Tutorial Ghiradelli Purse

I thought this would be a great little "nifty gifty" for a little thank you or even party favors...these are quick to put together and fun to make...who doesn't love a little Ghiradelli chocolate and a purse? (and psst, if you like the roses, I have ANOTHER tutorial below this one on how to make THOSE!)

Here's what you'll need:

• Paper 2 1/2 " X 6"
• 1/4" Wide Ribbon 9" (a strip of paper could also be used)
• Scoring Tool
• Die Cutter
• Nestabilities Die (Here I used Labels 4, largest die)
• Scissors
• Adhesive
• Ghiradelli Chocolate Square

First score your paper as shown at 1 1/2", 1 3/4", 4" & 4 1/4"

Note: The right hand side will be the top flap of your purse

So that you may center your die, make a mark 1 1/4" on the edge of the right hand side of your paper. This will be the center of the flap of your purse.

With your die, thread the part of the paper you just marked underneath it, while leaving the remainder on top of the die (as shown below), making sure you center the die on the mark you just made.

Run this through your die cutter just far enough so it cuts that section that is underneath the die ONLY...below is what your paper should look like when you are finished.

Add a piece of adhesive in between the two score lines

Add your ribbon as show (this is your purse handle)

At this point you can fold your score lines and add your chocolate. I taped the flaps back on my chocolate for a neater presentation and then I adhered it to the purse. I then added adhesive on the flap so it closes...you are now ready to decorate!

Tutorial: Quilled Roses

If you've been wondering how I make my roses, they are super simple to make...and you can make tons of them just sitting on the sofa (below is an example on a card)
What you'll need, scrap paper, scissors, adhesive and a quilling tool (don't panic, you could probaby use a toothpick, but a quilling tool, purchased at Hobby Lobby for $2.99, makes it super easy and fast)

Cut a spiral out of your scrap piece of paper, don't worry about being even or perfect, just makes your rose look more real, the more uneven it is... I'm guessing this is about 1" in diameter

The outside is now going to become the INSIDE... place the tip end in the quilling tool as shown below...

Now spin...but do it AWAY from YOU...

Keep spinning....

This is what it looks like ON the quilling tool

Now pull off of the quilling tool and let it relax and unravel...

Now here's the "end" of your rose...

Stick a pop dot on it and press it onto your rose's bottom

VOILA! all done...wasn't that easy?

Tutorial: String Embellishment

My card for the Stamptacular Sunday Challenge (keep scrolling to the next post to see) included some simple string art. The making of my string art embellishment went faster than it took to upload it to my blog! The picture below is the "finished" product....keep scrolling down to see how easy this is to put together...
First gather your supplies, scallop punch or die, string, tape and cardstock.

Next punch out your shape in cardstock and tape one end of your string to the back of it.

Now flip it over and begin winding your string around the valley's of your scalloped shape...

Just be sure to keep an even number of scallops between each wind...

You can change how your embellishment looks by increasing or decreasing the number of scallops. When finished clip the string and tape to back...see...easy peasy!

Thrifty Christmas; Gift Wrap, Gift Card Holder

Here's a gift card holder that you can hang on your tree! It's an under 5 minute project, super easy and gives the recipient a little something to unwrap (that's the one thing I hate about gift cards...when you give the envelope, the recipient pretty much knows what it is...no surprise...at least this'll be a little less obvious!) So onto the tutorial...
Supplies Needed:

• Paper Trimmer
• Patterned Paper 4 3/4" X 6 1/2"
• Coordinating Paper 1" X 6 1/2"
• Double Stick Tape
• Hole Punch
• Ribbon
• Edge Punch (here I used Fiskars Treading Water punch)
• Decorative Accents (Martha Stewart Snowflake Punch & Cricut Joys of the Season Snowflake)
• Glitter (for accents)

With the edge punch, punch the 6 1/2" edge of the coordinating paper and attach with double stick tape to the top of the patterned paper (as shown).

Flip it over and put double stick tape alone one 4 3/4" edge and 1/2 of the 6 1/2" edge.

Overlapping slightly, roll the paper (like a toilet paper tube) so that the 4 3/4" meet. Press together (as shown below)...

With the seam in the middle back, squish the end together so it's slightly flat (as shown below)

Punch one hole on each side of the top (as shown) and thread ribbon through and tie knots in the ends.

Add decoration and gift card.

I added a little paper shred to cover the card

Thrifty Christmas; Gifts Under $5, Snowman Pin

This adorable little snowman pin was made using materials I already had on hand. So easy to make, so quick to do. These would be super simple to do in mass quantity! You could also change the snowman's personality with your ribbon scarf...and also to match the recipients personality!

Supplies Needed:

• Sticky Pin Back
• 2 White, 2 hole buttons in different sizes
• 4 seed beeds or rhinestones (I used rhinestones for my example...what I had on hand)
• Ribbon
• All purpose Glue
• Scissors
• Toothpick
  Step One: Remove paper from sticky pin backing

Step Two: Apply buttons with the smaller button's holes going horizontally, and the large button's holes going vertically

Step Three: Squeeze glue onto a scrap piece of paper, and using your toothpick place a dab of glue over each button hole and place your rhinestones/seed beads.

