Christmas Gift Card Holders

This is the post I was featured with over at Craftoholics Anonymous back in December.


Hey everyone, my name is Camie. I'm an out-of-work actress with a degree in cosmetology, but I moonlight as a stay-at-home Momma. I've got two of the cutest boys in the world making my life super full, but I sometimes find a little time to play around with crafty things. I've recently started a blog called Cee Cee's Dreams where I keep all my fun stuff. Feel free to check it out sometime!

Here are my handmade Christmas Girt Card holders.
These are super cute and fairly easy to make. They come together pretty fast, assuming you aren't making 25 of them...

Start off with a 12"x12" piece of double sided card stock. It can be the same color on both sides or two different designs, as pictured below.
Measure to the exact middle on each side, which should be 6", and mark lightly with a pencil.

Fold in half, meeting both edges in the middle, at the marks.
Fold it again the other way, creating a scored box in the middle.
Get a sturdy bowl the size of the folded paper, about 6". I say sturdy because I tried using an old plastic bowl and my circles, unbeknown to me, were not, how you say, congruent. So this nice, thick, strong Pyrex did the trick quite nicely. Trace the bowl from one fold to the other. You're going to want to open it up, fold it the other way, and do it again so all four edges outside the middle square have half circles on them.

When all the tracing is done, open it up and cut it out, following your markings.It should look like this when you're done.
Then get the paper you want for the backing of the card and cut it to fit the middle square. Mine were just shy of 6"x6". You want to make sure that you can fold the flaps down easily, so if it catches, trim it a little.

Once you have it the right size, use some adhesive and stick it down!

Then cut a smaller box out of another piece of card stock. I've used white, I think it is a nice canvas to play on. Next you want to get creative and add ribbon. You can use any thickness or feel you like, let you creative juices flow! Measure the lengths you want and I like to add a bow.
Use a credit card or key card for the placement or the ribbon. I tape the ribbon on the back, and then add a little adhesive to either side on the front, but be sure to leave enough ribbon free so you can slide the card in and out.
Add all the other ribbon in whatever design you like. It's really a lot of fun to play and see what looks good.
Use hot glue to adhere the bow onto the ribbon.
Then you'll want to adhere the card stock onto the card.
If you like, you can add a personal note using the scraps from cutting the edges. I usually do squares, but thought I'd change it up a bit.
Place the gift card and personal message into the card.
You'll then want to fold it, one flap at a time, tucking the final flap under the previous one.

Then press it with an iron, be careful not to burn it!!

Flat as a pancake!Add a festive sticker on the back to seal it and you're done! They can be mailed like this and since they are an irregular size, will be hand canceled, so you don't have to worry about losing your contents in a machine somewhere! They do cost a bit extra to mail due to their size, but who cares! They're cute as could be!
Or you can put a bow on it and place it under the tree.
Or hand deliver it at the office or, you know, where ever.

I really like this card because it can also double as a birthday card, invitation, or announcement.

Thanks for checking it out! Happy creating and Happy Holidays!

Pictures for Baby Learning Books

Please feel free to use these pictures!  Or bounce off them and use them for ideas.  Obviously some of them are very personalized, but you get the idea.  Have fun! 

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Advent Calendar

So I made an advent calendar this year. I finished it just in time for the first day, and am just now getting around to posting about it. It was super easy and took me two days to make, start to finish. (And that's saying a lot with my two kids!)

I got the idea here.

Here's what I used:
8 sheets of white felt
red floss
28 red buttons
1/4 yard plaid material
clothesline
ribbon
1 big bag Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark

• I cut 25 strips of felt that were 6 1/2"x2 1/2", then rounded the edges.

• I sewed the buttons on about and inch er so from one of the ends. (The basic instructions are here.)

• Then I folded up the end with a button to make a pocket, and used a slip stitch to go around the edges, like here.

• I then sewed a 4" length of floss to the top of the envelope and knotted it both on the bottom and the top, just to make sure it didn't pull through.

