Tea Dispensers - Final Craft Show Part

Last but not least, another great gift idea that can be easily done. I have done these boxes before, but this time I figured out a way to insert the complete tea box to make the dispenser even more stable than before.

Before you start building your box, make sure to buy the tea first. I got to find out the hard way that all these tea boxes might look like they are the same size, but they aren't!!!! Go figures!

In any event, I stayed with the Tazo tea that I used for my tea books. Advantage of this tea is ...they have a perforated area on the one side were you can open the box and pull out single packs of tea. The opening fits perfect into the one I created, so you buy the tea, open the box in the perforated area and place it in the dispenser....Done!

The lid of this dispenser box comes off for easy filling. You can decorate them in any way you like. I made a few "Christmas" ones and some everyday ones....again not more pictures since they all sold out.

I did a few more project for the show, but sadly I have only the big table picture and no individual ones. I had more wine bottle sleeves, little boxes with note cards inside, a Christmas star that folds into a square and back...and a few more items. 

Well I hope you all enjoyed this little excursion into the Craft Show world. I would love to hear from you what you do when you participate in a show or from a customer perspective, what would you like to see and find? Please, leave me a comment below...come back for Christmas Cards and more... 

Exploding Gift Boxes - Craft Show Part 5

These boxes are so much fun to make...can you tell :-)

I didn't do a good job of taking this picture, but this is the only one I have of the boxes. Can you guess why? Yes, they sold out too, but I am working on more. So a close-up might come at a later date too.

These boxes are made from an 8 1/4" square sheet of cardstock, well the bottom of the box is. The lid is made from a separate piece of cardstock. I decorated the inside of the box and the four panels on the outside, as well as the top of the lid. A piece of glitter trim stretches around the rim of the lid and a cute bow finish the lid of. In these samples I added a little Merry Christmas tag to the bow with a piece of silver thread.

The key to this box is the little platform in the center of the box. I started with a whole so a nail polish bottle would fit in or something similar. Then I had the idea, wouldn't it be perfect to wrap a gift card in one of these boxes instead of that little envelope they come in?

Well, the gift card wouldn't fit in horizontally or vertically, but it fit's just perfect in diagonally. So I grabbed my scissors and cut a wedge from the circle to one of the corners, almost all the way to the corners edge. I did the same cut on the opposite site of the first cut to create a diagonal. This will be the perfect spot to place your gift card and it will sit nice and upright in the box.

You can use these boxes for many items and my husband had a really great idea...use it for an engagement ring :-)...well to late for me LOL but a wonderful idea, don't you think?

Please, leave me a comment and tell me what you think of these cute little gift boxes. What would you use them for?....Stay tuned for one final gift idea coming up... 

Tea or Coffee - Craft Show Part 4

So, we covered the coffee part in the last post now let's see what we can do with tea. One really cute way to give away a little gift of tea is a tea book.

These books are easy to make and even for beginners so much fun without a lot of fuzz. I used a strip of cardstock for the outside of my books measuring about 4"x 11". This way you can make 3 books out of one sheet of cardstock.

For the inside I used different design papers cut and adhered into three sleeves. Each sleeve is adhered to the inside of the cover to create a book. I filled each sleeve with a tea bag. In my case I decided to use only herbal teas and I like the Tazo brand, so I used Sweet Orange Peel and Cinnamon Spice flavors to compliment the seasons.

You have different ways to decorate your books. You can place a piece of ribbon all the way around the books to keep them closed or you can try what I did. I used the oval shaped tag again. I secured the top of the oval with some strong adhesive to the cover of the book leaving the bottom part of the oval unglued. The flap of the book will now fit snug behind the oval and this will keep you book closed as well. 

As you can see, I used different items to decorate the outside of my books. Only your imagination is the limit her. These items always make wonderful gifts, so try one yourself and let me know how they turned out.
Leave me a comment and let me know what you think about them....and stay tuned for more gift ideas to come...

Coffee or Tea? - Craft Show Part 3

Going to a craft show you have to make sure to have both....coffee and tea. One of my go to favorites for coffee is the awesome coffee made by Door County Coffee & Tea Co. Sometimes flavored coffee can be to potent in flavor, but theirs isn't. It smell wonderful and the taste is mild and so smooth. Try it yourself or let's see if I can get a few more of these wonderful treats done for you ;-)

The burlap bags I used are from Close to My Heart and they were just perfect for the "one pot coffee bags" I placed inside. Since we are so close to Thanksgiving I had to make a few Fall flavor bags and naturally some Christmas flavors too. How does "Jingle Java" sound to you?  I think I will get some right now...

