Free Printable Christmas Gift Tags!

I was going to put these up for sale in my Etsy shop, but I decided to just offer them as a freebie!  I hope someone will be able to use these on their Christmas gifts! Download them for free HERE!

New Tall Printable Wrappers!

I have been working on designing a taller printable wrapper so that you'll have more freedom to cut the tops of the wrappers with decorative edged scissors...and here they are! My original printable wraps were much shorter, designed for a straight cut top. These NEW ones have much more height so you have a lot more room to cut them down with fancy scallops, zigzags, etc.  I'm so excited about them! I have a bunch of decorative scissors from ProvoCraft, but my favorite is the scalloped set.  That's what I used for these wrappers.

This last one almost didn't make it on this post---I was walking into the living room where I had my backdrop set up, and I forgot about the computer power cord I had been stepping over on trips between the kitchen and living room.  I tripped a big one and the cupcake almost met it's demise! I don't know how I managed to catch it!

All of the papers I used on these wrappers are digital papers that I designed! I'm now selling digital paper packs in my Etsy Shop and I'll be working on ones that I will post here as freebies! :) And...of course....here is a freebie sample of my NEW tall cupcake wrappers! I just love these--I hope you do, too!

Download your FREE printable cupcake wrapper here!

Everyone loves freebies! **REVISED**

I thought that it would be fun to do a free printable--so here ya go! **This is an UPDATED VERSION--I realized that I uploaded the wrong size the first time--so if you downloaded it before, you'll need to download this NEW version for the correct cupcake wrapper size.  Sorry! I hope that didn't mess anyone up too much. :) Thanks for being patient with me while I learn this new MediaFire thing! :)

These are a simple green and red polka dot Christmas wrapper--I'd like to start doing more free printables--I was thinking about doing Christmas gift tags, too! Let me know if anyone has any problems downloading the file--this is my first time trying this...so...you know how it goes. :) If you have any ideas of what kinds of printables you'd like to see, please leave me a comment! Enjoy!

Click HERE to download your FREE cupcake wrapper printable!

Wreath Making 101

My husband is from Oregon, so every year since we've been married we make Christmas wreaths with cedar and fir boughs from the trees on his parents' property. It's so much fun, and we really enjoy doing it. We usually make 3 or 4 wreaths and deck our whole place out with them. :) This year, however, we weren't able to go to Oregon during Thanksgiving, but I found a way to make them anyway! I was able to purchase a big ol' box of spruce boughs from the local nursery--they just cut them off of their trees for me. I'm sure any nursery would do that--just ask! I used some of our old ornaments for decorations, and I bought a few sparkly Christmas picks for a few dollars at the craft store. I also got my wreath ring and floral wire there. I made the bow with some ribbon I found in a box, but you can buy one just like it at the dollar store or Walmart. So total, I spent maybe...$15. If you've got a lot of bushy trees in your yard, you could even cut some boughs off those and do it for almost free!

If you'd like to try making a wreath of your own...you're in luck! I typed up some instructions for Enrichment Night--so here they are! If you have any questions, please email me or leave me a comment. I'd be more than happy to help you!

Materials:
Fir, cedar, spruce boughs (whatever is available—I like to do a mix of a couple types for variety)
Nippers
Gloves
Floral wire (I used 22 gauge)
Wreath ring
Ribbon for bow
Ornaments, floral picks, anything for decorating your wreath

Directions:
1. Wear gloves while working with the boughs.
2. Cut your boughs into about 12 inch lengths.
3. Anchor your wire to the wreath ring by twisting it around one bar a couple times, then wrap it around all the bars 4 or 5 times. Don’t cut the wire. I leave it attached to the spool the entire time. The spool serves as a great gripping device so you can pull the wire really tight.
4. Gather together 3-4 boughs at a time and arrange them in a bunch in your hand. Hold the boughs in your left hand with the full branches pointing left toward your elbow, and the ends of the stems pointing to the right. There should be about 3-4 inches of stem sticking out from your hand. This is where you’ll wrap the wire around the boughs to anchor them to the wreath ring.
5. Now you need to grab the wreath ring and add it to the boughs that are in your hand. You will still be holding the boughs with your left hand—just grab the wreath ring, too. Hold really tight. 6. Using your right hand, take the spool of wire and wrap it around the 3-4 inches of stem that is sticking out from your left hand. Wrap around them 5-6 times, pulling tight each time and holding the wire down with your left index finger so it doesn’t loosen. Don’t cut the wire. You will just pull it over tightly when you are ready for the next set of boughs.
7. Once you’ve wrapped it around 5-6 times, you can let go, set it down, and gather your next bundle of boughs.
You will be rotating the wreath ring counterclockwise during this process.
8. Repeat steps 4-7. Overlap the boughs so that the full branches cover the stems and wire of the previous bundle of boughs. Be sure to overlap them enough so that the wreath looks full.
Once you’ve worked your way completely around the wreath ring, you will need to end your wire. Just wrap the wire around itself in the back. (The floral wire will be vertical, so just wrap it around itself several times.)
9. You can also create a loop for hanging if you’d like by wrapping the wire around itself, then making a loop, then wrapping it around itself again to secure the loop. Be sure wrap it enough times so it doesn’t come loose. I usually don’t use a loop—I just hang the wreath by the wreath ring.
10. Cut the wire.
11. Now hold your wreath up and check for holes. If you see spots that need to be filled in, just anchor the wire in the spot that needs more, gather an adequate amount of boughs, work them in where they’re needed, then wrap your wire around the stems tightly as in steps 4-6. You will need to skip to step 10 to end the wire.
12. Once your wreath is full, you can trim it around the edges and in the center—any branches that are too long or stick out can be cut off to make it look neat.
13. Now you can decorate it. Use any ornaments, floral picks, or bows you’d like. To attach ornaments, I just get a long piece of floral wire, put the ornament in the center, twist it to secure it to the wire, then I place it where I want it and pull the wires around tightly and twist them together in the back.

