Well finally I have started on my Christmas stall items and it just so happens 😉 that these “stocking stuffers” fit in with the challenge over at Out of a Hat Creations this week.
These were one of my most popular items on my stall last year, I sold all of them and could have done with more. They are a good little gift when you just want a little “something” for a neighbour, acquaintance, etc but don’t want to go overboard.
Here is how I make “Tic Tac Covers”.
- Cut 3 pieces of card (I have used kraft, red and white) and score the kraft card as shown above;
- Round the corners as shown;
- Adhere the largest piece of card to the spine of the Tic Tac box;
- Attach ribbon over the card around the centre with ds tape or glue;
- Stamp your image on the white card and colour/paper piece, etc;
- Adhere the white card onto the red card;
- Adhere the red card over the ribbon onto the kraft cover.
Just a word of warning about the measurements I have given you. Some of you will know that measurements and I really aren’t very compatible. I grew up learning “feet & inches” but quite a long time ago Australia changed to metric. I’ve never been interested enough to learn cm, mm, etc. but I try. So I hope the measurements and conversions are right. It is pretty simple to measure up for yourself anyway.
As you can see in the photo below the measurements are for the BIGBOX of Tic Tacs, not the usual size.
Please excuse the frayed ends of the ribbon. I had a scrap of this pretty ribbon which I hoped would do the job but it was just to short. I won’t be selling this one, but someone will eat them up I’m sure :D. I think if you cut 250 mm of ribbon you will have enough to make a nice knot.
Hope you make some of these. I would love to see them if you do. Perhaps I could put them on my blog.
Bye for now,
I keep getting distracted from making Christmas goodies. Today I was giving some eggs away because our good little hens have been supplying us with an abundance – more than we could keep up with. Egg cartons generally aren’t very pretty so I decided to “gussy” them up a bit (the lids only).
Here is the first ½ dozen carton –
and the second
The papers are from an old paper pad which I love. I don’t have much of the pad left but was able use up some scraps. The pad is from October Afternoon “Farm Fresh”. The cute rubber stamps are from Whipper Snapper Designs (Anna Wright) “Garden Fresh” “Crazy for Chickens” “Sunny Side Up”. Coloured with Copics of course 🙂
I hope they enjoy the fresh eggs as much as I enjoyed decorating the cartons.
Bye for now,
I’m usually not a big fan of Halloween (can you hear a “but” coming on) BUT today I made 2 cute little Party Favor boxes just because they were too cute not to. 😆
The paper is from an old paper pad from Cosmo Cricket “Mathilda”. The cute Digi Stamps are from All That Scraps – CC Designs, “Devilish Lucy” and “Vampy Hansel”. Can’t tell you where the ribbons are from, I’ve had them for years.
That’s all for today, I must get back to Christmas projects.
Bye for now,
Challenge #30 over at Out of a Hat Creations is “Christmas Decorations“. What fun!
Here are the 3 decorations I have made –
All made with Glitter Card – who doesn’t love sparkle? I usually love it but after trying to stick it together I might change my mind.
The first on the left was made with Memory Box dies “Drop Ornament” and “Colette Ornament”.
I die-cut 3 sets, glued them together and then folded each set down the middle. Once they were dry (overnight) I then glued the 3 piece back-to-back. Lastly I added the ribbon and top piece.
Second from left is made from the packaging of some ribbon I had bought. Perfect shape for a shaker ornament. Once again very difficult to glue together. This is another roll of similar ribbon still in its packaging.
I stamped and coloured a cute little reindeer from YNS (Your Next Stamp). I added some Dew Drops and Flower Soft to the inside for a snowy effect.
after a little shake –
Lastly the third ornament was adapted from this tutorial.
I didn’t crease the paper across the middle – I thought it DID make it look too much like a UFO. I wouldn’t use the glitter card again because it is a little too thick making the top and bottom stack a bit too high. The last piece of paper – there is something not quite right – perhaps I should have bought it up over the other pieces. It sounds as if I’m not happy, but I am but if I’m to make another these are the small changes I would make.
This challenge has made me a bit panicky after realizing that it is only ONE (yes only 1) MONTH until the Christmas Market (30th November) in which I have a stall. After all my good intentions and trying to start early I have so much to do yet. 😯 What is that saying about “intentions and a road to hell”?
