Fun Christmas cracker tutorial

 

Today I have a Christmas gift idea using your Stampin’ Up!® cardstock and Reindeer Days Designer Series Paper. And if it looks familiar then I will remind you that there’s no such thing as a new idea... and certainly not in my head at the moment. We are having building work done and the stress and mess of it all has sapped my mojo.

But what is one of my best tips for a missing mojo? Remake something you’ve made before. In my defence, a quick glance through this blog shows me that it’s been three years since I last made this half cracker gift box for a Stampin’ Up!® Zoom class during the pandemic.

Easter Bunny treat bags

Would you believe I have never bought an Easter stamp set before? Easter Bunny, which features in the January to April Stampin’ Up!® catalogue is my very first Easter set.

This year I was determined to make some cute little gifts and with Easter just around the corner, I thought I’d better get cracking! (See what I did there?)

Stampin’ Up!® Nested Treat Boxes – decorated for Christmas gift giving

 

I absolutely loved the Stampin’ Up!® catalogue sample showing the Nested Treat Boxes in the September-December Mini Catalogue, and couldn’t resist recreating it for my December Crafty Friday class. 

Three projects using Stampin’ Up!® Winter Meadow Designer Series Paper

The recent Starter Kit offer attracted lots of people into my Stampin’ Up!® team, so I thought it was time to send them a proper welcome pack. 

 

I wanted to use the gorgeous Winter Meadow Designer Series Paper because I love it so much. Happily, this is now back in stock in the Europe warehouse and even more happily, this item will be carrying over beyond the end of the year.

I didn’t have a lot of this paper to spare, especially when making multiples, but my three projects show how a little paper can go a long way... and in the end, thanks to frugal cutting, I even had some leftovers. 

 

12 projects using Beary Cute stamp set

 

Are you looking for some Beary Cute project ideas? You’ve come to the right place.

I recently held a full day event using the Beary Cute stamp set from Stampin’ Up!® 

Guests could choose to receive half a pack of either the Beary Christmas Designer Series Paper or A Walk in the Forest. Both packs of Designer Series Paper coordinate perfectly with the Beary Cute stamp set and I couldn’t choose so gave them the option. 

TWO Stampin’ Up!® Christmas projects - with free tutorials

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas... so it’s time to bring out some Christmassy crafts.

Every year I try to create a Christmas decoration from my Stampin’ Up!® supplies and this year is no exception, with this delicate white and gold heart ornament. 

Last-minute Christmas gift projects – with free tutorial

It’s around about this time of year that I begin to lose interest in Christmas projects and get anxious to start crafting with my new Stampin’ Up!® supplies. But there are still Christmas gifts, decorations and more to be made so for my penultimate craft class of the year we made a gift card holder and a couple of packages for tiny gifts. 

 

All of these projects can be made from one sheet of Stampin’ Up!® Painted Christmas Designer Series Paper (or any other designs of your choice). 

 

 

We began by making the bauble/gift holder which can be made from any size square but I went with 7" (17.8cm) to allow enough leftovers to fit the gift card holder.

This is far simpler than it looks and requires no cutting, measuring or special tools. I used this tutorial by Aussie demonstrator Fiona Bradley. 

 

 

The only thing I changed from Fiona’s tutorial was to punch my corner holes after the first two folds – it’s way easier to do this when the paper is still flat. Punch through both layers when the paper is folded corner to corner, then repeat on the other two corners. 

 

We held our baubles together using Simply Elegant Trim and decorated with a gift tag made with the Seasonal Labels Dies and coordinating Christmas Season stamp set. 

 

The card is a square one made to fit some 13cm (5") envelopes from my stash. All the pieces of Designer Series Paper you need can be cut out of the remaining sheet you used for the bauble.

 

Download a free tutorial here

 

 

 Make sure any decorations you add to the front of the small square don’t overhang on the left or this will make the card difficult to open.  

 

Inside the right flap you can stick a piece of Designer Series Paper and there is just enough room for a credit card-sized gift card... if you don’t apply adhesive on the right hand side. 

 

With our leftover pieces we decorated these little Simply Classic Treat Boxes, which are ideal for table gifts or for packaging something small such as jewellery. You could even hang them on the Christmas tree filled with chocolates.

 

There wasn't a long enough strip of Designer Series Paper left to go around the whole box so I cut two 3.5cm wide strips and joined them. Once the gold trim and decorations are added you can’t see the joins.

I hope these projects have inspired you to make some last-minute festive packaging. They are a great way to use up any leftovers – and don’t feel you have to hoard this pack of paper as it is only going into hibernation. The Painted Christmas Designer Series Paper will not be available from 4th January but will return in July 2022. 

The Christmas Season stamp set and Seasonal Labels Dies are both carrying over into the new year, although will not be available as a bundle from 4th January. So if you want to make your 10% saving, I suggest you order before then. They have proved to be my most-used Christmas stamps this year and the dies will prove useful all year round.

Want to craft with beautiful projects like these? If you’re in the UK, please head on over to my store to shop. If you use the host code TFBG2JJB before the end of December, I will send you a thank you gift next month.

To make it easy for you, please shop using this link

Does your wish list come to more than £99? Please get in touch and I will help you get more for your money and unlock discounts all year round.  

 

Please message me via my website 

 

Painted Season gift projects – with FREE tutorials

Some of you are way more organised than me and already have your Christmas cards made – and perhaps even written them. Therefore, your thoughts will be turning to gift packaging. 