Step Four: Fold your ribbon in half.

Step Five: Place ribbon behind pin back, around the neck area as shown above. Now pull the ends through the loop.

Step Six: Trim the end of the ribbon scarf with your scissors. Place a little glue on the side of the snowman body and glue the scarf ends down. Let dry!

Thrifty Christmas: Gifts Under $5, Take Out Menu Binder

Here's my "go to" gift usually reserved for bridal showers, but would make a GREAT gift for those that have everything! Also makes a great gift for single people or super busy families! This is my personal Take Out Menu Binder and it gets used more often than I care to admit, however it's soooo handy having all my take out menus in one place! No more searching here or there to find the restaurants phone # or trying to figure out if that was the place that made the 5 lbs. of cheese pizza! LOL. All I have to do is flip to the correct tab and look through the page protector the menu is in...so easy! And easy and quick to make too!

Supplies Needed:

• 1" Clear View 3 Ring Binder
• 3 Hole Punch
• Clear Page Protectors
• Cardstock (12X12 and 8 1/2 X 11 Heavy cardstock)
• Label Maker (or stamps)
• Punch (for tabs)
• Brads

Instructions:

1. Start by measuring your front cover, this is going to be bigger than your standard 8 1/2 X 11 (they all vary slightly from manufacturer to manufacturer of your binder, so make sure you measure).
2. Cut your cover (s) (remember to do something to the back also!) and decorate. In mine I used patterned paper, Mrs. Grossmans stickers, and my Cricut for the lettering.
3. Now measure and cut your side strip. Slip it in the binder 1X to make sure it's the right size before decorating. Do NOT decorate this very lumpy, it's difficult at times to slide this one down because of the narrow opening! IF you have trouble sliding it in the narrow opening, use a thin ruler to help you.
4. Now figure out your Tab labels for inside, I chose to go with; Pizza, American, Mexican and Chinese. 3-Hole punch 4 pieces of 8 1/2 X 11 cardstock (these are the dividers, so you want something sturdy!)
5. Create your tabs and stagger them, make sure you again use heavy weight cardstock for the tabs as well as attach them with brads (I also ran my tabs through my xyron as well as attaching them with the brads), these will get a lot of use and you don't want them to fall apart on the recipient!
6. Place in binder and put a few clear page protectors between each.
   

Thrifty Christmas: Nail Polish Carton, Gifts Under $5, Teen/Tween Gift

I saw this nail polish carton on Diane's Blog here http://stampwithdiane.blogspot.com/2008/11/scrap-polish.html

It's perfect for those mini-nail polish bottles that are perfect stocking stuffers and teen/tween type of gifts! (Also great for Secret Santa stuff too!). After a little tweeking from Diane's original tutorial (not all nail bottles are the same height and width) I came up with this:
Here's a quick version of the tutorial (please note these measurements may have to be tweeked to fit YOUR nail polish bottle!):

• Cardstock measures 5 1/2" X 1 1/4"
• Score at: 3/8", 3/4", 2 3/8" 3 1/8", 4 3/4", 5 1/8"
• Fold
• Put glue dot or pop dot on bottom of bottle, and place bottle in carton
• Punch 2 small holes in the top of carton and thread ribbon through and tie off
• Add decoration to front and/or back.
  

Thrifty Christmas Tutorial: Mini Pizza Box, Gift Under $5 Manicure Kit

I saw this adorable Pizza Box and just had to recreate it, here is the original link at Jen Del Muro's blog http://iheart2stamp.com/2008/04/04/abc-friday-mini-pizza-box/
I just put to visual, what she wrote down.

I also found a small manicure set and sample nail polishes at a drug store on sale this week, so that's what's going in my box, this would be a great gift for a teenage girl, or a woman that works in an office, or great for someone that travels quite a bit!

Here's the recipe for my Decorated Box:

• Stamp: Snowman by Rachelle Anne Miller
• Ink: Stampology Onyx
• Cardstock: Lavendar from my stash
• Ribbon: Organza
• Punch: Marthat Stewart Snowflake
• Other: CB Snowflake Embossing Folder, Colored Pencils, Nestabilities Circles, Prisma Glitter, Stickles

Now onto the actual Tutorial!

Supplies Needed:

• Cardstock 6" X 11"
• Cutter with Scoring Blade/Scor Pal or Bone Folder
• Scissors
• Double Stick Tape
• Embellishments of your choosing

Step 1: Score the short sides of the cardstock 1"

Step 2: Score the long side of the cardstock at 1", 5", 6" and 10"

Step 3: With scissors, cut tabs where scores meet as seen below

Step 4: Flip cardstock over, and put double stick tape on tabs

Step 5: Fold up box, attaching the flaps to the inside of the box

Here's what your box should look like. Here's what the manicure kit and nail polish look like in the box...good fit!