Pretty Packages: Peppermint and Lace Theme

WOO HOO! I get to show you my first packaging idea of the season! This one is my favorite combination and the colors feel festive and happy!

I have bestowed my pretty packages with a theme I like to call Peppermint & Lace which inspired my... 

CHRISTMAS BLOG MAKEOVER! 

 I already decorated around here...can you stand it? 

My precious friend Amy who did my original design...more then came through for me on this one.  When I came to her with an idea, she literally wowed me once again with her fabulous, "perfect for me" style.  

I could not be more smitten with it...or her! Thanks sweet Amy!

Over the next few months I hope to share different styles and ideas of packaging with you since packaging happens to be one of my heart loves.  Don't you think a pretty package is like getting an extra special treat in addition to the goody inside? And who does not need fun wrapping ideas and other Christmas craft inspiration? 

I DO! I DO!

Now let's talk packaging!

First up...this little bag is made from waxed tissue paper. Does it look familiar to some of you?  Yep...I wrapped the deli sandwiches in this for my girl's picnic party and I decided to craft up the leftovers.

Add some bakers twine and stuff it with a little doily...

you got yourself the cutest little bag in the whole wide world.

This little ruffle bow was made with polka dot wrapping paper and the striped wax paper.  I decoupaged a little wood bead with it and wrapped it around the box several times with baker's twine.

This little box is probably my favorite.  

I decoupaged a button this time and used the twine for this simple wrap job.  And I added a little lace flag as an embellishment. 

Oh and the box?  I spray painted the blue snowman cookie tin white.  Perfection.

Hello there little white lunch bag!  Who would have thought a humble white bag could get so much love and attention, right?  The top is just folded over with a piece of wrapping paper and clipped closed with two mini clothespins holding a twine bow. I added a little square of scrapbook paper with a glue stick to make a pocket and stuffed it with lace and added a white yarn pom pom on a lollipop stick wrapped with twine. 

 The end of the twine holds a little wooden spool. 

Here's a little bunting I made to wrap around a larger gift like a shirt box made from twine, red felt, the striped wax paper, and lace.  I just adore it!

I would love to hear what you guys think of this themed packaging!

Other packaging styles and ideas to come...

HUGS & Smiles!!

xoxo

♥
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A Portable Gift Wrap Station: 3 Simple Ideas

 
I have been waiting and waiting and waiting to do Christmas posts for an ENTIRE YEAR! And I know Halloween is barely over but I just can't wait any longer.   I have an inspiration board full of envelopes, receipts, and grocery lists full of ideas that would come to me and I would scribble them down before I forgot them. Now I get to put them into fun posts over the next few months.

I am a bit giddy about it. ♥

So what better way to kick off my Christmasy stuff then a post about getting organized with all our pretty holiday wrapping supplies?  I, for one, feel absolutely ready to conquer ANYTHING when I get organized.  So I came up 3 ideas using what I have around the house and I am so excited to share them with you wonderful friends!

Number 1:  Market Cart
I found this cutie at a yard sale.  This fun find was needing some major TLC.  I bought him for $5 bucks and after some sanding, a fresh coat of spray paint with a kind of undefinable color that I totally adore (called Catalina Mist) it's got a fresher look! I even wrapped the handle with some thick, comfy yarn (until I can make a fabric handle) for more simple character.  I love how roomy it is for all my wrapping paper and supplies.  I thought another great find would be one of those small vintage wire grocery carts for storage.  That would be cuuuuute!

I rigged a little dowel rod for twine and ribbon in the middle.

One end holds scissors, tape, and some other ribbon...

...the other side has some washi tape and a little bucket full of tags.

The white bucket holds tissue paper, bags and other wrapping supplies.

I absolutely love my little portable wrapping cart and it has a nice little home in my craft room!

♥

Number 2: Shallow Metal Wire Basket
Obviously, not everyone has a wheeled market cart.  So I came up with a more attainable idea. This basket is from IKEA and is actually one of the powder coated steel basket drawers.  But you can buy them separately and use one of these as a nice wrapping caddy to stow under a bed or at the bottom of a closet until you need it.
Just thread your trusty dowel through the holes to keep your ribbon and twine handy and all your other essentials are at arms reach. And with the basket being shallow, you can see everything at a glance.

