Sweet Christmas Treats

Christmas lunch this year was at my mother's so I was lucky that I didn't (in theory) have to do any cooking. It didn't quite end up that way. Christmas Eve saw me making an ice-cream cake for my daughter's birthday cake. And the day itself, well.....

We made these Sweet Treat/After Eight Dispenser Boxes at my last Monthly Class and I took one to my Mother's so that we could all enjoy an after dinner treat. The other I gave to my middle sister as she stayed home to cook for her in laws.

These boxes can easily be adapted and decorated differently to suit any occasion. I have even seen them made to hold teabags (the ones that come in the paper wrappers/envelopes).

Merry Minis Punch Pack

I saw this card on the Stampin' Up! UK blog and also on another one belonging to Nicole Picadura. In both cases they used the Merry Minis stamp set and the matching Merry Minis Punch Pack.

OK, I have to admit that I don't have the stamp set. As much as I would like to have absolutely everything I do have to call a halt at some point. I do however have the Merry Minis Punch Pack and some scrap Be of Good Cheer Designer Series Paper. The net result of this combination is below.

I punched nine trees and six baubles from the DSP and then a star from some scrap Champagne Glimmer Paper that was left over from making the Snowflake seen on the ornament from the previous blog post. This is a super simple card to make. The only fiddly bit is the cutting up of the Dimensionals to stick the punched trees and baubles etc onto the Whisper White card stock.

The greeting from the Greetings of the Season stamp set was stamped in Cherry Cobbler.

As this card was so easy to put together I gave it to the ladies who came to class on Friday as an extra project to make. They finished all of their projects early and this seemed like a cute quick one to give them to make. I hope you enjoy having a go at making your own version.

Christmas Decorations

As an Independent Stampin' Up! demonstrator I receive a bi-monthly newsletter from Stampin' Up! with ideas and inspiration. All European demonstrators receive the same newsletter. I am also lucky to occasionally be able to see the version that the US/Canadian demonstrators receive.

Today's project is my version of the ornament that was on the front cover of the November/December issue of the US newsletter.

For my version I used 1/2" wide strips of Be of Good Cheer Designer Series Paper. 

You can't see them, but the tops and bottoms of the ornaments are finished off with a Gumball Green star (punched using the Star from the Merry Mini Punch Pack) and a Basic Rhinestone. These are to hide the brads that are holding the ornament together.

This morning I thought I should add another photo to show the sides - but blogger tells me I am out of space! Oops. Will try to sort this and get the photo posted as soon as I can. Now sorted as you can see below.

The ornaments are hanging on Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine.

The ornaments are pretty easy to make as they are simply 1/2" wide strips of Designer Series Paper cut into differing lengths. You simply start with your central strip, the next one out (both sides) is cut 1/2" longer and thereafter you cut all the other lengths at either 1/4" more or 1/2" more depending on whether you want to make a fatter or longer one.

Over the next couple of days I will be making a few more of these. I have a craft fair this coming Sunday and I know of a couple of people who already want a few of these.