You Rock 3-D Card + Silhouette Portrait Giveaway

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This week is Teacher and Staff appreciation week at my sons’ school. Monday was bus driver appreciation. Our bus driver is a really great guy. He’s young, but man is he on top of things! He is always polite and learned the kids’ names the first week.

I wasn’t sure what to get him. I have no idea what a guy who looks to be in his mid-20′s to early-30′s wants. Flowers would seem weird. And I have no idea if he likes cookies. And then it hit me. I remembered Otto, the Simpson’s bus driver!

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That guy loved to Rock n’ Roll! I figured, what young guy wouldn’t appreciate a little iTune credit? In addition to the gift card, I made a YOU ROCK card to hold the gift card using the Silhouette. (If you don’t have a Silhouette, you can use a computer print out and an x-acto knife instead like Jessica from How About Orange did.) [Read more...]

Glitter Cut Out Valentine Name Tags

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On friday, I shared my tutorial for making You Rule Candy-Free Valentines.

I also created a tutorial for making those cute tags. If you have a Silhouette or other craft cutter, I have a few tricks for making the cut out tags. In particular, I want to show you how to attach the centers (technically called the counters in typography) of letters so they don’t drop out after being cut. You could simply glue them back in, but when you are making 50 tags that can become time intensive. I guess an alternative would be to  simply change your child’s name to something like Nick where there are no letters with centers. ;-) Yeah, maybe not. Here’s how I dealt with those pesky letters with centers: [Read more...]

Warm & Cozy Chocolate Gift Basket {DIY Gift Link Party}

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I love making my own gift baskets. They cost less than a store bought version. Plus, they don’t need to be wrapped!

A pair of Goodwill pants and an ugly tin bucket get the royal treatment in this spa themed gift basket:

Lavendar Spa Gift Bucket

I seriously seek out the opportunity to make one whenever I can. Nothing is safe from a gift basket. A simple gift certificate for a round of golf? An old wire basket, come Craig’s List golf balls and—BAM—Now it’s a gift basket. [Read more...]

Drawstring Gift Bag Tutorial

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Welcome back to another 15 Minute DIY Gift Ideas! We’re on Day 3 and the gifts just keep comin’!

Sometimes the perfect present isn’t actually the gift itself. It’s how the gift is packaged. These quick and easy drawstring bags can be made to any size you want and can be filled with sweets, coffee or simply used instead of gift wrap. Best of all, the bag can be used long after the gift has been opened (and consumed!) [Read more...]

Creative Gift Wrapping Day #5 – Polar Bear, Dove, Holly and a Sleigh

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This is it, the last day of the Creative Gift Wrapping tutorials. I hope you have had fun with some of these creative gift wrap ideas. In case you missed any, here are the previous days of gift wrapping:

Day #1 – Monogram & Name Plaque

Day #2 – Frosty & Rudolph gifts

Day #3 – Butterflies & 3-D Tree 

Day #4 – Chalkboard Tags

Today I have my favorite gift wrap! I have to admit that the polar bear is my favorite animal, so I might be biased. But, it is a really easy look to re-create.


Materials:

  • Wrapping paper
  • White card stock paper
  • Snowflake hole puncher
  • Key tag
  • Satin ribbon
  • Jingle bell
  • Black & white pom poms (nose & tail)
  • Small black button
  • Elmer’s glue
  • Hot glue gun

Wrap a present with gift wrap.

Using the template below (click on the photo for a larger version and then print it out), cut out the polar bear shape on white card stock. Better yet, if your printer can handle it, print it out on card stock and then flip the bear over to the white side.

Glue the bear onto the gift package.

Punch out some snowflakes. (I used some white and some light blue that would show up better on top of the white bear.)

Cut one piece of red ribbon for the bears collar. Glue the collar and snowflakes onto the package using Elmer’s glue. Use hot glue to attach a button and pom pom for the eye and nose.

Thread a jingle bell onto some satin ribbon, then tie a bow onto a key tag.


Hot glue the bow/jingle bell onto the bear’s collar.


Factoid: Did you know that a polar bear’s skin is actually black? And the bear’s hair is actually transparent hollow tubes. This serves three purposes:

  1. The tubes are hollow so they store air in them. This acts as an insulator.
  2. Plus, it helps the polar bears buoyancy while swimming.
  3. Remember how I said their skins is black? Well, because the fur is actually transparent, it allows the sun to reach the bear’s skin and help warm them. Cool, huh?!

Materials:

  • Wrapping paper
  • White card stock paper
  • Satin ribbon
  • Sprig of rosemary or other evergreen twig
  • Hot glue gun

Wrap a present with gift wrap.

Add a ribbon on the diagonal corners.

Click on the dove silhouette below to see the full size image. Print it out on the cardstock paper and cut out the shape to use as a template, or use the reverse white side of the shape.

Use a hole punch to cut out the eye. Hot glue the dove to the package and hot glue the rosemary underneath the dove’s beak.

Have fun with this creative package. Add the words PEACE, or bend the wings up to make them three dimensional.

This dove will work on a variety of sized gifts. Try one on a vertical present.


“Peace on Earth, Goodwill Toward Men”

Bonus: Here are two more creative gift wrappings to try. The holly leaves are simply pieces of scrapbook paper folded and glued onto the package.

The sleigh was so much fun to create! I wrapped pieces of foam board and cut out a scrapbook paper sleigh.

Glued cotton balls for snow and some buttons and buckles make this a gift the recipient will want to stare at instead of open.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas day, a Happy Holiday and a terrific New Year!