The fall bags are decorated with some paper leaves cut from one of our Close to My Heart Cricut cartridges. A little bit of orange ribbon and a few leaf brads I found in my embellishment box and this set was done.
For the Christmas version I used a similar banner around the bag. Added some white and red ribbon and decorated each with a little star and either some greens or a cute little wooden ornament and a golden bell.

So what do you think? Like to try some coffee yourself? I would love to hear from you, so leave me a comment and stay tuned for more gift ideas to come... 

Cute little boxes with Chocolate - Craft Show Part 2

I love to create little chocolate treats that bring a smile on any guest. This time I used Hershey's Kisses for the filling. Yes, believe it or not, but these cut boxes contain two kisses inside.

The first boxes I made were the Christmas ones. They took a little time since the ribbon goes through the layers and the lid is closed with a bow. I found the idea to this box on Cristina's blog papersmiley.com.


Being a bit more experienced in making them, the second round of sets got easier. This time I skipped the ribbon part and closed the lid with the oval shaped tag. The lid simply tugs behind it.

Both Christmas papers are from an older set of Close to My Heart papers. Glitter paper and stamps are from current sets.

These cuties make great plate decorations for any party or you can use them as place cards too. Well I can't show you a close up since they all sold out. 
Leave me a comment what you think about them or if you like to know how to make them....I would love to hear from you...Stay tuned for more gift ideas.

Star Box with Tea Lights - Craft Show Part 1

Let's start the craft show series with a simple package for tea lights, shall we?

I found some cute tea lights decorated with a gingerbread and smelling like one. So, what could I do with them I thought? I found a star dies in my stack of dies and the first idea for a little gift was born.

I created the bottom of the box from "Desert Sand" and the lid from "Colonial White" cardstock both made by Close to My Heart. Before I assembled the lid, I run the cardstock through my die-cutting machine to create two cut-outs. This way the candles would show through just a bit. I used white/ gold thread around the box to keep it closed and added a little "Merry Christmas" tag to the top including a star cut from gold glitter paper.

I think simple but cute...what do you think? Leave me a comment and stay tuned for more gifts to come...

Tissue Box to Get Well

It's cold and flue season and the weather doesn't really help to get over them easily, so what better gift to give than a little pick me upper?

Tissues do come in hand these days, so we made a little box in our January class which is the perfect fit for a pack of Kleenexes. 

The box is assembled from a strip of Daisy White cardstock by Close to My Heart size 11" x 4 1/4".

The strip is score in four places and folded on each score line.

The opening for the tissues can be cut with an oval punch (if you have one on hand) or you can use an oval die, which is what I had laying around. I use a size bigger die to create the ring around the opening. 
To make sure your design paper fits perfectly on the box and around the opening, adhere this one first to the box before you punch/ cut through both layers.

I used three pieces of design paper to cover and embellish the box.

The sentiment on the front is from the "Kiss It Better" (B1508) stamp set from Close to My Heart. You can find this cute stamp set in the current Seasonal Expressions Book 1.

The flower I used for embellishment is form the January stamp of the month set. I stamped the base in Glacier ink and used Peacock ink for the details stamp part. 

I did stamp the flower twice. I cut the first one our and only used part of the second stamped image to create a layered effect on the flower. Leafs are form the same set and also stamped and cut out. A few rhinestones and this wonderful little "Get Well" present is done.

Leave a comment or contact me, I would love to hear from you....

More Wine Bottle Sleeves

Well, these are a few more pictures of the different sleeves/ boxes for wine bottles that I made...looking for a different design or interested in one of the ones shown? Please contact me for more information...

Wine Bottle Boxes/ Sleeves

Giving wine as a little "Thank You" gift to your host is quite common and so is the challenge of wrapping it. Right?

Well you can buy these little long gift bags, but that's what everyone does, so why not make your gift stand out and use something different this time.

I made these "fancy" wine bottle sleeves or boxes as you can call them. They fit nice and tide around your bottle of wine and all that will peak out on the top is the neck of your bottle.

Each one is made out off different cardstock and design papers from Close to My Heart. All decorations were also uniquely picked matching the papers. Here is the "Candy Cane" version. The paper is enhanced with glitter glue along the striped design. A clear Christmas ornament, some artificial pine greens and Cricut cut out snowflakes are used along some pretty glitter ribbon to decorate this sleeve. 