• I printed the numbers 1-25 off in one of my favorite cutesy fonts and traced them onto each envelope using one of those disappearing ink fabric pens. Then I just stitched them right on!

• I filled each one with a yummy piece of peppermint bark, which are the perfect size for these pockets! Then folded the flap over a clothesline and wound the string around the button to close it. I tied pieces of material by each one and ta-da! All done! I tied a bow on ether end and hung it in the hall.

To make the stars, I printed the pattern off from here. Then I covered it with tape (just so it didn't get ruined by tracing) and traced it onto felt 6 times. Then I sewed a button into the middle of 3 stars. Then slip stitched two stars together, and right before getting all the way around, I stuffed them. I sewed them onto lengths of ribbon and tied bows of fabric to place on top. I like how they turned out! Super cute!
Oh! And to keep track of where we are, I printed these off, cut them out, attached them to some floss and tied them to each button. I placed them inside the envelopes with the chocolates and then every day when we take the chocolate out, we pull the dangle out too. Here we are today, 13 pockets in.So a big thank you goes out to Jenny B Harris over at Allsorts for the super cute idea! I love it! And so does my little man, who has been loving having a piece of yummy "special" chocolate every day!

Yipee

I have some exciting news.
I'm going to be featured over on a little blog called
Craftaholics Anonymous
A super cute blog, you should definitely go see her stuff. ADORABLE!
I'll be on December 15.
It's Readers Tutorial Week.
Check me out, would ya?
Good times.
Also, she is having super awesome giveaways December 14-18.
Really, go there.
Really.
Merry Christmas.

Thanksgiving Dinner Place Cards

I wanted to make out little Thanksgiving dinner a bit more formal this year. I made a beautiful centerpiece and decided we needed place cards as well. I found a cute idea here and decided to dive in. Here's how mine came together. I used:

Colored Cardstock
Patterned paper
Ribbon
Small letter stickers
1.5"x2" Photos
adhesive

Here's how you get the job done:

Cut the card stock into 4" x 9.5" pieces

Score them at 2.5", 5" and 7.5"
Fold and adhere them into triangles

Cut the patterned paper to 4" x 2.5"
Cut some card stock pieces to 4" x 1" Adhere card stock to patterned paper.
Add the names with small letter stickers.
(I had to mat a couple of the names because I bought the same color stickers as paper. Oops!)
Cover the seams with coordinating ribbon. Or contrasting ribbon, however you like it!

Mat the little photos with cardstock

Adhere the pictures to the patterned paper and add the assembled pieces to one side of the triangles.
They turned out so adorable and we'll be able to use them for years and years.

Well, some of them will need to be updated, obviously...

Thanksgiving Centerpieces

This year I made centerpieces. Thanksgiving centerpieces even! I got the idea here. She is brilliant! They were quite simple to make and turned out fabulous!

I found the glass vases and candle holders at Dollar Tree, however, my Dollar Tree did not have the tall 7 day candles. I found mine at Family Dollar, for $1.50.

After washing all the tags off, I hot glued the candle holders to the bottoms of the vases.
I then added some hot glue to the bottoms of the 7 day candles and glued them into the vases.
I then stuffed some fake leaves down the sides. I would have used real ones, but alas, all my leaves outside look like, well, crap. So I got some pretty and colorful ones.
Showtime! Here they are at the big game! I think they turned out marvelously, don't you?
And they're so very versatile and gorgeous. Here is what they are looking like these days...

SUPERMAN!

Call me thrifty, call me cheap, I don't even care. I will not spent $17 on a paper-thin, barely holding together by a thread Superman costume.
Not gonna happen.
So what's a crafty mom to do in such a situation?
We improvise, that' s what!
Long sleeved T shirt: $3.
Sweat pants: $3.
Rit Dye: $2.
Felt: $.25.
Yellow Fabric: $1.
Superman costume that will keep baby man warm and NOT fall apart the second time he wears it: PRICELESS!

I found the Superman logo on the Web somewhere, printed it, cut it out and traced it onto red felt. I then placed red felt over yellow fabric and cut it along the edges and sewed it together onto the front of the shirt.