Hang your wreath and enjoy!

A Handmade Christmas...

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, Christmas will be here before we know it! I was out hunting for a Christmas present for my little guy early this morning (my hubby stayed home with him so I could do the shoppin') and I thought...'I wonder what kind of handmade kids toys there are out there?' So I got onto Etsy and starting looking for kids gifts for ANY age. I found so many great ideas--and here are a few...

Oliver the Owl..kids love something soft to cuddle! Aren't those big eyes and fuzzy scarf adorable? What's great about this item is you can pick your color--I found him at NotSoSmallThings... Organic Skittle Bowling! How fun is this? And it's great because they'll help your child develop their motor skills...I found this fun game at littlesaplingtoys...

I remember being a kid and loving to bop a balloon around the living room...and it was always sad when it popped. :-( But this clever fabric balloon cover takes care of that problem! Makes balloons safer and funner to play with. I found this at SDKdesigns...All kids love coloring...sometimes on walls...but hopefully mostly on paper! I absolutely LOVE these Lego Minifigure Crayons--found at 123polkadotty...wouldn't these be cute as a stocking stuffer?

Wooden Toys make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside...I fell in love with this wooden train, found at asummerafternoon. What a beautiful toy!There are so many beautiful handmade toys for children on Etsy, and so many talented people that make them! If you've got a handmade toy you'd like to share, please leave me a comment with your link--I'd love to see it!

First Snow!

It snowed today! And boy, did it SNOW! It didn't stop all day. I had to do some errands, and my little boy did NOT like what he saw when we went outside. Sure, he enjoyed looking at the snowflakes falling when he was in the car...he also liked looking at all the trees covered in snow...but as soon as one of those white fluffy things hit his nose...he started to scream! I felt so bad for the little guy. We hurried real fast so we could get home and be all snuggly warm. :)

All the snow made me feel Christmas-y, so I bought a Christmas tablecloth while we were out! And I also made some more cupcake wrappers with snowflakes on them! I just love these ones:

I think purple is such a unique color for holiday items--it's out of the ordinary and really stands out amongst the crowd! They've also got a really neat tea-dyed look to them--I love the vintage/old style on EVERYTHING..so I was so excited when I found this paper. And aren't the polka dots adorable? Gives them just the right touch. :)

I've also been thinking a lot about decorating--I think this year I just might take all of my year round decor and box it up...and replace it all with everything Christmas! Sounds like quite a challenge, but I think I'm up for it!

Getting in the Holiday Spirit...

At our local craft store, they have a "Moonlight Madness Sale" just before Halloween...there's a lot of good deals and sales prices that you can only get if you go between 5 and 10 at night. It also happened to be on the same night as the Zombie Walk on Main street and the college was having their annual Halloween Concert which is always a huge hit.

So needless to say, it was quite the adventure trying to get to Porter's. Main Street was blocked off and there was a traffic jam on the other road because of people trying to find a parking spot on campus. And I only had 25 minutes total because my hubby, who was at home with baby, had a meeting a half hour away he had to be at for his church calling. Wow. The craziness of it all reminded me of how busy it can be during the holidays! I better start my Christmas shopping now! (Speaking of which, there is a link at the bottom of my sidebar for a couple of giveaways on other blogs, including a $25 gift Amazon gift card...check back for more...I'll keep adding them as I find them!)

But even though it was a bit hectic, I was able to find some SUPER awesome holiday papers for my cupcake wrappers! I'll be cutting those out soon....but for now, here are a few that I just did last week! I've only listed the Snowman ones so far, but I will be listing the other two today or tomorrow!

Snowman Party Christmas Cupcake Wrappers

Here are some cute Christmas ideas I found in blogland...if you're featured, please grab the button below to post on your blog or site, and share with your friends!

<a href="http://www.homeandholidaykeepsakes.blogspot.com"><img src="http://i800.photobucket.com/albums/yy282/homeandholiday/featurebutton2.jpg" alt="homeholidaykeepsakesblogbutton" width="150" height="150" /></a>

Elves Plaque

Christmas Clipboard