Better get to work. You may not hear from me as often for a few weeks while I try to catch up with my market goodies.
Bye for now,
At this time of the year each year, my dh’s family have a fishing competition/get together. Each family has to provide some food to share, so I have been busy today preparing. I have cooked –
- Zucchini Slice – adapted from this SITE
- Scotch Both – adapted from my mother’s recipe
- Cheesy Pumpkins – adapted from this SITE
- Trifle – adapted from my mother’s recipe
- Tim Tam Balls – adapted from the book “Ingredients
4 Christmas” by Kim McCosker – (Oero Balls)
This was a very popular recipe in the 80’s when Kindergartens used to raise money by holding “Soup, Sandwich and Sweets” lunches for parents and friends. The food was donated by the parents. The kinders charged a small amount for a buffet meal.
I must have been one of the few who actually hadn’t made it. Last night I cooked a trial run and then changed it a little today to suit what I had in the pantry. Thanks to our hens “Dorrie and Florrie” I was able to use 7 fresh eggs. I only used 2 zucchini, added some fresh corn, and spring onion.
Next on the menu is what I call “Scotch Broth”. I thought this might be useful for the little children. The beef is our homegrown and is free of all nasty chemicals etc and is delish. It is an easy recipe but very nutritious. Diced beef, barley, carrot, celery, onion and beef stock.
The next dish is a new recipe (my dh thought it was very tasty). Because I couldn’t source any sobrasada (chorizo spread) I bought 2 large chorizo sausages, cooked them in the microwave and then put them in the food processor and made a paste.
My little pumpkins don’t have the nice orange colour, probably because I didn’t use the past. I thought that because next weekend in Halloween – pumpkins might have some relevance.
Next – trifle – self-explanatory I think.
Everything had to go into containers in an Esky, so no pretty crystal or glass bowl, but hopefully the trifle will still be tasty.
Finally the Tim Tam (hope everyone knows that these are an iconic Australian store-bought biscuit) balls.
The adapted recipe –
- 2 pkts Tim Tams (I used original but I’m thinking the mint variety would be ideal)
- 1 pkt (350 g) cream cheese
- Chocolate to cover the balls
- Toppings – I used, coconut, edible glitter, 100’s & 1000’s, choc bits, walnuts, etc.
- Break up the biscuits and pulse in a food processor until finely crushed
- Tip the crumbs into a bowl
- Add the cream cheese and mix until you can’t see any white pieces
- Roll into walnut size balls (I got 24 from this mixture)
- Chill for 1/2 hour
- Melt chocolate
- Dip the balls into the chocolate and place on a tray which is lined with baking paper
- Quickly add toppings of your choice
- Refrigerate.
Well I was pleased with my day’s effort – hopefully everyone else will be too.
Now for a good sit down to watch the TV. My favourite shows are on tonight (Friday) – Better Homes & Gardens, Escape to the Country and Homes Under the Hammer. A late night but this about the only time I watch TV – not many other shows which I enjoy.
Bye for now,
It seems such a long time since I’ve had a chance to “play” in my craft room but last night I thoroughly enjoyed myself making 2 little bags for Out of a Hat Creations – October Week 3 – Packaging/Wrapping for a Christmas Gift.
Years ago I bought dozens of clear plastic boxes (and stamps, and paper, and ink and, and, and) from the USA – it was (and probably is still) a great site BUT the postage they charged for their items was just too dear and I would save up until I had a big order. Finally I stopped ordering from them for different reasons.
From the clear plastic boxes I used to make little handbags (which had been a tutorial on their site). They were the perfect size to hold a Kit Kat (yummo). I had forgotten all about these little beauties until the Packaging challenge came up. So last night I sat down and had some fun making a couple. From each plastic box you get 2 bags, so not wasteful at all.
Here is a photo of the box (hard to get a good photo of clear plastic).
Here is the first little bag –
Here is the second –
The leaves on the embellishments are an idea I found on the Fiskars site. You take a square of paper and run it through a crimper diagonally. You then accordion fold every other crease, a bit fidley but the end result is fun.
I added some sparkly Christmas ornaments as a gift to go in the bag but you could add whatever you like.