I dyed some of daddy's socks and an old pair of undies in some red Rit Dye.

Then I sewed a belt to the front of the undies and attached the back with Velcro. I also added red "belt loops" to the front, just for show.

I made the cape out of some scrap red I had left over from bridesmaid dresses I made a long time ago, used ribbon as a tie.

I stretched the now red socks over a pair of winter boots.

Done and done. My son loves to wear his shirt all the time and is begging me to make a Batman one.

Whew, maybe next year, after the holidays are over...

Baby Shower Invitations

Want to make the world's most adorable baby shower invitations? No sweat! Just follow my simple step-by-step instructions and in no time you can be enjoying fabulous invitations of your very own.


In my search for the perfect template, I ran across this little beauty.
I said to myself, "Self, I could make that. I mean how hard could it be?" So I set out on my mission and here is what I found: not as easy as once suspected. However, they are pretty dang adorable, so I say worth it. Here we go.

First, find the most darling paper you can find.

Fold paper so that edges meet in the middle. (Might want to measure just to make sure it's not lopsided. I'm just sayin'...)

Then you want to fold it again, the exact same way only lengthwise. I mean, on a 12x12 piece of paper, there's really not a "lengthwise", but you get my drift, right?

Next, you draw4 circles on each end of the paper and then cut around them. It's easier to do this, I found, by tracing a bowl over the edges. And you might want to use a glass bowl and not a tupperware plastic bowl that doesn't hold it's shape and you get three done before you realize that your circles are a little, um, retardo. I'm just sayin...


You're going to need some plain paper in coordinating colors, or non-coordinating if that's how you roll. Whatever, I'm not here to judge. Cut them to the size of your squares in the middle of the paper, which happen to be 6" x 6"
Then you use something sticky to place the small squares onto the large paper. Sticky as in rubber cement or adhesive roller dots, not sticky as in gum or peanut butter. I'm just sayin...

Next, play with your adorable babies because they need attention too!

You'll want to get some ribbon in, again, coordinating colors. Or non-coordinating. Whatever.

Then let your creative juices flow as you place ribbon diagonal across your wording for the invitations. And tie some bows. Millions and millions of bows. Ug.

Place the bows over the ribbon on the invitations and use a bit of hot glue, or something else sticky, remembering the above mentioned rule as to what kind of sticky is and is not acceptable.


Next, you're going to want to dress up you big fat baby like a farmer. The reasons for this are um numerous because I don't think fourfold is a word. One: baby is large and in charge and if he doesn't wear said clothes now, he never will. Two: baby needs to be dressed. Three: baby is cute and fun to dress up. And four: it is just time for a break.
Next take the little scraps from the 12"x12" papers make them squares. Or triangles. Or hexagons, although that might be a bit too much work for what we're aiming for here. Again, not judging.


Use said shapes as backgrounds for any inserts you'd like to place in invitation. You know, like directions or where mother-to-be is registered or your favorite sandwich. Not that it matters to me, but why exactly you'd sent out invitations with your favorite sandwich included is a little weird. I'm just sayin...

Next, place the inserts on the finished invitation face, like so.

Then have yourself a little snack. Come on, you know you want some.

Next fold up the invitations so that they look like this:

And press them with your iron. Or car, but that might make them dirty and will probably ruin them. But hey, it's your prerogative.

Next you'll want to find the cutest and most annoyingly adorable sickly sweet baby girl stickers you can find.
Place aforementioned stickers on the seam, so that they will remained closed during shipping. The last thing you'd want is some unsuspecting mail carrier accidentally opening the invitation and finding out what your favorite sandwich is, right?

Then you address those puppies and mail them out.
See? Simple as that. Hopefully it won't take you a week to finish them. Ahem.

New project!

Look what I made, Y'all!

Lightning and Mater

These curtains were made by buying the charactr fabric in the middle and sewing the black and white checkered fabric at the top and bottom. I used a french seam to make it look flawless. Not bad for being 8 months pregnant, eh?