For this sleeve I used the polka-dot paper that was enhanced with glitter glue on some of the dots. 

Silver ribbon, white shimmer ornament, a few white glitter stars and some artificial pine greens decorate this sleeve

Similar decoration with this one...pine green, silver ornament, white ribbon and red glitter ornaments for the one shown above.

All tops look like the picture shown on the left here. You open the box by carefully pull the ribbon wider from the back to the front. Place your bottle inside and start pulling the ribbon tied towards the back again. The paper flaps will go above and under all the way around so you end up with a nice rosette. The excess ribbon on the back is simply tied into a knot and you are ready to go...

If you like to make these sleeves or if you are interested in purchasing one, please contact me for more information. Stay tuned for more pictures...

Festive Lanterns

This is one of my favorite little gifts and decor items. So festive and can be used all year round. 

What is even more amazing, these little gems fold flat and are the size of a regular A2 card, measuring 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"... yes, perfect for sending in the mail to brighten the day of some one special.

The base is made from Close to My Heart cardstock colors "desert sand" and "cashmere".
Each panel is scored so you end up with four even sized panels and a small glue strip to assemble.

I used a star die to cut out each star (one on each panel). You can use other die images too.

Once all the cutting was done I embossed the panels with a star design. Since the lantern folds together so small, you can actually fit the folded piece completely in your embossing folder. Therefor you only have to run it through your machine once!

I stamped snow and stars on some vellum paper using white pigment ink. This needs to dry completely before you continue. I cut the vellum to size and adhered them over the star cutout on the inside of the lantern.

I used crochet ribbon and hemp thread with gold around the top of the lantern and tied it into a bow. The ends of the ribbon were cut and the thread was decorated with more glitter stars. I used the gold glitter paper (Z3076) from Close to My Heart, since all our glitter paper pack come with three different shades of color. The gold glitter paper (Z3076) includes two hues of gold color and on beautiful white glitter paper. So I had to make some in gold and some in white glitter. 

I used a LED tea light or one of those little LED stump candles to place inside the lantern.

Would you like to make one of these (or more) or would you like to purchase a lanterns? No matter what questions you have, please contact me by clicking HERE...

These are beautiful decoration items, don't miss out on them....

Pillar Candle Boxes

Candles are always a nice gift to give, don't you agree? I found tree lovely smelling pillar candle (the candle fills in the whole box size up to the part where the top folds in) and they were perfect for this little project.

The base for each box is folded from Close to My Heart cardstock and decorated with different design paper strips. 

I used glitter glue to finish the design on the outside. Sometimes it is places around the design papers, sometimes I just enhanced parts of the design on the paper, all depending on the overall look and decoration I added to the box.

The top of this box folds into a wonderful star pattern that is held together with a strip of ribbon.

I punched holes into each star segment and run the ribbon through so it would come together into a nice bow at the front of the box.

The blue paper reminded me of icicles and snow so what better ribbon and extra trim color than white and silver... 

... and what better decoration than pretty snowflakes at the end of the silver trim? I cut the snowflakes from one of our Close to My Heart exclusive Cricut cartridges. I adhered two together, sandwiching the trim between them.

Naturally I had to make a few different versions with different decorations...so here they are:

 If you would like to make a project like this or if you like to order them as a gift, please contact me. Stay tuned for more gift ideas to come ...

Tea Cup Gifts

Ready for a cup of tea? I found some really unique tea bags with an excellent herbal tea in it and new I had to incorporate in some of my little presents for the craft show.

Last year I had made multiple different coffee gifts and many customers asked for tea versions too,...so here we go:

The tea cup is folded from Close to My Heart cardstock (Peacock and Pomegranate) and embellished with some design paper. I enhanced the papers with little bits of glitter glue. The little doily was cut from one of the Close to My Heart exclusive Cricut cartridges and placed instead of a saucer underneath the cup.

I made two different color versions of the cup, but both are filled with a triangle shaped tea bag of herbal tea and two little packages of sugar. 

I placed the whole set into a clear cellophane bag and tied it close with a piece of hemp thread. Glitter stars are finishing the ends of the thread and a piece of ribbon is tied in a bow around the top.

Like to learn how to make these cups? Or would you like to buy some... I can also make as ordered ...let me know.