Santa Candy Bar Wrap Treat Holder

This year I am giving a Hershey Mr. Goodbar candy bar as a holiday treat. This is a thicker candy bar than the regular Hershey Chocolate candy bar. Here is a photo of some of the treat holders I made:

This holder was made measuring one of the candy bars and then I cut the red card stock large enough to cover this thicker candy bar. I did only one score on the side of the card stock - 1/2" inch. To form this holder I just put the card stock around the candy bar - leaving some room so you can easily remove the candy bar from the holder - and pressed the sides with my hand. Used tear and tape on the scored side to close the holder. Then I removed the candy bar from the holder and worked on that .... Wanted the holder to look like the front of Santa's coat so I cut a piece of white card stock 1 inch wide and the length of the red card stock. Used a 3/8" circle punch and punched out three circles from black glittered card stock for the buttons. Used a square punch for the gold piece and then a smaller square punch for the black square in the center of the gold square as a buckle:

While the candy bar was not in the holder I used a smaller circle punch and punched a circle 1/2" from the top of the front and the back in the center for the ribbon to go through. Used liquid glue at the bottom of the holder and dug out my old Fiskars crimper tool and crimped the bottom of the holder. Cut my ribbon long enough to go the length of the candy bar and be tied at the top so the recipient just pulls on the ribbon at the top to remove the candy bar from the holder. Easy treat holder to assemble. More of these are finished:

Pillow Box Treat Holders

Went through the stash and found an old Sizzix Pillow Box die so I used that for my treat holders. This year I am trying to use lots from the stash and as much card stock printed scraps that I can. Here is a photo of some of the pillow boxes I made:

Cut all the pillow boxes out of kraft card stock. Used various printed card stock scraps and I die cut a rectangle die out of the prints. Used liquid glue to assemble the pillow boxes. Used liquid glue for all the prints I die cut for the fronts of the boxes. Dug out some white paper doilies from the stash and put one on each box. For the poinsettias and the greenery I used Impression Obsession dies from the stash. The poinsettia is their small poinsettia die set:

Cut all the poinsettias out of scrap red card stock and used liquid glue to layer those. Set those aside to dry and cut out two greenery dies from scrap green card stocks:

Once the flowers and greenery were all cut out I put them in a box and used the gold Shimmer Mist from the stash and spritzed them with that for the gold specks on them - the photos do not show this well but IRL they are sparkly:

Once these all dried I used hot glue and added a gold crystal gem to the center of the flowers. Used liquid glue and added the doilies to the boxes. Then used liquid glue for the greenery pieces. To add the flowers and the sentiments I used hot glue. Once again the hot foil sentiments on the pillow boxes I had hot foiled earlier this year and I have all these foiled sentiments sorted into small boxes by foil colour. This way when I need a sentiment for my projects I look through the boxes to see what I can use. This is a time saver for sure -

Easy treat holders to put together and inside the boxes is some paper shred with a few chocolates for a treat. Happy to be able to use more of the card stock scraps and also happy to use products in the stash for this holiday treat holder!

Various Thanksgiving Projects

This post shows some of the items I had made for Thanksgiving but was not able to post them. I made them in October and so here they are:

These are the bag fronts I made. This is a photo to show some of the treat holders I had made:

Made a treat holder using a small kraft envelope and made a rosette for the front of that. Then I used the ScrapDivaDesigns Kiss holder die to hold Hershey kisses. Made a mini Post It Note holder. Also made a holder for Hershey nugget candies - spelled out Thankful or Grateful and I used a stamp set I picked up at Ollie's for a dollar for the letters:

Here is a photo of some of the nugget holders:

Fun Thanksgiving projects! Happy to add the Kisses die set to the stash as I am sure that die set will get lots of use - esp with Valentine's Day up and coming......

Lunch Bag Hot Cocoa Treat Holder

Used lunch bags from the Dollar Tree I had in my stash for this treat holder. The grocery store had the Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa packets on sale this week so I used them for this treat holder. I also used various card stocks from the stash for my bags. I had seen this treat holder made long ago using lunch bags on YouTube and there are a lot of crafters that have made them up and they are easy to assemble and decorate. Here is a photo of one of my lunch bag treat holders:

All these bags measure differently so when I was cutting my printed card stocks I did one bag at a time - I cut the full back piece, the front piece, and then the pocket piece. I put the printed card stocks onto the bags using liquid glue. To make the pocket using the bottom of the bag I used hot glue for that. I added a doily from the stash for the front of the bag. In the pockets I put some chocolates and a candy cane. Inside the bag are two packs of the Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa packs. I used various ribbons from the stash and tied that around the pocket and tied a bow. Used hot glue under the bow to keep it in place and tied. For the greeting on the bags:

The greeting I had hot foiled earlier this year when I hot foiled all my holiday greetings and sorted those for use on projects this year:

I keep the holiday sentiments in small boxes and I sort them by whatever colour foil they are. These sentiment strips have been used on my Christmas cards this year as well as on projects I am making for Christmas so a time saver for sure to have these already foiled, die cut, and sorted. 

