FINALLY! The 12th Day of Christmas!!!!

Well....the 12th, errr....13th day of Christmas is finally here.  I believe my technical difficulties are behind me...let's cross our fingers anyway.  I always (used to) consider myself computer literate.  Then difficulties arise and I feel like a dumbo.  Anyway.  I'm back up and running.

So, on this last day of Christmas Gettin' Gifty creations, I've whipped up some yummy goodness.  I started off with a mini loaf of homemade pumpkin bread.  Have you noticed the cellophane bags that Stampin' Up! has included in the Holiday Catalog? They are tucked in there - a little bit hidden - on page 34.  You get 25 bags for $3.95.  Talk about a steal.  I'm very impressed with the quality of them.  They are a bit heavier to resist wrinkling - I love that about them.  BUT - what I really like is that they aren't humongous.  Perfectly sized to fit a mini loaf of bread, fill it with some yummy snack mix - you know that kind with the white almond bark on it - we call it Snowman Chow around here!

Alrighty...so I wrapped up a loaf, added a tulle bow, and a little tag using the jar from Perfectly Preserved and die cut it with the Cannery dies.  This was pretty simple, btw.  Just fold your paper in half, stamp it really  close to the fold, then with the paper folded in half, die cut it.  No worries, it'll cut thru both layers!
Cover up the top with the "jar wrapper" image - this is great to use if you miss stamped a bit and cut off the top....

If you are going to give the bread as a little gift, you just as well include some delish butter and coffee too, right?

Whip up some super yummy Cinnamon Honey Butter and put it into a lil' half pint jar. ( I love them - they are so dainty and cute!)  How do you make the butter?  Super easy.  Even easier if you haven't recently broke your hand mixer!

Cinnamon Honey Butter
2 sticks butter (please use REAL butter!)
1 C powdered sugar
1 C honey
2 tsp. cinnamon ( I like to use Pampered Chef's Cinnamon Plus)

Whip this until light and fluffy.  Makes 4 half pint jars and then some extra.  And seriously - I could eat this stuff straight out of the jar - it's THAT good!

Grind up some fresh coffee grounds and voila! You've got a super duper gift for your neighbors, your BFF's, or a Christmas party hostess!

What do you think?  Did you enjoy the 12 Days of Christmas Gettin' Gifty Guide?  I know I had a lot of fun creating all of this goodness.  I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments!  Chatter away peeps!

On the 11th day of Christmas...

Please note: This is my second post of the day!  If you are looking for today's Paper Players post, scroll down or click here.

I got a few treats in this little milk box.  These little milk boxes are a cinch to put together.  My kids love them - and they are great for school gift giving.  Assembly is super easy - and embellishing is a breeze when you use the Make a Mitten with the coordinating punch.  I tied up the top with the stampable cotton ribbon and some sweater soft knit ribbon, leaving the "pouring" side of the carton open for easy access.  Will's class will likely see these in a month and a half at their class party!

Well, folks - I'm off to church and then we've got a birthday party to throw for my little guy who turns 5 tomorrow!  I can't believe he's gonna be 5!!!

On the 10th day of Christmas....

....I'm about to explode!  With JOY that is!  My true love delivered this adorable little box....what could be in it?

Let's take that sweet lid off and find out what's inside, shall we?

Whelp....I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas.....  So, this one happens to be empty, but it's large enough that I could fit in a cute pair of socks or gloves....some candy (like I need that....), I'm betting even a coffee mug might fit in...maybe.  I does measure 4x4x4.  Jewelry would fit nicely.  Perfume.....we're on a roll here.

There's even a spot to write a little message!

Alrighty - we've got a BIG weekend - school supper and auction tonight and a HUGE birthday to celebrate tomorrow.  Must go make a cake!  Alex is turning 5 on Monday....we're celebrating tomorrow with family.

Stay tuned....

On the 9th day of Christmas...

....I'm needing more coffee!!!  Don't we all feel like that somedays?  More coffee, puh-lease!  At about the 9th day of Christmas, I'm wishing the Lazy Days of Summer were back.  Things get chaotic, my house is in shambles, and I'm starting to feel worn down.  By the 9th day of Christmas, I'm beginning to contemplate my Christmas Vacation for the next year.  The one where me and the hubs pack up the kids and travel to some remote cabin in the woods.  Where we can just veg, play board games and read books by the crackling fire. Ahh....a Norman Rockwell Christmas!  And then I wake up and realize that's never gonna happen.

So, how about giving your co-worker the gift of mocha, or java, or any little beverage packet this will fit inside this lil' envelope?  That would be sure to mocha MY day!

This is quite a "whip it up quick" kind of gift - think under 10 minutes!  If you'd like the template, feel free to email me, and I'll get it out to you!

Ta-ta!