I made these gift wrap ideas using the beautiful Painted Christmas Designer Series Paper from Stampin’ Up!®. 

 

As you may guess from the fact that pine cones feature in all of my project photos, this Suite is absolutely right up my street – the designs, the colours, everything. Finally, those pine cones make sense!

 

The large bag is a great design which I borrowed from UK Stampin’ Up!® demonstrator Julie Kettlewell at The Paper Haven. 

 

 

 

It requires two full sheets of 12x12 Designer Series Paper but produces a bag which is big enough for a book or box of chocolates. Hopefully the recipient will like the bag enough to use it again next year, too.

Download a free tutorial here

 

I decorated the bag with a gift tag made using the Christmas Season bundle. 

The tag can be as simple or as detailed as you like. I love the pine cones (obviously) so stamped these onto Crumb Cake cardstock to really make them stand out.

 

The half-cracker gift box is a brilliant little design which can be used as novelty gift packaging or as table crackers which can be used year after year. 

 

 

Regular readers with good memories will recall I made this half cracker gift box last year, too but it’s such a good little box that I wanted to repeat it at an event this year using this gorgeous Painted Christmas Designer Series Paper... after first checking that none of this year’s ladies had attended last year, of course!

 

Download the cracker tutorial here

 

Again, I made a gift tag using the Christmas Season stamp set and Seasonal Labels dies, which are available as a bundle. This time I used a smaller label die and the smaller of the two pine cones from the set.

I had two packs of this beautiful Painted Christmas Designer Series Paper which enabled me to create a matching cracker box to go with each bag. But if you mix and match they look beautiful, too. 

 

If you are in the UK and would like to order, please visit my store and, if you use the November 2021 host code P6VRQPMJ, I’ll send you a thank you gift in the following month.

To make it easy for you, please shop using this link

Does your wish list come to more than £99? Please get in touch and I will help you get more for your money and unlock discounts all year round.  

 

Please message me via my website 

 

Free tutorials: Half-cracker gift box and triangle gift box

Well my brief “Christmas or not” series came and went; I’ve just not had time to make anything extra this week. I don’t know about you but I would rather have time off before Christmas than afterwards, so I can get all my preparations done. But never mind, it will all work out in the end, and then I get a good week and a half off to relax.

Friday was my last Crafty Friday of the year. I’m pleased to have kept this going all year, despite having to run sessions remotely. This month we made two boxes; a half cracker and a triangle box.

The half cracker uses a full sheet of A4 cardstock, and you need half a sheet of 12x12 or two 6x6 sheets, so it's pretty economical. It’s a pretty, reusable alternative to Christmas crackers, which you can refill every year and display on your festive table. Or you can simply use it as gift packaging for a small gift – my crafty Friday ladies seemed particularly keen on using it to gift a spirit miniature! That’s just how they roll...

 Download the tutorial and template for this project here 

I’ve used several different DSPs for these boxes, as I had leftovers to use up but I am particularly taken with the Most Wonderful Time papers from this amazing product medley. How I overlooked this I don’t know but I did manage to nab the refill pack before it went out of stock. 

The good news is that when I checked yesterday, the full product medley was still available and an absolute bargain at half price. Should be £65, now only £32.50 and you get stamps, dies, DSP, sticker sheets, tinsel and embellishments. A mega bargain, and a gorgeous one at that: you can order it here.

The triangle box starts with a sheet of A4 and uses less than a 6x6 piece of DSP. I have used Most Wonderful Time DSP for this project and decorated with a label cut with the Tasteful Labels dies and some trees from the Snow Globe Scenes dies. This ribbon gives it a hint of bling and goes with absolutely everything. 

This box uses Misty Moonlight cardstock (LOVE that colour) and the Trimming the Town Designer Series Paper which has now retired. My new Rectangular Postage Stamp Punch makes for a quick label, stamped with Yuletide Pasture, which is retiring soon and currently reduced. 

Download the tutorial and template for the triangle box here

When making this box, you may feel that it’s not an economical use of cardstock but all those off-cuts are a decent size which can be used to make Christmas tags... 

These tags are all made using the Most Wonderful Time products, with the addition of greeting stamps and a little deer from the Snow Globe Scenes dies. Tags are a great way to use up any leftover elements from your Christmas cards, so don’t throw anything away! (What am I saying? If you’re reading this, you’re a crafter so you won’t throw anything away anyway!)

I hope you like these projects and enjoy making some Christmas boxes of your own. If you’re in the UK, please shop online using the December host code SX4NGWRH (unless you’re spending over £150!). And as a thank you for using the code, I will send you a handmade card and a thank you gift.

 

Snow Globe Scenes and Cheers dies wine bottle tag

Whatever your tipple, this is a really simple way of giving bottles this Christmas. The label is just made from a 7cm x 21xm piece of cardstock, scored and folded at 6.5cm and with a punched hole. I used the Story Label punch but lots of punches, including circles and ovals, would do the same job.

I decorated the label using various dies, including the Snow Globe dies, Cheers dies and Nested Labels. I love how the polar bears look in the bright white Sparkle Glimmer Paper.

Score your cardstock before embossing using the Hammered Metal 3D Embossing Folder. Position the larger piece of cardstock within the folder, a little further in than you'd expect, to avoid getting a plain strip at the top of your tag.