Some Gifts to Share

I've had a four-day weekend because of two snow days, and thank goodness! I wanted to make some gifts this year for the secretaries at school, my aide, and teacher friends and those days gave me the time to do all these gifts. I did not get to photograph the teacher friend gifts...I was too rushed and forgot! I made fudge (if you want to call it that!) and poured it into various tins I had. The tins were decorated so nicely, but the fudge did not set and was "sloshy" for a lack of a better term. My friend, Pam, said I should have called it Chocolate Lava! LOL! Anyway, these are the gifts I did photograph.
Anne Marie Peterson left a comment on one of my posts, and I checked out her blog and saw these cute hot cocoa gifts that she made. I had been saving these boxes that come with PTI stamps because I knew they'd come in handy some day! Well, I took Anne Marie's idea and ran with it! I started by measuring the box. It's 6" square and 1" wide. I cut a piece of Kiwi Kiss cardstock 4" x 6" and scored it at 1 1/2" and 2 1/2" and ran an SU wheel (I don't remember the name of this one...I think it's retired) over the three sections the score lines created in Kiwi Kiss ink. Next, I cut and embossed a piece of Frosty Day dp using the Labels One nestabilities. I chose this paper because of the wording on it and it also dictated my color scheme. It seemed fitting for a hot cocoa gift. This piece was scored as well and taped onto the top piece. I then placed two jumbo brads on top so I could run the Kiwi satin ribbon through it to create the handle. For the bottom inside piece, I had to cut and tape together two pieces of Kiwi cardstock measuring 8" x 1 1/2". I scored both at 1" from each end, creating a tab. These were taped together creating a rectangle that I placed inside the box. It was also stamped with the wheel. I then used PTI's Holiday Tag Collection set for the tag. It was stamped in chocolate chip on vintage cream and backed with a scalloped piece of kiwi kiss. Here's a picture of the top.

Now for the card. I didn't do a full card (I was lazy, I admit it!). Instead, I did a postcard-like card. Again, I used Kiwi and Frosty Day dp. the main image is PTI's Warm Happiness set. It was so perfect for this gift! I stamped the outline of the cup in chocolate chip and the inside polka dot in Kiwi. The shading on the bottom was done in Close to Cocoa (I masked the main image) as was the steam from the cup. Such a cool set. You can change the look of the cup with different stamps. The sentiment is so nice, too. The word "cocoa" is one of three words that fit in that spot. There's also tea and coffee. I used this sentiment with "coffee" in a pop-up gift card you'll see next.

The last gift I gave my Secret Angel was a Tim Horton's gift card. (For those of you who don't know what Tim Horton's is, it's a huge coffee and donut shop located in Canada and the Northeast. Tim Horton was a hockey player for the Buffalo Sabres in the 1970's. He was a very good defenseman. He was in a deadly car crash in Ontario, Canada, and this coffee shop/restaurant is his legacy. I don't drink coffee, but the lines of cars that wait for coffee at ALL hours of the day at the drive-thru prove that people love it!) Katie had said she loves Tim Horton's, so I got her a gift card. I decided to try one of these pop-up gift card holders I had seen on an SCS challenge here. You simply take a 4" x 12" piece of cardstock and score it at 4" and 8", per the instructions. I also scored it at 6". So you fold on the 4" and 8" score lines in the same direction, and the 6" in score line in the opposite direction. This is what it looks like when folded. I ran some tape along the inside edges to close it up and took my word window punch and punched the opening. I had to punch it 2 times to get a big enough opening. I used the same stamp set, but you can see I changed the look of the cup with a different inside stamp. The sentiment is from PTI's Holiday Treats. I backed the card with a 4.25" square of chocolate chip to make it a larger card.

Here is another pop-up gift card I made for my aide. I got her a Bath & Body Works gift card that had trees on it, so I decided to use this tree stamp from Holiday Tag Collection. I used kiwi kiss and riding hood red cardstock along with Holiday Treasures dp. I placed red dew drops on the brown part of the dp. I also backed it with a 4.25" square piece of riding hood red. The sentiments on the inside are from SU and PTI's Holiday Treats set.
These were a big hit with the recipients. I hope you enjoyed them and that I gave enough information for you to recreate them. If not, please email me or leave a comment and I'll get back to you. I still have to make thank you cards for all the gifts I received from students and friends. That will be in a few days because I'm tired and I still have to wrap my gifts and make a cheesecake! I'd like to wish all of you a wonderful holiday with your family and friends and I'd like to invite you to please stop by again. I love to read your comments and I wish more of you would comment. You can't imagine (or maybe you can) how nice it is to read them! I truly look forward to reading them. Thanks to all my frequent commenters (is that a word?) for making my day and thanks to all of you who subscribe! Merry Christmas!