Number 3: White Wastebasket

Simple is sometimes best.  Just pile your wrapping gear in an inexpensive white wire waste basket and you are all set! Use a dowel standing up on end for your ribbon and twine.

Throw in a little pencil case with scissors, tape, and some tags.  There you go!  Simple and perfect to stow in the corner out of the way.

Now that we have ideas to get organized, I will be back tomorrow or the next with some pretty packaging ideas. I can't WAIT to share them with you! I can't promise to post every day.  But I promise to share as many ideas as I can with you.  This is going to be fun...I just know it!

Merry Hugs!

♥

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Andrea's blog has some beautiful projects ♥

linking to: 

the 36th avenue

show and share

a crafty soiree

It's beginning...

...to look a lot like Christmas around here!

Stayed tuned my sweet friends...

the fun starts tomorrow!

♥

Pretty Lanterns: Diffuse Light with Lace & Fabric

 I feel like I am coming home after a really long trip...I've missed all of you so much! I realized I have not had a fun DIY in a while for you guys so I had to remedy that right away.  I am gearing up for the Christmas issue for Good Living Magazine so today's little project was one of the projects for it.

Lucky lovelies...you get a bit of Christmas fun a little early!  

Actually, this will be a warm up to November where I will begin sharing pretty packaging ideas throughout the month. I can't promise it daily but I will try to do a bunch for some fun wrapping inspiration!

But back to these pretty little lanterns!

I am excited about this one because I am also planning my table for the upcoming Christmas Tea at our church.  I think these lanterns in varying sizes would look lovely as a centerpiece.  These ones above were actually my little practice ones. :) My husband and I were at Lowe's this weekend and spotted a bunch of these lanterns on clearance at $1.08 a piece!  We literally filled up the cart with them and we bought over 20 of them. I know I will find just the perfect thing for them...oooh I can't wait!

I had this little project in mind for awhile now so I knew some spray paint love was in order. 

So I brightened them up a bit with white and found my happy place.

Sigh.  I just ♥ white spray paint.

Now for adding fabric to the removable glass panels. 

1.  I actually used craft lace and a sparkly organza material to cover the glass.
2. I used Mod Podge but I tend to be a bit heavy handed with it.
3. You can use a paint brush to spread it on.
4. But I prefer to get all messy and use my fingers.

After spreading the glue, smooth your fabric onto the glass.  Wait until they are completely dry before placing them back into your lantern.

BTW...You really don't have to be precise when you cut out the pieces of fabric.  Just lay the glass on top of the fabric and cut around it.  The edges are hidden on the inside.  

Be sure to place them inside with the fabric on the outside of the glass.

 They look so pretty with the tea lights in them!  

I love how the lace one is more see through but the organza diffuses the light with a soft glow.

I can't wait to do this for the Christmas Tea tablescape with the different sized lanterns.

Other Ideas: You could also use Vellum paper or the the plastic paper like I used for the lemonade mason jars at the girl's birthday party. Tissue paper would work too and look lovely with that diffused glow look to it.  Wrap lace around glass votives or even large vases and place larger candles in them. So, so, so pretty.  I might lace up every glass container I own!

I promise to be back soon...HUGS!

♥

P.S.  I almost forgot...today I am at my sweet friend Tonya's blog with a guest post sharing the story of my faith for her 31 days series. 15 years ago today I met my Savior...♥


linking to:
the 36th avenue
a crafty soiree
show and share with southern lovely
someday crafts: whatever goes wednesday

Happy Owl-O-Ween Cards and Bookmarks

There is something about the cuteness of anything owl that always draws me in the Fall.  So I was totally excited when my new friend Courtney contracted me to design some Holiday goodies for her Thirty-one consultants for both Halloween and Thanksgiving. I was pretty excited. But knowing I needed to make 100, my goal was to make it cute but easy for me to turnaround. Plus, I wanted something happy and not too spooky. So these colorful and fun owl cabochon bookmarks seemed like the perfect solution.