I put the hot cocoa treat holders into zip lock bags I had in my stash and they are ready to go - here are more of these I made:

Here is a photo to show the card stock I put on the back of the lunch bag - all the bags have a different print - and this extra card stock makes the cheaper lunch bag more sturdy:

Easy project to put together and there are a lot of versions done of these on YouTube. Just do not expect perfection with using these lunch bags as they are not put together perfectly so they could be different sizes in your pack. 

Nugget Candy Carrier Treat Holder

Used the Candy Carrier die set from Divinity Designs to make the carrier for 6 Hershey Nuggets for my treat holders:

 The die set has the carrier pieces as well as a small tag die so you can make your carrier, wrap your chocolate nugget candies, and make a tag with only this one die set! Here is a photo of some of the carriers I made:

This die set has a die to cut all the wrappers for the nuggets but I just used my trimmer and cut all my wrappers from scrap card stocks from the stash. Here are photos of each of these carriers:

I used a "Merry Christmas" stamp from the Taylored Expressions stamp set "Itty Bitty Sentiments - Holiday" and I stamped this with red ink. Once dried I used the tag die in the die set and cut out the greeting and tied them onto the holders using red and white twine from the stash. Here is a photo to show these packaged:

Easy carrier to assemble and great use for scrap card stocks since it is not very big and the scraps were also used for my nugget wrappers. Fun project!

Holiday Gift Card Holders

For my gift card holders this year I decided to look through the stash and see what dies I had that I could use for the gift cards I needed to make. I decided to use the My Creative Time "Fancy Gift Card Holder Die" for the gift card holders. Then I wanted to have a tree on the front of this gift card holder and first I thought I would use scrap printed card stocks for that but then decided to use my holiday washi tapes instead. Looked through my holiday die sets and found a tree die that would fit on the front of the gift card holder so I would know how many rows of washi tape I would need to make a tree....

For the card stock for the gift card holders I decided on kraft card stock. Then for the washi tapes I decided to keep the gift cards more traditional for the holidays so red and green it was..... I cut a piece of cream card stock in half and this would be the base for the washi tapes. I stacked the rolls in the order I would put them onto the cream card stock and I put liquid glue onto the cream card stock covering about 2". Then I began laying down the washi tapes onto this base, adding glue as I added more rows of the washi tape. I laid the tree die on the rows so I would know how many rows I would need for the amount of trees I would need. I used mostly traditional washi tapes but at the bottom I used some thinner washi tapes I have in the stash that have gold on them. For those I stacked them on the bottom of the cream card stock base. Here is a photo after I glued and laid down all the washi tape rolls before I set it aside to dry:

For the traditional washi tapes at the top I used tapes that did not have a directional pattern so I could get as many trees cut out as I could by die cutting the tree right side up and then next to that one a tree that was cut upside down. Running the tapes through the die cutting machine to cut out the trees also pressed the tapes into the glue so I should not have any edges lifting. Here is a photo of one of the gift card holders done:

The gift card holder die set comes with a rectangle frame die for the front of the holder and I used cream card stock for my panel. Using scissors I cut out a trunk for my trees using scrap brown card stock. I used an old star punch to punch out a gold star for the top of the tree. I used liquid glue to assemble the tree, trunk, and star and to put this onto the cream panel on the holder. Here is a photo to show how the gift card sits inside this holder:

with a sample card inside:

Here is a photo of more of the gift card holders:

Wanted a small greeting at the top of the holder so I went through the holiday stamps and I used an older stamp set from MyFavoriteThings (MFT Stamps) and stamped the "Be Merry" onto cream card stock using red ink and then punched that out. Used liquid glue to put that on the top of the holder. Easy holder to put together and decorate using holiday washi tapes and a tree die. All that is needed is some bling for the front panel near the trees.....

Triangle Santa Cards

For these two cards I used the Triangle Santa die set from SimonSaysStamp. I also used their Triangle Tab die for the base to my Santa. If you are making tags or an ornament using these dies sets then you need to buy the Triangle Tab but for what I made with my Santa the tab would not be necessary as you can use a piece of scrap white card stock for your base and just cut it out using scissors. Santa is a three piece die set and easy to assemble - and another great use for scraps..... 

For the background to my cards I used a red card stock base cut and scored at the top. For my two card fronts I used white card stock. For both card fronts I used the Frosted Lace Cover cover plate from The Stamp Market. This first card I ran my white card stock and cover plate through the machine and then back again - this made all the snowflake pieces fall out of the die cut piece:

I put the die cut piece on a piece of white card stock using liquid glue. For the rectangle around Santa I used a rectangle frame piece for the stripes card stock and cut out a rectangle piece of white card stock to put that on using liquid glue. Then I cut a piece of white craft foam and put the rectangle piece on that for dimension for the card front. 

