Great Last Minute Gift Idea

 Hi Crafters

Today I have one of the quickest boxes to make, and an idea to use it to make a great last minute gift or super gift for a work colleague or Teacher.

For this project you will need 2 pieces of 12 x 12 card

Ribbon

4 medium size Scented T Lights

Take one sheet of the 12 x 12 and score 4" and 8" on both sides so you have 9 squares. Now score from each corner to the corner of the centre square.Cut the corners on the diagonal As below 

With the 2nd sheet we are going to make a lid to fit, as this base is 4" we need a square of card that is 81/4" square. Score at 1" and 2" all the way around and cut the ends top and bottom for a standard lid. If you are not familiar with this please see the example below. Cut the shaded areas off and put small V notches into the edges of the folds.

Burnish all your score lines. Fold in the sides and glue down the glue the top and bottom flaps on the outside of the card and the top and bottom seams on the inside of the card. Fold the flaps in and the top over and glue down. The same for the bottom section 

Using a hot glue gum glue the base of the metal T Lights to a section of the base, and add a message to the centre panel. 

Wait for the glue to set really well before folding up and placing the lid on top. Decorate the with the ribbon and add your tag. 

Look back soon or please subscribe to be sure to see my Christmas Crafts.  

Dee

Self Closing Pouch Box

 Hi Crafters

Well the run up to Christmas has begun.

So today I am revisiting one of my early boxes.

It is simple to make and can be made any size that you have paper for. They look good as Table favours when made from 6 x 6 papers, and here I am making them for a larger gift such as Toiletries.

You will need 2 pieces of 12 x 12 

Piece 1

Cut 8” wide by 12” long

keep the 4” piece and cut into 3 4 x 4 pieces

With 8” side to the side of scorer score at 2” and 10”

Turn and score from the bottom to bottom score line at 4”

 

Piece 2

Cut 9” wide and 12” long

Score ½” both of the long sides ( so with the 9” side at the top)

Turn and score at 2” and 10”

Again turn and score bottom to the score line at 4.5”

Cut the ½” sections off the bottom up to the 2” score line

 

Fold over the bottom section put on the score board with this at the top of the scoreboard, and place your score tool on the centre score line at the 2” mark. Holding the card in place with the scorer, turn the card until the outer edge at the base is on the same line, (I use the 6” line on the scoreboard  to line up)

For the wider piece take the diagonal score lines to the edge of the 1.2” score line

 

Burnish all score lines

Fold in the ½” side panels and add tape to the top

Place the 8” piece on top, lining up the sides as carefully as possible

Fold over the bottom flaps forming a square, glue down

You then place one of the 4” squares over the bottom.

Glue another square and slide it inside to firm the base even more   

These can be stored with the bases not stuck down, for use when required. They stack well flat 

Make them in advance. They make great boxes to give gifts to colleagues and friends.

Back soon with instruction how to make a last minute gift that is so simple.

Dee

Making the Most of your Stash

 Hi Crafters

Sometimes the ideas for crafting are not about making a card from scratch or reproducing a card you have seen on YouTube, Pinterest or one of the Craft Channels, they are about checking out what you have in your stash and finding a new way to use the materials. It gives me great satisfaction when i re-purpose something and increase it's use. 

Today I want to share what I have made using Christmas cards I had in my cupboard. They were bought cards that I thought were a great design, and that had potential.

This card is from a box of 10 cards sold in aid of NSPCC, a lovely red front with board card stamped with the greeting that you can see through the branches. 

I can use the card like this or I can send them as an easel card. To make this I have stuck down the opening of the card allowing the greeting to show through . I have then used a sheet of card stock to make the easel card base and added a greeting section at the base of the easel card.

And lastly I have use the card to make the lid of a box.

The box base can be made from any of your stash, and then cut the card 1cm down the back, and score the right side of the card by 1cm. With the back piece of the card trim the other side  by 1cm to make it even.

Attach the front of the card with double side tape, using the 1cm of the back as the hinge. You may be able to make out that I rounded the closing side, that was just my preference. Glue the greeting to the bottom of the box so you can see it through the lid, this way when the gift is lifted out the greeting will be seen by the recipient. 

Above the box is closed 

You can make out the rounds flap on the right side

To the right the box is open and the greeting can be seen in the base. This would work very well with a plain base in gold or black as well as the Christmas paper from a First Edition card stack, that I have used 

I have also used cards from kits to make gift boxes. This picture below show a large card from a Create and Craft card kit, I has used the kit to make many different things (see previous posts from last years), and with 10 or so cards left I decided to make them into gift boxes. You an do this by opening up the card flat and then scoring 2cm down the right side of the front of the card and 2 cm from the middle crease on the back side of the card and then 2cm top and bottom. 

This gift box fits a large bar of chocolate perfectly , and I have decorated it with some of the leftover embellishments from one of the other Create and Craft card kits. 

 I hope this has given you all some ideas to use up those odds and ends you have in the craft boxes

Happy Crafting

Dee

Exploding Christmas Card

 Hi Crafters

Sorry it has been over a week since my last post, I have been busy putting together a small magazine for my Wi, as we are trying to keep in touch with members during the lockdown and give something to members each month that shows we continue to be an active Institute even if we cannot meet up in the conventional sense. 

October we delivered a cheese scone supper to all memebrs and this month we have produced a magazine with greetings, recipes, crafts and a Prize Quiz.

