Project of the Month: Personalized Holiday Gift Tags

I know, I know… I actually owe you 2 projects at this point! My attempts to deliver the November project had failed miserably. The month of November actually flew by incredibly fast, or so it seemed. I got caught up trying to do too much at home as well as dealing with several other issues. As a result, several things fell by the way-side (including my ability to blog). It’s all good now, and we can return to our regularly scheduled programming!

So here it is, the December projects (yes projects), of the month. I will provide the second project as a separate post, just to keep things neat. The first project is rather simple and is timely, as the holiday season is upon us.

Personalized Holiday Gift Tags

You will need:

• Decorative rubber stamps (with ornate or abstract motifs, borders or patterns)
• Alphabet rubber stamps (this is optional, as the letters can be hand drawn if you are so inclined)
• Ink Pads (in at least 2 colours, one vibrant such as red or green and one basic, such as black. I recommend pigment ink pads, as opposed to water based ink. The result is vibrant colour and less streaky imprints).
• Card stock or large pre-made tags
• Scissors or Exacto knife
• Ruler
• Ribbon or twine
• Glitter (optional- but fun & pretty!)
• Craft glue
• Fine paint brush
• Hole punch

Step 1:
Determine the size of your gift tags. For the sake of this exercise, I opted for a 2.5” x 3.5” tag. Measure and cut out your desired size tag in cardstock or use your pre-made tag. If creating your own from cardstock, take a moment to punch a hole at the top of the tag, as this will be used for inserting the ribbon or twine.

Step 2:

Using your lightest coloured ink pad, load your decorative stamp with colour. (It is best to try our a few test imprints on scrap paper to ensure that you are loading a proper amount of ink.) Place your stamp in the centre of the tag, pressing firmly to ensure a solid imprint. Set aside and allow the ink to dry for a few moments.

Step 3:

Load your alphabet stamp with your dark ink colour and imprint directly in the centre of the previous decorative motif. Allow to dry. If you do not have alphabet stamps, you can hand draw your letters, or trace fonts printed from your computer.

Step 4:

Now is the time to add embellishments. Using a fine paint brush, apply tiny dollops of craft glue to any desired areas of your print. This can be applied along swirly lines, on the edges of the letters, whatever you wish. Carefully sprinkle coordinating glitter over these glued areas. Shake off the excess set aside to dry.

Step 5:

Once all ink, glue and glitter has had time to dry thoroughly, shake off excess glitter.  Insert ribbon or twine into to punched hole. Affix to your gift and enjoy!

I love making these gift tags, as they allow for a more personal touch. If you have multiple recipients with the same initial, you can colour code them, or as I do, use upper case for the adults and lower case for the children. These can also be hung on the holiday tree as keepsake ornaments (especially if made out of balsa wood)

Variations:

-Add a layer of decorative paper that is slightly wider in dimensions to the back of the tag. This will create a pretty border around the edges.

-Affix eyelets to the ribbon holes for a more clean, professional presentation.

-Use various shapes for your tags (circles, squares, oval, etc…)

Enjoy!

Project of the Month: Travel Tissue Cozy

I am very pleased to have been able to deliver to you this project of the month! I had faced a few challenges (getting anything done) earlier in October, but here it is, my project as promised. Better late than never, I suppose... This one is very easy!

Cold and flu season is upon us and this could not be a more appropriate item.  This travel tissue cozy is very simple to make, practical and makes a great addition to school backpacks, handbags or business totes.  Or, if you are like me (an allergy sufferer), you will tuck it into your robe or sweater pocket so that it is close at hand.  These are great to have handy for keeping little fingers clean, dabbing a runny nose or containing a sneeze.

Instructions can be found here.  Each tissue cozy requires very little fabric and you can quite easily churn out several in just one hour!  Another great use for those fabric scraps and fat quarters. You can be as simple or creative as you choose.  Try adding a ribbon tie closure to the front, or as a pretty trim along the opening edges.  Perhaps a tiny patchwork version?  These make great stocking stuffers and affordable small gifts.  Why not not tuck one into a matching handmade cosmetics pouch? 

Happy sewing!

Project of the Month: Cutlery Rolls

It's back to school time! Applause to those that brown-bag lunch to school and work, good for you! You savvy gals and guys! I must say, it is quite impressive to see the increasing number of people (women and men) carrying lunch totes on their morning commute. I assume that within these totes, meals are carried in re-usable, earth friendly vessels?  And the utensils required to eat said meal, what is it housed in? Why, cutlery rolls, of course!

You may believe that this very idea is silly, or dimiss it all together, but I have a bit of a need to accessorize just about anything that I can. I have several unique bento boxes and various containers for my meals that I cycle through on a regular basis. It is actually quite embarrassing to state the amount of containers that I own, but that is a whole other blog post. 

At any rate, I feel that the pretty bento boxes require equally pretty companions. The idea of a matching cutlery holder of some sort emerged.  I believe that meals should be presented in an appealing way that is as pleasing to the eye as it is to the palette. (Yes, even if it is last nights meat loaf). The prettiness of this will just add an extra little bit of civilization to what many of us experience as a hurried lunch hour and a hectic day.

Rectangular pieces of fabric were sewn together, featuring narrow pockets to hold utensils. I have included 3 pockets to house your chosen forks, spoons or even chopsticks. An additional larger pocket has been added so that you may neatly tuck in your serviette or (even better), cloth napkin (made from fabric remnants). This rolls up to a compact little bundle and ties with a ribbon to neatly tucks into your lunch bag.

Like it? Instructions for this project can be found here.  These are easy to make and can be whipped up in no time. Make several in various colour combinations. These would also be great to carry along to a picnic.

Happy sewing!