You don’t need much paper, largish scraps will do. The ribbon is all in one piece and it is better if you use fairly strong ribbon for the handles, so this is your largest expense. I suppose you don’t really need the plastic box but it does make it much stronger to hold whatever the weight of our gift.
Just as a side note – I was lying wide awake in bed last night at 3 am just thinking about craft ideas, as you do, 😆 when my mobile phone signalled that a text message had just come through. Well you think the worst at that time of the night so I rushed out to get the message. It had the international numbers for Australia at the beginning of the number – who could be texting me from o/s? It was from the UK letting me know that I had just won 1 million pounds in the Shell Petroleum Sweepstakes – oh darn – spam. Spammers could I just ask you to be a bit more thoughtful about when you send these texts ;). I went back to bed but couldn’t sleep just thinking of all the possibilities of that £1,000,000. 😦
Bye for now,
We’re back from our short holiday which we thoroughly enjoyed and which revitalized us after a cold and wet winter. I’m sure my Aussie blogging friends will know where we’ve been but perhaps my overseas friends will need the answer at the end of this post. BEWARE many photos to follow 😀
Whew!!! Most of the native flower photos were taken in Kings Park, Perth, Western Australia. The size of the park is incredible – 400 hectares (988 acres approx). We walked around the park for hours (ohhh sore legs). I would love to know how far we actually walked.
The rest of the photos are taken at areas such as New Norcia, Pinnacles, Margaret River, Point Leeuwin .
Don’t forget that you can click on the photos to see them larger.
Bye for now,
Hello – I’m back. We’ve had a lovely short break and now I’m back with a lot of enthusiasm for Christmas projects. Can’t wait to get started but I do have a few chores to clear up first. So in the meantime I’ll show you the gift card box and card I made for our dsil’s birthday. He loves to surf –
I’ll be back tomorrow with some photos of our holiday – let’s see if you can guess where we have been 🙂
Bye for now,
Hi all, Today I am joining in the festivities at Out of a Hat Creations who are celebrating Christmas in October. The first week challenge is to make a Christmas card or tag.
I’ve made 2 tags (actually I’ve started on a set of tags but have run out of time) and here they are:
The first tag is die cut with a large Sizzix Gingerbread Man using some cork sheets I’ve been hoarding for years.
This Gingerbread Man is also a Sizzix die, but smaller and cuter I think. I am in the middle of making a set of these types of tags but I have run out of time. In the morning at 6:15 I’m leaving for a few days break. Better get to bed now or I won’t wake up in time to get ready.
Ho, ho, ho,
Bye for now,
The winners from give-away #3 & 4 were very easy to select because there were 2 replies to each give-away.
Therefore I am very happy to announce that the winners for give-away #3 are Scrapunzel 1 and Rhonda. Woo hoo! The winners for #4 are Julie C and Dianne. Woo hoo to you too!
I will email you soon 😀
Tonight I have a quick and easy little Christmas card to show you. I wanted to make something sparkly which might put a smile on the face of one of my blog friends who hasn’t been too well. Hopefully the addition of the tartan ribbon will alert her to who it is for. 😉 Could well be the wrong tartan but it is all I have.
Bye for now,
Over at Out of a Hat Creations the challenge this week is to Decorate a Bottle or Jar. I’m close to the deadline so without further ado here is my bottle.
The little bottle was an Eucalyptus Oil bottle. Very useful product eucalyptus oil – cleans, disinfects, removes labels, the list goes on and it smells good too. Being a small bottle there wasn’t much room for a lot of embellishments but I have managed to add quite a few.
The paper is from the paper pad “Halloween in Wonderland” from Graphic 45. I made the little “drink me” tag and typed the sentiment.
- I painted the lid gold;
- Added some ribbon and gold cord;
- Had trouble adding the hat pins so had to snip of some of the length of the pins;
- Added a key for Alice to open the door (did she need a key? not sure.);
- A pearly embellishment on the top.
This was a quick make and I’m sure if I’d spent more time thinking about it there would be lots of other things I could/should have added. Alice is such a good theme I think.
Bye for now,
Today there will be 2 bundles of give-aways. Each give-away will be different but of equal value.
These are open to AUSTRALIAN residents only (sorry :(). All you have to do to enter is to comment below using the words “This and that”. I would love you to subscribe to my blog but it isn’t necessary.