Cut out all the Santa pieces and sponged the edges of those and assembled him using liquid glue. Die cut his hat brim out of glittered white card stock. Put that hat brim piece on Santa using tear n tape. Hot glued a white pom pom to his hat. Used the small holly/berries die set from the Waffle Flower Snow Fun die set for the holly on his hat.  Went through the hot foiled sentiments I made last year and pulled out a "Merry Christmas" hot foiled sentiment in silver for the card front. Used pop dots behind that for dimension.

For this next card I again used the Frosted Lace Cover plate from The Stamp Market and again I used white card stock but this time I ran it through the machine just once so it would cut the design in the card stock but not cut out all the little pieces - here is that card:

Again I did everything on this card as I did on the first card and this card I used a "Merry & Bright" sentiment hot foiled with silver on a red card stock base. Here is a photo to show the difference of the two backgrounds next to each other:

Nice to be able to get different looks from using the same cover plate die..... and a better photo of Santa himself:

Snow Fun Card

Used the Waffle Flower Snow Fun die set for the snowman on this card:

Card base is light blue card stock. For the snowflake cover plate die for my background I used light blue card stock and cut out the Waffle Flower Snowflake Background (cover plate) die. I layered this onto a piece of white card stock and used liquid glue for those. 

Cut the snowman out of white card stock and used scrap orange, black, and brown card stock scraps for the rest. His hat is cut out of black mirror card stock. For the three snowflakes I used glittered card stock and three snowflake punches I have in my stash. I used an oval frame die set from the stash for the white oval frame piece. Used foam strips behind that for dimension. 

For the silver black greeting I had foiled Christmas greetings last year and I keep them in boxes by the colour so I went through the sentiments and decided on a black foiled piece to go with the black on the snowman's hat. Here are the boxes of sentiments: 

I sort them by the colour of foil I used. Here is a better photo of this sentiment on the card front:

The snowflake cover plate cut the blue card on the first pass through the die cutting machine with no problem and all the snowflake pieces came out with out problems. Always nice to use products that work well!

It is HERE!!

Two posts down explains the "Tale of a Sale" that my PIC (stamping Partner in Crime) and I sold at and shopped at at the Enchanted Cottage store in Lewisville, NC. After the sale I shopped their store and I also put in an order for the new Sizzix Big Shot machine that is new to the market...

Sizzix began making the Big Shot machines back in 2001 for paper crafting. I had bought an old black one used as my first die cutting machine and it lasted a long time and I got a lot of use out of it but once it stopped working I bought a new Sizzix Big Shot machine on sale and that is what I have been using for a couple of years..... but..... this newer machine I have had problems with the handle working itself loose and coming off in my hand so I had to keep the Allen Wrench that comes with that machine to attach the handle when it came out of the box nearby to be able to re-attach the handle as needed... In crafters videos I have seen other crafters having this problem as well.... 

Fast forward...... before the sale we sold things at at Enchanted Cottage I had seen the new redesigned Sizzix Big Shot machines in videos and watched to see all the new changes..... FELL in love with the machine so I decided if I made enough money from our sale that I would use my sale money to buy this new machine..... Here is the Big Shot I was replacing:

I ordered the machine from the store and they called to let me know it had arrived and I just went and picked it up this weekend. Here it is:

right out of the box:

Handle is stored under the machine if you need to store it to take the machine with you to a class or crops or for storage on a shelf:

Took the handle off the storage slot and popped it on the side of the machine and it clicked and is in place and NO Allen Wrench needed!! YAY  

The mechanics of this machine are the same from the original Big Shot so I am sure it will last me a very long time..... it is flat on the top so you can put your plates there while working if needed:

The platform plates with this machine have photos and instructions for use for thin dies, steel ruled dies, 2D and 3D embossing folders, regular embossing folders, and anything else you would need to use your die cutting machine for:

Love that this machine is the same 6" opening and it has a higher channel to keep your plates straight as you die cut or emboss so they will be evenly stacked while going through the machine for a better die cut or embossed piece:

A photo of the two machines together to show the size of the new machine VS the old machine:

With this machine is also an instruction booklet with instructions and photos and that is big and bulky since it is in 6 languages so I cut off the English part for easy storage on my die cutting table for a quick reference if needed:

I do not think I make any projects in my craft room without using my Big Shot for die cutting, or embossing, or hot foiling with my Spellbinders Glimmer Hot Foil machine so I am happy I was able to get this new and improved model!!  Looking forward to many years of projects ahead with this new machine!!

This new machine can be ordered just as the machine or they also offer a starter package of the machine with over 70 dies that come with it. I have many dies similar to the ones offered in the starter package so I just opted for the new machine...... Thanks to Enchanted Cottage for ordering it for me to pick it up!