Fast Craft Holidays – Craft Paper Gift Bags

It’s the night before Christmas and this creature should not be stirring but alas, here I am wrapping last-minute gifts and of course I ran out of holiday gift wrapping paper. No worries, with a roll of craft paper and a sewing machine, I whipped up these cute little paper gift bags — perfect for anything that will fit into a gift bag! What’s great about these is you can customize the size to the gift and you can use any type of paper — newspaper would look awesome too!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Craft paper or newspaper
• Sewing machine
• Hole punch
• Pinking shears
• Twigs

Here’s how you do it:

1. Cut a section of paper to accommodate the gift it will hold.
2. Then fold the paper in half and using a sewing machine, run a seam up either side.
3. Using a pinking shears, cut a decorative edge where the opening of the bag will be.
4. Make a flap (like an envelope) by folding over the top edge of the bag.
5. Using a hole punch, make two holes directly through the folded over flap. This step allows you to insert the twig which will act as the seal for the gift bag.
6. Adorn with a gift tag, like my men’s necktie holiday tags (follow these instructions) and your done!

It’s easy, original and fast!  Happy Holidays crafters!!!!

 

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Moss Gift Tags

Happy first day of spring! Wanna know how to transform an ordinary shipping tag into something extraordinary?  Stick with me…

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Shipping tags – I found a great selection at Staples
• A roll of peel-&-stick moss – Michaels
  
• Twine
• Scissors
• Hole punch

Here’s how ya do it:

1. Cut a piece of the peel-&-stick moss slightly larger than a shipping tag.
2. Remove the paper on the back of the moss to reveal its tacky side then place firmly on the tag.
3. Punch a hole in the top of the tag and insert twine.
4. Your done!

Okay, how easy is that AND you have a really cool and creative gift tag to adorn your Easter gifts!  Happy crafting!

Flannel Shirt Holiday Gift Tags

 

If you’re thinking about trashing those holey flannel shirts – think again. You can repurpose them into one of a kind holiday gift tags.

With the exception of the flannel shirts, you can find all project ingredients at your local craft store. Here’s what you’ll need.

• For the flannel shirts, you’ll need to clean out your closet or visit a thrift store
• Repositional spray adhesive
• Card stock
• Circle punch
• Eyelet punch with 1/8″ eyelets
• Scissors
• Ribbon or twine

Here’s how ya do it:

1. With the circle punch, cut circles out of card stock paper to create a gift tag.
2. Cut a piece of flannel to cover the gift tag and set aside.
3. Spray the gift tag on one side with spray adhesive.
4. Place the flannel over the gift tag and press firmly and remove any wrinkles. You can reposition the fabric until you have the desired placement.
5. With a scissors, cut away the excess fabric from the gift tag.
6. With the eyelet punch, create the hole for the ribbon or twine. Note to crafters, if you don’t want to use an eyelet punch, you can use a regular paper punch.
7. Insert ribbon or twine in the hole.
8. Your done!

Happy Holidays and happy crafting!

Bailing Twine Flowers

My friend Kate made yarn pom poms for a wreath (and her cat Fable) and I thought I’d try the same technique but use bailing twine instead to make flowers. I love bailing twine – it’s inexpensive, a roll of it goes a long way, and I use it in a lot of my projects.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Bailing twine
• Florist wire
• Scissor
• Your fingers

Here’s how ya do it:

1. Loosely wrap twine around four fingers starting with your forefinger to your pinky finger. Wrap the twine around your four fingers about 25 times.
2. Remove the twine from your fingers and twist florist wire in the middle of the flower to bind the center of the flower.
3. Cut the looped ends with a scissor.
4. Now simply fluff up the flower to the perfect shape and cut the flower to the desired size.
5. Done!

I hot glued mine to the ends of twigs but there are countless creative uses for these beauties. Have fun, and happy crafting!

Repurposed Mint Tins for Baubles & Treasures

Here’s a super easy and super fun project for the whole family! Transform empty mint tins into stylish little keepsake boxes perfect for storing your favorite beach treasures and special trinkets. Or you can tuck tiny little treasure maps inside for a really fun children’s party game. Their uses are endless!

Here’s how you do it. Paint the lids with Liquitex Glossies high-gloss acrylic enamel.  You can find the paint at your local craft store or on-line at Dick Blick. After the paint dries, glue your favorite beach finds or other special baubles to the lids using non-toxic and waterproof, Gorilla Glue, also found at craft stores.

Happy crafting!

Think Outside the Box

I love the challenge of cooking up unique ways to wrap gifts.  By using ordinary items in extraordinary ways, you too can transform your Father’s Day gifts into something he’ll never forget.

To start, my go-to wrapping paper is all-purpose masking paper which you can buy at the hardware store. It’s inexpensive and you get tons on a roll. And colored twine which I picked up at the craft store.

Use your imagination and your options are endless!  Starting from the top left I used, wine corks, burnt out light bulbs, a vintage pin, an outdoor faucet handle, and coin wrappers.

To finish off the packages, I scanned vintage photos to make gift tags. Happy crafting and happy Father’s Day!

Mason Jar Vases Wrapped in Book Pages

If you’re in need of a quick gift idea for Mother’s Day, a birthday, or just need a cool hostess gift. Then you’ve come to the right blog. Wrap some old book pages around a mason jar, secure it with twine, add grocery store flowers and you’re done! Mind you, I don’t go around destroying books, however, the pages I used were from an out-of-date encyclopedia that I annihilated when I was a child. Naughty, naughty.

Happy Mother’s Day, happy Sunday, AND happy day-after-your birthday Andrew!

Wire Hanger Letters

Okay…really?

Who doesn’t have this mess in their closets? I know, I know, you can eat them, return them to your dry cleaner or if you’re nuts like me, you could transform them into some really cool wire letters.  Here’s what you’ll need:

Wire Hanger – Wire Cutter – Needle Nose Pliers

Start by writing out a few letters on a piece of paper to make a pattern, then cut the hanger using a wire cutter and use the needle nose pliers to bend and twist the hanger until you have the desired shape.  It’s super easy!

Here are mine.  Finished, glittered and on top of gift boxes.

Happy crafting and remember, please don’t eat the hangers.

Plastic Shopping Bag Flowers

I ALWAYS forget to take my reusable shopping bags to the grocery store.  The result…giant piles of plastic shopping bags have invaded my home. Of course you can recycle them and I do encourage that. Or you can make these nifty thrifty flowers.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Giant piles of plastic shopping bags (well you don’t need a giant pile — about a dozen will do)
• Scissors
• Wire or string
• Foam craft brush
• Acrylic paint

Here’s how you do it:

Cut about 12 squares of equal size (these are approximately 6 X 6 inches).

Stack the squares neatly on top of each other and fold them like an accordion. Then gather and tie off the middle with string or wire.

Cut off the ends so they are clean and even.

Then start separating the squares by gently pulling them apart.

Okay, now this is the fun part. Dip your foam brush in acrylic paint and gently brush over the end of the flower.

You’re done! Instead of using store-bought bows, they make great gift toppers or you could make an entire wreath out of these beauties. How cool would that be! And, they look much better than the sight of them wrapped around limbs of trees or blowing around the streets.

Happy crafting! Oh…stay tuned to see how I recycle phone books. Seriously, who uses phone books? Discuss.