First I designed the card using this completely fun owl clip art from the Etsy shop KPMDoodles Digital Clip Art. My idea was to have these cute little owls look like they are sitting on the branch on the card.

I ordered the owl cabochons from Suppliesagogo (I love saying that name) and the bookmark clips are from Everything Ribbons. As for putting them together, I just hot glued each owl cabochon to the top of each button clip.  Not sure if that is how you do it but that is how I did it...worked for me! :)

To attach the bookmark clip tot the card, I made two slits with a craft knife above and below the branch so I could slide both sections of the paper clip in it.

Like this.

The clip stays in the back so that nothing hides the front of the card. 

I tied raffia around each bookmark clip to give it more Fall flair. :) 

Here is the whole lot of them!

These would be a great idea to do for your children's friends or classmates too!  

It is quick and easy and inexpensive!

Such a fun Halloween project!

Happy Owl-O-Ween 

hugs to all of you!

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Speaking of cabochons...check out Popalicious Too for some amazing variety on cabochons and other fabric buttons.  And I have to be honest...I would have ordered from her in a heartbeat!  Her selection is unbelievable...she even has cute little owl ones too.

DIY Twig Votive

Here is a simple and quick project to tackle in an hour. I showed you a sneek peek of this in the post showing all my Fall projects around the home.  And this one is going to be a FOR SURE repeat project for me.  

I got inspired by these from Martha Stewart who made this twig vase.  But I thought this idea would be lovely to make a votive and have the candle light peeking through the twigs inside the glass.  So I grabbed some twigs from the backyard, some glass votives and a glue gun and got to work.

Seriously...this probably does not even need a tutorial. I mean, all you do is take some sticks and hot glue to glass. SIMPLE!  Do this all the way around and put them as close together as you can.

Fill in the gaps with thinner sticks to make it look fuller.  I like the look of different lengths at the top.
Gives it a more organic looky-loo to it.

Pop a tea light in there, wrap with twine and leaves...done!  A great idea is to recycle your glass candles or buy some glass votives and. vases from the dollar store for a little collection or tablescape.   

And I want to try this using  mason jars and hang them!

Happy Crafting my precious friends!

P.S.  Sorry I have been so absent from this blog and from your blogs! And I have even dropped the ball returning emails.  PLEASE FORGIVE ME! I have been so busy with upcoming projects that I can't share with you JUST YET. Just know I appreciate every one of you and I will do my best  to visit you soon.

Stunning Velvet Plush Pumpkins

First off...I did NOT make these.

But I DID win them. So I had to share. Funny that I don't really enter giveaways. But I had to enter this one over at the Lettered Cottage. I mean, look at them! And amazingly enough...out of 2000 entries...I won. They are from this amazing shop called LoveFeast Table. They have these for sale in their shop while offering several gorgeous color combinations. They were made by Plush Pumpkin and they are truly divine.

Oh my word I had no idea how one could have this deep abiding affection for pumpkins. I believe they are the most beautiful pumpkins in the whole universe.  Truly.

Velvet pumpkins with real pumpkin stems??!! 

Plushy and pretty in these delicious colors called Stone, Mushroom, Platinum, Sapphire, Snow and Dew??! 

They just about did me in as I opened my box with more giddiness then what would be considered cool.  I often wonder if my husband looks back on our courtship and has admiration for the savvy way I hid my ever present nerdiness until after the wedding.

Look at this teeny one my 3 year old is holding...is he not the cutest little thing?

The little care card says that because they are made with natural materials it is probably best to keep them out year round or store them in an air tight container.  I have never considered having pumpkins out all year but these beauties I think may be a year round treat for the eyes at this house.

If you love these and wish to pin them...I suggest pinning or bookmarking them from the LoveFeast Table website where I won the giveaway.  Thanks a bunch!

Share the Pumpkin L♥VE

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PS.  Andrea, owner of The Cottage Market just posted these gorgeous shabby pumpkins she made.  Please visit her blog and take a peek.