Rudolph Root Beer

I have one more fun, quick gift idea for you this week… Rudolph Root Beer!

This is another one where the kids can help! I printed the labels, and the kids helped me wrap and tape them (nothing fancy… we just used Scotch tape). Then hot glue googly eyes and a red pom nose (use a low-temp gun if kids are helping). Wrap pipe cleaner around the top and bend the ends back and forth to resemble antlers. To make the scarf, just cut a strip of felt, cut slits on both ends (for the scarf fringe), and tie it around your reindeer. A great, inexpensive, fun gift!

Rudolph Candy Bars

Here's another quick, fun gift to make for the holidays. This is a great one for kids to help with. My kids helped wrap the kraft card stock, and they punched all the noses and tags and did all the glueing by themselves (just make sure to use a low-temperature glue gun or some other adhesive if they help glue… don't use the high-temp glue guns). We formed an assembly line and watched a movie while we worked. It was fun activity for us to do together. Here are some steps to help with the process:

1. Measure your candy bar (we used Hershey's) and cut kraft card stock to fit around it. We just used Scotch tape on the back to keep the card stock in place.
2. Use a circle punch to punch noses out of red card stock.
3. Create a pattern for the antlers, trace as many as you need on brown card stock, and cut them out.
4. Use a low-temp glue gun (or other adhesive… I just like how fast the hot glue dries) to adhere noses, goggly eyes (available at craft stores), and antlers.
5. Use baker's twine (or other string or ribbon) to attach tag.
6. Give to friends, family, teachers, neighbors, the postman, and whoever else deserves one of these cute Rudolph candy bars!

Snowman Dipped Oreos

I first came across these Snowman Pops at The Idea Room (probably via Pinterest? but I don't remember for sure). My kids and I made them for the first time a couple of years ago. My kids gave them to their friends, and we took a cute bucket full of them to our Neighborhood Cookie Exchange (what our neighborhood does instead of neighbor gifts… it's awesome).

These are pretty straight forward to make, but here are some tips that helped me:

• Use Double Stuff Oreos because it's easier to get the stick in. I don't think it would work with the regular, skinny Oreos.
• Microwave a few cookies at a time for 5-10 seconds to get the stick in without the cookie breaking (my sister shared this tip with me after I had broken several Oreos and was ready to call it quits).
• Popsicle sticks worked better for me than sucker sticks.
• After you dip the Oreos in melted chocolate, hold them upside down over the bowl to let some run off so it doesn't puddle as much when you put it on the pan.
• Make sure to use wax paper on the pan because they'll come right off when you're ready to package them up.
• I colored a small amount of the white chocolate orange for the noses. I put it in a sandwich baggie and cut a tiny hole in the corner of the bag to pipe the noses on. (I use Wilton Candy Colors when I need to color chocolate.)
• If you can't find miniature chocolate chips (mine are Nestle brand), I think mini M&M's would be cute, too.
• Instead of ribbon, I decided to make little scarfs out of felt. Just cut a thin strip of felt, then cut slits at the end of each strip (for the scarf fringe), and tie it around your snowman!

We're going to make a batch of these this week for my kids to give to their friends. My son also wants to make some reindeer ones, so I'll let you know how that goes!

My Favorite Gift Wrap

I've started buying this brown mailing paper from Dollar Tree, and I love to use it as gift wrap. You can find the paper online here, but there's a Dollar Tree close to me, so I just buy it there.

Image from DollarTree.com.

The thing I love most about it is it's like having a blank canvas. I can leave it as is, or pretty it up a little like I did below with doilies and letter stickers. Baker's twine is my favorite thing to use to finish it off. I love Baker's twine and can't seem to get enough of it.

The brown paper is going to be fun for Christmas, too. I just ordered 3 new spools of Baker's twine in red, silver, and gold… can't wait!

LAST Day

Project Life | Big Red Car

There are three awesome new theme packs out at digitalprojectlife.com. Here's a page using the Boy Theme Pack.

Credits: Cards from Boy Theme Pack; Background paper from Honey Edition… both at digitalprojectlife.com

New Release: A Day in the Life + HUGE store closing sale

Today brings a kit release from me and some news. First, the kit... A Day in the Life. This kit was originally part of the Mixed Matters sale at ScrapMatters this month. If you missed it then, my kit is now available for purchase in my shop.

Second... I've been selling my designs at ScrapMatters for the past 4.5 years. Since I started, my family has grown from 5 to 7 people, and my kids just keep getting bigger and busier. It's come to a point where something's gotta give, and right now it's going to be my designing. I'm closing up shop on November 7, 2013, but until then you can save 60% off my entire shop. OR, you can buy my whole store for $50. 

(Note: The prices right now are only showing up at 40% off, but once the product is in your cart it changes to 60% off.)

Thanks to all of my blog readers, newsletter subscribers, and Facebook followers. Even though my shop is closing, I'm not going completely away. I will still be blogging and sharing my own projects and pages, and I'd love for you to stick around!