, all I have to do is open the blue bins (which double as a festive ottoman) and drop the decorations inside. Simply genius, don’t you think?!

I saved the best for last! This year I’ve decided to adorn the office with a new color theme. The browns and teals really bring out the holiday spirit! As do the loosely placed papers and items. Careful thought was taken into the placement and juxtaposition of each object on the desk. I think I really nailed this design.

If you haven’t guessed by now, today’s post is a “Keeping It Real” style post.

I’ve been so insanely busy with craft tutorials, Habitat ReStore lectures, broken arms, holiday preparation, gift purchases, and… oh, did I mention that Pretty Handsome Guy is away on business this week? So, you can imagine my life (and home for that matter) are in a state of disarray. So, I hope you’ll excuse me for the next few days as I take a little time to pull my home and life back in order and enjoy the holidays with the people that matter most to me (not that you don’t matter to me!)

In all seriousness, I have accomplished one decorating feat: the tree! I think it looks pretty good if I do say so myself…except…what is that thing lying on the floor to the left of the tree?

Oh, why it is my wreath that has been hung with care!

I’ll be back on Monday with a very important guest. And then check in every day next week for my creative gift wrapping series. You won’t want to miss it!

In the meantime, Happy Holidays! And feel free to see how I decorated last year, aka Rustic Christmas Decor!

Sharing my eclectic decorating style with: Positively Splendid’s Saturday Seven and Funky Junk Interiors SNS

In other news, I have a big announcement to make: The first set of speakers have been announced for the SNAP 2012 conference! I am really excited to be working with such a fabulous group of women bloggers!

If you haven’t heard of it, SNAP is a big creative blog conference from April 19th – 21st near Salt Lake City, UT. I am truly honored to be asked to speak at SNAP and I can’t wait to share some motivational empowerment words with the attendees.

If you would like to enter to win a ticket to SNAP, there is a big ticket giveaway happening right now! From now until Christmas, SNAP will be giving away one ticket a day. So, head over to enter to win your ticket.

Feel free to read a little more about the SNAP conference. It is going to be phenomenal!