After so many many projects spent focusing on Christmas, it's really weird to think about these being some of the last Christmas projects I'll make this year. How did Christmas come so quickly? I mean, in some ways I feel like Covid has given us the opportunity to look forward to Christmas for a very long time. Focusing on some positive things seems like the right thing. In other ways, I feel like...wait, what? Christmas canNOT be next week!
Anyway, this is the perfect time to think about gift packaging. I have wrapped some gifts but have plenty left to wrap yet. I love how quick and easy Rhonda Wade's gift box is to put together, and I even love the fact that when I make them, it uses quite a bit of Designer Series Paper that I've been hoarding. (Making room for the new DSP, you know.) It showcases the DSP in the perfect way. Here is Rhonda's video tutorial from this year: https://youtu.be/ZV42knS0H8Y. Her original gift box video was posted two years ago, and this is this year's version.
On Tuesday night during my Take It Up a Notch Tuesday Facebook Live, I made this one on camera:
The bag is put together with two sheets of identical Designer Series Paper. Each piece is scored 3" from three of the sides, and 1" from the top edge, that when folded down adds a contrast border around the top of the bag. If that other side of the DSP is directional, make sure it will be right side up when flipping that 1" edge down before making your scoring lines.
I love a lot of things about this gift bag, but check out the envelope attached to the front. This is the perfect spot to slip your card so that the card doesn't get detached from its gift bag. This is great for Christmas, but I was also thinking about how perfect this is for gift table at a wedding! That card is sure to stick with its gift. The card I stuck inside this envelope for this particular bag is just perfect. I made this during a Take It Up a Notch Tuesday, also.
This "w-fold" card could be a blog post in itself, but the quick overview for the mechanism is that I cut the card stock 1" x 11", then scored it at 2 3/4", 5 1/2", and 8 1/4". Accordion fold it to look like a w, and adhere only the two ends to the inside of the card. Have the 5 1/2" score line pop out towards you.
So after making this cute bag for the first time, I thought how cute it would be in miniature. :) So I took two pieces of 6" x 6" Designer Series Paper and cut the score lines in half. Instead of 3" from three sides, these score lines are 1 1/2" from three sides. Instead of scoring the top at 1", I scored it at 1/2".
Aren't they just the sweetest pair?
Probably my very last Christmas card made on camera, this one below has a lot of little details. Can you believe the little tree is made out of a half circle?
Yep, the tree started as a half of the largest circle die in the Layering Circles dies. the progression of the folds to get that tree is shown below. First do this:
Then flip the whole thing over and do this:
And finally bring that top piece back over the rest to complete the tree:
Note that in the finished card sample, because of how skinny I made my first fold, I have an extra fold on top. Either way, this tree is adorable. See the entire list of supplies for this card and links to my online store at the bottom of this blog post.
As you can see, there are a lot of fun things happening over on Facebook. I do 2-3 Live demonstrations over there every week. Join us on Facebook by using this link to find me quickly. Click on "More" and "Videos" to find all the fun projects I've done on Facebook Live.