On the 8th day of Christmas....

I received some hot chocolate!  We made these up last year in my Stamp Clubs, but I couldn't resist using this for my 12 Days Of Christmas Gettin' Gifty guide this year!  Plus, this adorable little stamp just fits the bill here!

So....this is kind of like a long card, but it's a skinny little box.  I decorated the front with some snowy DSP from the Snow Festival Collection.  And that stamped image comes from Wonderful Winterland.  I colored it using Watercolor Pencils.  You might be shocked, but I hadn't used the watercolor pencils until recently, and I love how easy they are to use! If you need to blend them, they work up beautifully with a blender pen.

Here's how the packet opens. I punched a 2 1/2" hole in it so that the recipient gets a peek at what's inside.  This little box would also be perfect for those large candy bars!  If you'd like the template for the box, contact me and I'll get it to you - or just leave a comment with your email addy!

On the 7th Day of Christmas....

...it was all wrapped up in an adorable gift bag.

Alright - let me channel my inner crafty Larry the Cable Guy for a second.  "I don't care who you are...this bag is ca-UTE!"  I would love to receive a little a gifty in this - just love it!  A little patting on my back if you will...
This was darn easy to create and pretty easy too.  I used the Floral Framelits to die cut the top, and then stamped and die cut  one size smaller to layer with.  Punched two holes, and strung some bakers twine thru, tying up some ruffly ribbon and a Faceted Button.  Don't you just love those buttons?  Adds a bit of blingy sparkle with some vintage flair.  Plus you get a ton of them in the package (24 to be exact) in three different sizes for a mere 5.95.  Pure awesomeness!  Speaking of sparkle....

It's hard to see in the pictures - but on the striped patterned paper, I stamped a Bold Snowflake (brand new single stamp!) in Whisper White and then embossed it with Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder.

What do you think?  I'd love to hear your thoughts....just leave me a comment!

On the 6th day of Christmas...

...my true love gave to me....some yummy sweets under the tree....

Do you give out homemade fudge, or cookies at Christmas time???  Wouldn't they be adorable packaged up in this little glassine bag?  Let me tell you - these were so simple and easy to put together.  I took a piece of DSP from the Festival of Prints mini pack (isn't that the best?) and then let that decide my colors.  I do that often.  Grab DSP first and then decide what colors to work with.   This happens to be one of the "go-to" card sketches that I use all the time, and I just enlarged slightly for these little bags.  The focal point was stamped in both Lucky Limeade and Cherry Cobbler, then die cut.  I trimmed the Cherry colored one to fit, and popped it up.  I took a strip of Cherry Cobbler and embossed it and then cut it into a banner shape.  Topped with a strip of Lucky Limeade - that I used an edgelit on.  Glue on some buttons, voila!!!  Just need to fill with some yummy fudge. (my favorite!  Especially Black Walnut fudge!)

How do you wrap up your yummy treats to make them special???  Leave a comment and let me know!

On the 5th day of Christmas....

....Jars are all the rage right - why not include them in your giftable collection??  Wouldn't you love to receive a gift in this adorable jar??  I know I would.  And let me tell you - these are super simple to create.

I started by picking a couple of sheets of coordinating patterned paper.  I wrapped one around the jar itself. Then I die cut a doily (or you could use a paper doily found in the crafts/cake department)  I used this as the base for my lolly.  (that's the pleated circle thingy)  Added a punched circle on top of that, then tied some ribbon up with one of Stampin' Up's faceted buttons and linen thread. Glue, glue, glue!  Hot glue works the best, although you could use....Tombow.

Glue it to the front of your jar and then package up something special.  Candy, earrings, a necklace...

...or some coordinating clothespin magnets!  These are also super to craft.  Just use strips of scrap paper and glue them onto the fronts.  Add some adornments - like the buttons here.  Adhere a strip of magnet to the back and you've got a great little gift!  

You can order the supplies from my website - http://jenarkfeld.stampinup.net  Just click on the SHOP NOW button in the upper right corner!

See you tomorrow!

On the 4th day of Christmas....

....today, I've transformed a simple junior notepad into something a little more exciting!  This is something you can whip up quickly and on the cheap!

My note pad measured about 8 x 5.  So I cut my sheet of cardstock to 8 x 10 1/2.  I scored it at 5 1/8" and 5 3/8".  This gave me a slight overhang over the edge of the pad.  Easy!  Next. It's all about decorating.  I didn't want mine over done in Holiday colors.  So I went out on a limb.  Here you see Raspberry Ripple, Early Espresso and Very Vanilla.  I used a wheel to stamp across the bottom and top in Raspberry Ripple, I didn't want it to stand out too much.  I embossed a piece of Early Espresso Core'dinations paper and sanded lightly to get the lighter core to stand out.  I put some die cut border strips at the top and bottom to put some contrast, then stamped the notes letters and cut them out.  A piece of Raspberry Ripple ribbon anchors the letters and serves as a closure for the pad.  Simple, easy, quick and cheap.  Perfect for teachers,  great for stocking stuffers.  Make one for everyone you know - these are easy to customize.

