Holiday Gift Album

Mini albums are quick and fun gifts to make and receive.

I created this 4×4 mini album using RTC Grid Paper from Mosaic Moments, a new paper/sticker collection from KaiserCraft and a few other embellishments. It is ready for photos and journaling to remember this Christmas.

The last page in the book has a little pocket where you can insert a gift card. Imagine the delight of the recipient to receive a beautiful mini album and then, when they turn to the last page, a gift card to their favorite store or restaurant!

To see the rest of the pages in this little album and to learn how I did it, visit my page on Journella.

 

A Jar of Gifts

A friend asked me if I would make up a gift certificate for one of her customers. I wanted to make something really special, so I came up with these …

Aren’t they adorable?!

Here’s how I did them …

I started with the Canning Jars 3D die from Sizzix. I wanted to make a card with the die, rather than just cut out the jar image. So, I folded and scored a card and positioned it with the fold just inside the left side of the jar, like this…

 

Because this is a thick, steel-rule die, it will cut through two pieces of heavy cardstock at the same time, making this completely doable!

Next, I cut out the jar lid out of Ranger’s adhesive-backed foil and attached them to the front of the jar.

The lid is slightly larger than the card, which left a little bit of sticky on the backside. To fix that, I applied a little bit of baby powder to the edges to eliminate the sticky.

I then inked the edges of the jar with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

The gift certificate that I made barely fit in the jar so I made a little strip of paper and used the Tiny Attacher to attach the edges to the card. Then, the certificate just slips inside and is held in place. Perfect!

I added a bit of lace from Stampin’ Up to the front with Art Glitter Designer Dries Clear Adhesive. The trick here is to put the dots of glue on the flowers, set it on the cardstock and leave it be for 5 minutes to allow the glue to work. Then, you can flip it over and trim off the edges to fit the jar.

I tied a bit of bakers twine to the front side of the lid and then created a label. I cut cardstock 2″ x 1″ and then rounded the edges.

 

Next, I stamped Just For You (from Stampin’ Up) and two dotted stripes from Tami Potter’s stamp from Impression Obsession.

 

I added a little ink on the edges and adhered them to the lace.

And, it all fits inside of card-sized envelope.

Who wouldn’t want to receive a gift card like this??!!?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perfect for Kids

When bad weather causes the cancellation of school, it doesn’t take long for the kids to get bored and once that happens, things quickly deteriorate.

One way to keep things from getting out of control is to have a craft project ready to keep the kids busy.

This one is nice because it makes very little mess and is easy enough for the kids to do all by themselves.

Supplies: Lifestyle Crafts Pizza Box Die; American Crafts Cardstock; Reminisce Paper; Buttons; Craft Glue Dots®; Pop Up Relief Glue Dots®; Mini Glue Dots®

This little box starts with a die from Lifestyle Crafts (formerly QuicKutz). You can run it through the Big Shot, Epic Six or Cuttlebug. If you don’t have a personal cutting system, visit your local scrapbook store and use their Accu-Cut system to make a bunch of boxes to have on hand. Or, search the Internet for a pattern that you can trace and cut out.

Once cut out, fold on the scored lines and use Craft Glue Dots® to secure the box together.

Then, you are ready to decorate — yes, it really is that simple!

I added some paper to the inside just for kicks.

For the top of the box, I cut out a couple of images from the patterned paper and adhered with Glue Dots®. I used Pop Up Relief Glue Dots® for the image in the middle.

Then, I used a couple of different sized Glue Dots® to adhere the buttons on.  With Glue Dots®, there is no drying time or excess glue dumped onto your kitchen table. Depending on the ages of the kids, you could also give them gems, old game pieces, keys, stickers or other leftovers from your craft room to decorate.

Kids love boxes to store things in. But, they could also make these as gift holders — they are big enough to hold a gift card inside!