Creative gift wrapping in a jiffy

It's officially "the last minute," that scurry around time when the  house smells like cookies and pie.

Time to wrap gifts, and FAST! But it must look splendid.

Nothing just jammed into a bag if I can possibly help it.

This is the simplest kind of crafting. Wrap your gifts in kraft paper (in a pinch, use old grocery or lunch bags!) 

Using dies from my Sharyn Sowell Holiday 2017 dies from Spellbinders Paper Arts, cut out some paper die cuts and use a glue stick to adhere them to the package.

Using a white Sharpie, a white UniBall Signo pen or a splash of white gouache, add some dots for snowflakes and a name. Tie with a pretty red bow and tuck a sprig of greens under the ribbon if you like.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Creative neighbors

"Come over," said Pearl, "we're going to be in the greenhouse making wreaths."

So of course I did! What a gift to be part of a creative community of women like these. 

Each of us working at different kinds of art forms, each gifted in her own way, living with style and imagination.

When these friends invite, you drop everything and run over. It's just too much fun not to!

Gathering material from their family garden, Pearl and Kate make several hundred wreaths every year, selling them in the local food CoOp and at their own farm stand.

They make little bouquets that they assemble into wreaths.

When the girls get thirsty, they can reach for the tea kettle; when they feel like a tune, they can flip on some merry music.

These dear friends love me and I love them. We get together to make things, to celebrate the occasions in our lives large and small. We laugh together, cry together, teach one another how to knit or prune or bake macarons. 

I am so grateful to share the beauty of the seasons of earth and life with these wonderful women who are as beautiful inside as they are outwardly.

A Merry Shadow Box - a tutorial

It’s so much fun to give home made Christmas presents and if you’re on my list this year, you might be getting a shadow box! They are so much fun to make.

Here’s how:

1. Take a small sturdy box and cover with the paper of your choice. You will want to choose a die that fits your box well. I used vintage paper throughout.

I glittered the back of my wrapped box by simply rubbing a glue stick on it and dropping mica glitter in, then tapping the excess back into a jar.

2. Using the adhesive you like best, ruffle some paper and stick it on the top of the box as shown. I used a roll of crepe paper glued quick and dirty with my trusty fine tip hot glue gun but you can use any paper and adhesive you like.

3. Fold the paper down so it becomes a “curtain” across the top of your shadow box and glue another piece of paper across the top of the box. This will cover up any messy glue that may have escaped in step #2! Trim the curtain to the length you want. I used scalloped scissors for this.

4. Cut out the die of your choice from card stock. My Shapeabilities Holiday 2017 die (please insert link to this page)https://www.spellbinderspaperarts.com/shapeabilities-presents-holiday-2017-by-sharyn-sowell-etched-dies/ is a perfect fit for this kind of project. 

Fold the bottom of the die cut paper over and glue to the bottom of the box.

5. Now decorate and embellish to your heart’s content. I used pipe cleaners, glitter, baker’s twine,a sprig of wired trim, and two silver star stickers. You can add feet if you want. Mine are hazelnuts.

I love home made gifts more than anything ready made because they come from the heart. Isn't this one sweet?

And the winner is...

Maria F, you were the lucky winner of our $25 gift certificate!

Look at your email for instructions on how to redeem.

Congratulations, everyone. 

Even if you didn't win, you can find the Build A House die and lots of others at Spellbinders online or in a store near you.

Creative. Living. A challenge for the year ahead.

My goal this year: make every part of my life more effortlessly creative.

Not working on it, simply enjoying, allowing creativity to invade everything.

Embracing mistakes, learning to be gentler with myself, because perfection is so over-rated

and creativity flourishes when we love ourselves as much as we love others.

This kind of creativity doesn't take much time, doesn't cost a penny.

I've been using pretty dishes and napkins for ordinary moments, even when I'm alone, and pausing to notice and appreciate artisan honey, green beans from the garden, the scent of my tea.

Being mindful, living with gratitude and awareness changes everything.

Even dull, rainy afternoons are beautiful and pausing for literally ten seconds to snap a photo and remember the beauty transforms a dark day.

Watch a butterfly. 

Laugh with a child.

Put flowers in your hair and dance.

Take time to walk with someone you love very dearly, because tomorrow may be too late.

We can all do this, can't we?

And there are so many ways to be creative, so many new skills to learn!

The local yarn store has free knitting lessons. Woohoo, I'm all in!

Torch firing enameled beads- yes! I'm back to my roots as a jeweler.

I'll be putting these on Etsy very shortly (watch this space for an announcement.)

It's wonderful to applaud others, too, and to honor them by asking them to teach us. 

When I bought my tulip bulbs and saw a migrant worker planting in the display garden, I asked her in my halting Spanish for tips and wow! Her creativity will be visible in my little garden this spring.

Right in my own little studio, I've been savoring long hours of creative time. 

New mediums, new friendships. Permission to make mistakes and falter.

So here's a challenge for you for the coming year:

Give yourself permission to be creative every day in every way.

Chase the fun of creativity in whatever way brings you joy.

And remember to say "thank you" for all the gifts that surround and inspire.

It will change your life.

Make a festive gingerbread garland

Don't you just love cosy? Nothing sings Christmas joy more than a cosy corner

with warm gingerbread and cocoa, and garlands of pine. 

So I made all this today!

And you can, too.

No baking necessary.

You'll be using my Build a House crafting die from Spellbinders Paper Arts. It's a jiffy way to cut out all the pieces you need to make this darling gingerbread cottage.

Simply use the die pieces to cut out all the pieces for your house. Then use a white pen (I love the UniBall white Signo pens!) Decorate to your heart's content, then glue the little houses together as shown on the package. 

You'll want to use tracing paper or vellum behind the windows and doors to allow for the light to shine through. Cut an X in the roof or floor of your little houses so you'll be able to tuck a twinkle light in through the hole.

Now hang a pine garland on a window or wall and wrap it with twinkle lights. 

You can purchase the garland, or do as I did and gather a variety of fresh evergreens, berries, holly and other greenery and tie and wrap it together into a long garland. Stick the houses on by pushing a twinkle light in through the X hole you made earlier.

I decided to use paper scraps, glitter and some ribbon to spell out Merry Christmas as a finishing touch but you can do whatever works for your home, using whatever you have on hand.

Doesn't it look wonderful?  Turn up the Christmas music and celebrate!

And now for two happy giveaways to make it even sweeter.

Wouldn't you love to win a $50 gift certificate for this and other crafty dies? Spellbinders Paper Arts is giving 5 gift certificates away! Just leave a comment on theSpellbinders blog by Sunday, December 10 11:59PM EDT for a chance to win. Winners will be announced in the blog hop post on Spellbinders blog on December 11.

I'll also be giving away a $25 gift certificate to spend on Spellbinders crafting dies and stamps! Just comment below, and I'll announce the winner on December 11. Doesn't that sound wonderful?

Now time to make yourself a cocoa and pop over to the next blog on our Spellbinders Holiday Blog hop... Click here for more inspiration.