On the 3rd day of Christmas....

...my true love gave to me....????  You'd be surprised what you can fit into this little box.  It might be small in size, but it'll pack a big punch.  Especially when it's decorated up this cute!

This starts off as a simple kraft box, but creating an adorable belly band turns it into something with pizzazz.  Here's a few pointers:

The box is large enough that you can't quite get a strip of 12x12 paper wrapped around it.

Here's a solution:

Die cut a shape and spread glue on just two edges (Tombow glue, of course!)  You want to do this so that the glue doesn't get onto the box at all, just the patterned paper.  And you don't want glue in that little area where the paper doesn't meet.

Adhere the die cut shape and then embellish!

I added some Cherry Cobbler tulle and a punched image from Tags til Christmas.  You could easily get even more fancy, but I just wanted something simple.  See how the band will now slide off of the box.  I really like  that when you remove the belly band, the inside is still nice looking.

What would you tuck into this cute little box?  Let me know your thoughts - I love your comments!

On the 2nd Day of Christmas....

....my true love gave to me...COFFEE!!!  MMM....you guys know that I love my coffee right?  Recently, I broke down and purchased myself a Keurig.  I've only wanted one for 2 years.  I got a heck of a deal on it, so I couldn't resist.  I've gone thru numerous little k-cups in the last few days, and went to purchase more and realized they they can be pricey little buggers!  It dawned on me - what a great little gift for other Keurig fans.  Throw them in this cute little package and you've got the perfect gift in the bag!  Well.  More like a box.

I created my box using Gumball Green. Then decorated it with some designer paper, the mug and steam from Scentsational Season, and die cut them with Holiday Collection framelits dies.

***Edited to add: A question arose - "How do you get your markered stamp to stamp so well."  This is a great question.  And I don't really like the way a stamped image looks when you've used markers to color the stamp.  It just isn't crisp.  So, in this situation, I stamped the mug in Cherry Cobbler, using my ink pad.  Then I take my blender pen and wipe away the Cherry Cobbler ink where the "coffee" or "cocoa" portion is.  You will want to wipe off the ink, then clean off your blender pen on scratch paper, and wipe again.  Possibly several times.  Then ink that portion with your marker.  Here I used Soft Suede.  You'll end up with a much nicer image than if you were to color the entire mug with a marker.  Hope that helps!

This is the template that I used.  It's super simple.  Start with a sheet of cardstock that measures 7 x 10 inches.  Score as shown in the photo.

Cut away the 4 corners, then snip those 1 1/2" lines just to the intersection.  You need to punch two 1 3/4" circles in the 2" rectangle above the 1/2" strip.  Also punch an oval in the large top section.  You'll then fold it up and glue it together.  I used Tombow - it's my favorite glue if you aren't already aware of that.

Repeat that if you want a box/caddy that holds 4 k-cups.

What do you think?  Adorable?  Yes. Let me know what you think - leave me some comment love!

On the first day of Christmas....

...my true love gave to me.  A gift card in a cool tin!!!

Welcome to my 1st ever 12 Days of Christmas Gettin' Gifty countdown.  The next twelve days I will show you some creative ideas to make your gift giving more memorable, more special, and, well....more creative!  So, let's get the show on the road shall we??

First up.  How many of us give Gift Cards for Christmas?  Yeah - just about all of us, right!  But, while we all love to receive gift cards, the actual presenting of said card is kinda boring.  Here I've turned a CD tin into a gift card holder.  However, it's big enough, it can also hold small jewelry too.

I simply trace my tin onto the back of my designer paper - here I used Snow Festival.  I adhere it to the front  (and back) with Tombow Mono Multi, then use a sanding block to clean up the edges. I created a belly band using some Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding ribbon and one of the Snow Festival printed tags.  Love that Stampin' Up! is always coming up with coordinating products for us!

Simply remove the belly band (no need to untie those pretty bows!) by sliding it off to open the tin.

Adhere some paper on the inside, then embellish a bit.

A tag on the inside???  Yep - this serves as the the holder for the gift card, just glue on three sides and leave the top open.

Cute, eh???

I cut out one of those cute little owls and popped him up.  Added a little Happy Christmas flag, so that lil' owl had some purpose...other than a Where's Waldo Owl.

Wouldn't your gift receivers love this?  You can typically get one tin done from a single sheet of 12x12 designer paper! You can order the supplies from my website - except for the tins.  If you are interested in the tins - contact me, and I can set you up!