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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Thrift Store Lampshade Refashion

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Thrift stores are awesome — just ask Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. I love finding unique castaways and refashioning them into something cool and useful. A few months ago, I had $20 in my pocket so off I went to my … Continue reading →

Repurposed Pantry Jars As Party Favors

Hello crafters! A while back I posted a project titled, Repurposed Jars for the Holidays. It was a big hit on my blog so I decided to repurpose MORE jars but this time as tiny terrariums. I think they’d be awesome as wedding favors!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Jars from your pantry
• Craft store acrylic paint
• Tiny succulents
• Potting soil
• Small pebbles
• 18 gauge aluminum wire
• Card stock paper
• Tiny spoon or twig
• Wire cutter
• Pencil

With the exception of the jars, succulents and potting soil, you can pick up all project ingredients from your craft store. The succulents and potting soil can be purchased at your local plant nursery.

Here’s how you do it:

1. Empty, clean and remove label from the jar.
2. Paint jar lid your favorite color.
3. Add about 1/2 inch of soil to the bottom of the jar.
4. Remove the succulent from the store container and remove any excess soil that is around the root system. Don’t worry about hurting these little guys, they’re super resilient.
5. Insert the succulent into jar and secure the roots of the succulent in the soil using a small spoon or twig.
6. Add a layer of pebbles.
7. Cut a section of wire to wrap and twist around the neck of the jar.
8. Using a pencil, curl the other end of the wire around the pencil to create a coil – this will hold the name tag.
9. Create a name tag with card stock paper, slip it in the coiled end of the wire and your done!

This project is super easy and inexpensive to make. And best of all, it makes a super and unique gift. Oh, and caring for these little lovelies is a breeze:

Check every couple of days to see if your terrarium needs water. If it is dry add a tiny bit of water.

If your terrarium is closed, take off the top every couple of days to air it out. If you see lots of condensation or have added too much water, leave the top off until it has had a chance to dry out.

Pull off any leaves that show signs of yellowing or damage and prune plants if they grow too large.

Don’t fertilize your terrarium because you don’t want to encourage growth.

Happy crafting!

 

 

Twig Stars

If you’re like me, you appreciate a quick and easy craft project. One that repurposes the ordinary into extraordinary with little fuss and little time. If this sounds familiar, then I have a project is for you.

You’ll need:

• Five twigs – all the same length
• A hot glue gun
• Craft paint (optional)

Here’s how you do it:

1. To shape the star, lay the twigs on a flat surface.
2. After you have the shape desired, place a dab of hot glue where the twigs touch each other.
3. Paint.
4. You’re done!

Now how easy is that! They’re great for your holiday tree or would be awesome as gift toppers. You decide.

Happy crafting and happy holidays!

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!

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!