So just a quick post to show you how I have used the Exploding Card I posted on 24th August to produce some very different Christmas cards for family and friends this year.

Instructions to make the card can be seen on the August post, and here is the Christmas version.

The middle picture show the 2 cards folded ready to pop into an envelope while the 2 either side are the finished cards. The greeting can be written on the blank card at the base.

As you can see I have made these smaller than my original Exploding cards as I wanted the Christmas cards to be understated but still cute and colourful.

Back soon 

Dee

 

Shabby chic Butterflies from book pages

 Hi Crafters

Project 2 of Recycled book pages

Today I have some more recycled projects.

Having decided to use one of my paperbacks for crafting, I took out several pages and tidied the edge ready to use for projects, my previous post was project 1, a Rosette, and today I am going to share some butterflies I have made. 

I started with very basic butterflies some design papers and some book pages to give layers. Whilst I was happy with the end result, I wanted to try other styles and decided to use my distress inks to colour the wings and just use book pages.

Lastly I used a die to cut several layers of butterflies and marked the wings by stamping onto the top layer and also colouring the top with inks. These are more styled and less shabby chic

So we have 3 styles of butterflies from simply cut, to die cut, stamped and coloured. All different looks, all use recycled pages. You do not need any equipment for the basic butterfly cut-out, and the finished item can be made in all sizes to decorate cards, gift boxes or even interior design settings. Imagine large butteflies hanging from the ceiling of the childrens bedroom, or simply used as a mobile. Back soon with more recycled pages, next time it will be paper purses and pockets for your journals.

Dee

Shabby Chic decoration from old book pages

 Hi Crafters

I like to read, and have revisited reading regularly since lockdown. Most of my books are from Charity shops, and I then recycle them, I also look out for books that I can use specifically for recycling with craft projects and music score books are particularly good should you find any in your local Charity shops.

Today I would like to share a recent make.

Shabby Chic Rosette Decoration

This is made using 2 pages from a paperback book

A vintage Christmas picture

Lace

Cut 2 pages to 3” wide (these pages were approximately 10” tall)

Score every cm, or half inch, whichever you like to use, and fold back and forth to concertina the pages

Join the 2 pages together. It gives a neat finish if you glue a mountain fold over a mountain fold to secure the pages together. Then join the 2 outer edges in the same way. I use Pritt Stick for this stage.

With your hot glue gun press the folds gently into the middle, place hot glue in the centre and hold until secure

Decorate the centre adding a piece of rope or string to the back of your decoration to hang the item when finished.

Imagine these decorating the Christmas tree or mantel 

You can make them all sizes and decorate with any centres, old buttons, small paper doilies etc.

Back soon with more Book recycling projects 

Dee

Gift bag/Folder

 Hi Crafters

Whilst we are unlikely to be able to attend any craft fairs this year,I have been conscious of keeping my packaging to a minimum so that items that can be sold on EBay or Etsy do not have to pay parcel postage costs. This is especially important for card crafters as anyone purchasing an item under £5 is reluctant to pay £3.10 postage. 

I am making my items into bundles and also reducing the size wherever possible.

For this years Craft Fairs I had purchased some lovely scarves with the idea of making some pretty gift bags and boxes to go with them. The buyer chooses a gift bag, and a scarf for a set price. The boxes were made quite chunky so they could be recycled for even better value, and the scarves were covered with tissue paper. Unfortunately to sell these on Ebay or Etsy would cost £3.10 parcel post. So I set about designing new packaging and came up with a gift bag/folder. The scarf can be presented in the pouch and the recipient can then use it as a stationery folder for bill, receipts etc. 

To make the folder you require 

1 sheet of 12 x 12 card

A popper setter

Strong double sided tape or glue

Cut the card into a piece 9” wide by 12”, leaving a piece 3” which you cut into two pieces 4.75” Long, leaving a small piece you can use for a tag

With the main piece score it along the 12” side at 4.75”,5.5”,10.25”,10.3/8”,10.5”,10.5/8” these tight score lines forms a folding flap.

The two pieces for the side score at .75”,1.5” and 2.25”, giving it 4 section fold in half and then back into the middle so you have a concertina fold with the pattern showing out, tape both sides of both pieces

Fold and burnish all the folds on the large piece and you folder will form it’s shape. Trim the top corners and mark the centre of the top flap with a pencil approx 1/2” from the top, make a hole with your pokey tool or a cocktail stick. fold up the other end and Line up the sides of the folder, put your pencil through the hole and mark the underneath (which is the front of your folder) make a hole where the pencil has marked the spot and add your poppers where you have made the 2 holes

Open the folder out (you will be viewing the inside) on your desk. With the side pieces, line them up at the side of the base of the folder, the folded edges outside, and stick down to the base. Next lift up the base section and line up with the back of the folder making sure it is under the line of the flap, and then stick it down.

Your folder is now ready to use as a gift bag and you can decorate it any way you wish. I will just add a pretty bow and label. 

Here are the different steps for this project.

Top left: the card cut and scored

Top right: popper set and tools used for make

Middle left and right: the side panels taped and positioned

Bottom right: the poppers position

Bottom left” 5 folders completed ready to use

I am now ready to sell my scarves on eBay with pretty packaging that won’t cost too much to send.

Back soon with another idea for using your left over Christmas card kits to make gift boxes. 

Happy Crafting 

Dee.