I HOPE THAT YOU WILL ENTER GIVE-AWAY #4. Go on – I would love for you to win.
GIVE-AWAYS – DAY # 4 will close on Wednesday 3rd October, 5 pm (Aust EST) so not much time to enter.
You can click on the photos to see them enlarged.
Here are today’s items –
A paper pad from Basic Grey (has some pages missing) “Two Scoops”.
This and that – includes some paper lace, cup cake liners, stickers, rub-ons, tiny stamps. etc.
A few sheets of A4 paper.
That’s all of the give-aways for now, but hope you will keep watching my blog.
WINNERS are grinners
Give-away #1 – no winners
Give-away #2 – 1 – Pam 2 – Rita. I mustn’t have shaken the entries too well – or just luck that No 1 and 2 were randomly chosen from the hat (box actually) ) I will contact you via email later today to get addresses to post the goodies to. Well done ladies. Sorry to those who didn’t win – perhaps you would like to enter the last 2 draws.
I will announce the winners on Wednesday evening for give-away #3 and #4.
Bye for now,
As some of you will know, I’ve been a participant in an ATC group at the Imagination Factory (see side bar for link) since September 2010. Today’s post shows you my final cards. September’s theme is cooking. Well she might not be cooking well but she has been cooking – what do you think she has burnt? I’m thinking it may have been lasagna.
The digital stamp is from Mo’s Digital Pencil and is called “imperfection”. Ahww poor thing I know exactly how she is feeling – I’ve had my fair share of cooking disasters. When I found this oh so cute image I knew exactly the sentiment I wanted to put with it. I produced it on the computer – “When all else fails — order Pizza” – YES!!
I coloured the image with Copics and also did a little paper piecing on her apron and oven mitts.
As it happens Mo’s DP2 have a challenge this week which is “Ribbons & Bows”, so I’m entering the competition over there.
Hope you have had a great weekend.
Bye for now,
Again today there will be 2 bundles of give-aways. Each give-away will be slightly different but of equal value.
These are open to everyone, world-wide. All you have to do to enter is to comment below using the words “The Endless Summers give-away yes please”. I would love you to subscribe to my blog but it isn’t necessary.
I HOPE THAT YOU WILL ENTER GIVE-AWAY #3. Go on – I would love for you to win.
GIVE-AWAYS – DAY # 3 will close on Monday 1st October, 5 pm (Aust EST).
You can click on the photos to see them enlarged.
Here are today’s items –
Firstly 50 or so coloured envelopes – 102 mm x 150 mm (is that approximately 4″ x 6″)
Some more lovely papers from DCWV this time “The Endless Summers”.
A little rectangular clear topped tin with some pink flowers and brown ribbons.
That is all for today but keep watching this week for more give-aways (not all will be international).
Bye for now,
29 years ago today I gave birth to my youngest. It was a very quick birth, which was lucky because like the rest of Australia I was very keen to watch the Australians win the America’s Cup yacht race. It was a very exciting day, not only did I have a new dear little baby but we were celebrating a momentous win.
From Wikipedia
The 1983 America’s Cup was the occasion of the first winning challenge to the New York Yacht Club, which had successfully defended the cup over a period of 132 years. An Australian syndicate representing the Royal Perth Yacht Club fielded the Australia II, skippered by John Bertrand against defender Liberty, skippered by Dennis Conner, won the match races to win the America’s Cup, ending the longest winning streak in sporting history and ending U.S. domination of the racing series.
Do you remember the PM of the day Bob Hawke calling for all bosses to give every Australian worker a day off in celebration (not for my son’s birth 😆 but the race win). Here is a photo of Bob Hawke and Allan Bond on the day.
Here is the card I have made for my ds. He is still a very keen “gamer”, I think on computer now, but close enough, hence the card.
The stamp is by Mo Manning “Game On”, the paper from is from October Afternoon “Sarsaparilla” and the sentiment is from PTI. I coloured it with Copics of course.
This is the sentiment I stamped inside. Don’t you love it – perfect for the image don’t you think. It is from the stamp set by AmyR Stamps “Best Birthday Wishes”.
Love the result and I think it even looks like my son a tiny bit.
Bye for now,
Cards & Co
Cards & Co 