Hey Crafty Friends --

I decided to craft {what a surprise} a small Hostess Gift to give my friend recently and had a 'bucket' of fun doing it.  I made some scented potpourri! And presented it in a cute dish - looked great.....:) {grin} 

Not only was this fun, it was easy.  Real easy.

I know that the really nice packages of potpourri in the stores look the way they do because they add decorative elements to the mix - such as nice pinecones, or glittery straw stars - etc, etc. instead of just the plain-looking potpourri mix.  And what's a nice girl to do when money is needed to buy many, many gifts.  DO IT YOURSELF!!!!   So with that in mind, I made my way to the DOLLAR STORE - where else!

I had to actually ' pay '  for the pinecones {when I should of picked some nice ones off the ground in the fall, oh well...} but that was offset by the nice glittery straw balls, and white stars I found!  Lastly, I needed some scented oil.  And then a container.  [note - you can use clay pieces as well to hold the oil scent]


So  let's see that written down, my shopping list =   natural materials [pinecones, small straw or wood, or clay-shaped accents], plain potpourri mix, scented oil, container, clear cellophane wrap & ties, gift tag, ribbon,  bucket, rubber gloves, stir spoon.

Create - Create- Create..!
OK - when you gather your supplies, clear the table....grab a large container, don some gloves and dump everything in that container, for me it was a large pink bucket!

Pour on the scented oil.....i used a mix of expensive boutique essential oil, and a generic pretty apple-berry scented oil.  Do it a few swigs at a time - you don't want to overpower it!  Better to be add more. 

Here's the special "accents" I added to the plain bag of potpourri I purchased, and one of the oils [red box]. Just these items alone give your mix the coveted 'designer' look.  Pretty sneaky, huh? Darn right!

 

Here it is in the cutesy red bowl I found at the Dollar Store!  I decided smaller would be the right size for a Hostess gift. Therefore, if you make a whole bunch of the mix - you could potentially have many gifts!   

Create a pretty Gift Tag - here is another lovely Hostess Stamp Set from SU! I embossed the image in white embossing powder which is striking against the red paper!  The Designer Paper accordian-fold rosette is hand-made and the chipboard tag has been coated with red paint and glitter, and isn't it PRETTY all together?  Why not make a few of these one night and save yourself time? You know you're going to need them - there's always those last-minute gifts!

 

Here it is all wrapped in cellophane, tagged and oh so ready to give!  

 

And here is our own in a pretty plain white dish. 

Smells w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l  !!!

Hope you enjoy making your own home fragrant with  scented Holiday Potpourri. 

***

 

 Just one of the many cards we created. 

This features SU!'s new Snow Flurry Bigz Die

*Hellooooo!

Boy am I tired - but happy!!!   I now have several really nice HOLIDAY CARDS ready to go and I didn't even have to think them up!  Thanks to Maria's 2nd Annual Holiday Craft Event in Peterborough!  Yessiree...I attended as a guest and had a fab time - THANKS MARIA!!!

Keep your eye out for Maria's event next year if you're in her area [Kawartha Lakes] and you'll have a lovely time and come away with great cards!  And maybe win some prizes!

We also had a pot-luck lunch since it was an all-day event and I enjoyed all the nice dishes the women brought, and I enjoyed meeting them as well - very nice ladies who all made the event feel cozy and friendly!   

Maria and her friend Jane keep well-organized and help you when you need it, and Maria brings along some nice items to purchase {bring along a little spending money! its worth it :) }.....Jane has a little funny streak and made me laugh a few times!!!  We especially had a little fun at Maria's expense because Maria has the most worn-out stamp scrubber we've ever seen!  Maria - it's time to pony up, lol!  Maria's a good sport - she has to be to put up with us...."Maria?".... every few minutes, ha ha.  
 **
VISIT Maria's blog  " CRAFTY MARIA'S STAMPING WORLD" for more great ideas. 

All the supplies can be found in Stampin' Up!'s Holiday Catalogue :)  

 Here are more of the very lovely selection of cards we made....lots of layers, fun punches and accents to add....and the day just swam by we were so absorbed by the process!  

Looking forward to next year Maria!
** 

CHRISTMAS  BOTTLE  TAGS

TUTORIAL

Here is one of the items which sold out fast at the craft fair I participated in Nov 10 [see earlier post].

I was told by my friend Maria, a fab crafter in her own right, to do these but I didn't really think I needed to make that many - boy was I wrong!

The nice thing is you can put these on WINE or WATER BOTTLES, and I think on any present which they could slip on to....maybe bubble bath bottle. right? 

They are super easy to make - I used the following:

Stampin' Up! Punches

 2.5 inch Circle Punch

1. 3/4 inch Circle Punch

Holiday Stocking Punch 

Scallop Border Punch

Corner Punch or Small Circle Punch

Small Oval Punch {optional}

Cardstock in minimum of 2 colours for tag

Cardstock scraps for stockings  

Glitter Cardstock for accents  {optional}

To: and From: rubberstamps {optional}

Instructions 

[using cardstock of choice] 

TOP OF TAG 

1)  Punch a 1. 3/4 inch Circle from cardstock 

2)  Position 2.5 inch Circle Punch around the negative circle space

created from step 1, and punch. You should now have a cardstock "ring". 

This is the ring that will be at the top of the tag. 

3) Create a  rectangle from cardstock - about 3 x 5 inches. 

4)  Place the 1-3/4 Circle Punch in half-way of the top edge, punch.

5) Glue your ' RING' to the top - matching the circle inside edge to 

the newly created half-circle top edge of tag. 

Trim the cardstock from  outside the ring using a Corner Punch to create corners at top.

This helps to create the top of the tag's neck.

6) At this point, I lightly score a line across the top of the tag, on either side of the ring - just so it bends a little when draped over a bottle neck.

BASE OF TAG

7) Decorate the base of your tag! 

I used the Holiday Stocking Punch from Stampin' Up! (2011 Holiday Mini) 

and created all sorts of stocking pairs - which parts I mixed up in a

pleasing fashion.  If I add a mix of glitter or shine or velvet cardstock - it really 

makes those stockings pop!

8) Trim the length of your tag if you need to, and add a nice border accent

near the bottom. I often used the Scallop Border Punch for this, but I also

used just strips of scrap cardstock.

OPTIONS

Emboss the cardstock for the Tag base,

Sponge ink over edges, 

Sprinkle glitter over tag as accent,

Add embellishments: buttons, brads, ribbon, etc. 

BACK OF TAG

8) I added two small oval tags {used Small Oval Punch} in vanilla cardstock, and stamped

To: on one oval, and From: on the other oval.  Tied them loosely together with baker's twine, and 

glued them to the back.  You can decorate the back of the tag more but its most likely not needed.

VOILA - DONE!

This sounds more than it really takes to make these - you can get in the swing of things and 

make several of these in a session! Get some cocoa and brownies together with friends or family and have a yummy TAG-MAKING TIME! 

 GIVE HANDMADE THIS YEAR!

Come and join me at the West Rouge Holiday Artisan Sale this coming Nov 10th!  Picture a cozy time looking at all the lovely items 'HAND-MADE' no less......I'm all excited!!!   Now I am going back to work to making my cards for this event - remember, if you need Holiday Cards, come and see what I have for you!  *