On the 9th day of Christmas…

I wanted to make a quick and easy item for my son’s teacher to have on her desk but I wanted to think outside of the box.   So I decided to recover a box of Kleenex and make it fun and colourful for his Kindergarten class to enjoy for the month of December.

I started off by covering each face of the box with some fun patterned paper from Basic Grey.  I then covered the top edges of the box using some soft green coloured ribbon.

On one of the long sides I wanted to create a little snowy scene with Santa and his sleigh…

For each of these images, I stamped the Santa from the Ho Ho Ho stamp set on multiple pieces of patterned paper.  I cut out each piece to his suit out of the red paper and added it to the creamy white paper.  I added some pink Copic to cheeks to “merry” him up a little!  A tough of glitter didn’t hurt either…

The back ground of snow was creating using the mini snowflake stamps from the Tree for all Seasons stamp set.

To create Santa’s sleigh, I used the same paper piecing technique as my Santa and layered my patterned paper pieces until I got my desired image built.  This cute sleigh image is from the Ho Ho Ho set as well!

On the smaller end of the box, I paper pierced a little snowman from our Merry Mr. Snowman stamp set.  His cute little candy cane is also from this set.  I added a little Copic “rouge” to this little fella too!

For the second long side, I wanted to make the side a simple greeting side so I used the “happy” stamp from the Lots of Dots Sentiments set to start and then I stamped the word “holidays” using our Royal Flush alphabet set.  I coloured the insides of the letters with my Copic markers to make them a little more festive!  I also added some cute little trees from our O Christmas Tree! set to build a little landscape of sorts.  The double wavy line image is a fun stamp from the Christmas Garlands set.

For my final small end, I stamped a reindeer fellow from our Ho Ho Ho set for Santa.  I coloured his nose and collar red to add touch of colour.

And finally for the top of the Kleenex box, I wanted to ensure that the kids were still able to pull out the tissues so I kept it simple.

I built a simple die cut layered poinsettia and added some stamped leaves from the Floating Leaves set.

I also added a die cut red snowflake with a little tag and message from the Santa’s Tags stamp set.

Overall I just adore how this came out and I just know the kids in my son’s class are going to enjoy all the whimsical critters each side has to offer!  It may be just a Kleenex box but there’s nothing to say that it can’t be something fun to look at!

So take some holiday inspiration and infuse it in your everyday!  Take something from your desk or counter and alter it to be something festive… even if it’s just a temporary decoration.

Happy Stamping!

So my challenge for you today is to create a card, any theme will do, that has some kind of moving parts on it.

To show you my interactive card, I have created a simple “slider card”.  Here’s the supplies you’ll need for my card:

• myStamp BOX “Ho Ho Ho” stamp set
• green cardstock; 4 1/4 x 5 3/8
• striped paper; 3 x 5
• scalloped rectangle; approx. 4 1/4 x 2
• plain rectangle; 4 x 1 3/4
• black ink
• Liquid Applique
• gold glitter or Stickle
• foam adhesive
• 2 pennies
• something to colour in your image; ie: Copics, markers, ect.

Here’s how I made my slider card:

1. Stamp, colour and cut out your Santa shape from the “Ho Ho Ho” stamp set.

2. Add Liquid Appliqué to Santa’s beard and mustache. Let dry & apply heat to get the 3D effect of a snowy beard.

3. Punch a 3/4 inch window about 3 inches long down the length of your scalloped rectangle die cut.  Trace the window shape onto your plain rectangle for your greeting to go.

4.  Using the pencil guidelines, stamp the “HoHoHo” greeting on the plain white cardstock.  Erase your guidelines.

5. Ink edges of your green cardstock and striped patterned paper using black ink.

6. Adhere your green cardstock and striped patterned paper to your card base.

7. Adhere your stamped greeting to the center of your card base over your striped paper.

8. Add one penny to the back of your Santa using a large glue dot.

9. Cut your square of foam adhesive into a circle. Add to the center of the penny on Santa’s back. Leave the adhesive backing on.

10. Flip over your scalloped rectangle with the window and then slip your Santa underneath and have the foam adhesive on Santa’s back appear in the hole of the scalloped rectangle. Add the penny to the foam adhesive on Santa’s back.

11. Apply lines of foam adhesive to the back of the scalloped rectangle down the entire length of the rectangle.

12. Remove adhesive backing and add the scalloped rectangle over top of the HoHoHo greeting; make sure you can see your stamped greeting through the hole.

13. Add a piece of mini black bling to Santa’s button and apply gold Stickles to his belt buckle.

Voila!!!

Now you have a cute little Santa that cartwheels across your card!

I hope that you will join me in my challenge this week!  Thanks!

~ Allison ~

I find that with so many people to shop for at Christmas, I am always trying to think of original, but inexpensive gifts. I first tried this Candle idea a few years ago, but with so many fun my Stamp BOX stamp sets out there, I decided that this year all of the candles I hand out, will feature the Hohoho stamp set.

Supplies you will need:

A basic white pillar candle, Stamps… I used my Stamp BOX HoHoHo set, embossing powders, white tissue paper, versamark pad, heat tool and any extra decorational items you like to add: I used pom pom ribbon & a tag

This looks like a complicated project, but it is so easy, and I will guide you through it with step by step instructions.

#1 Cut tissue paper to fit around the candle (minus the top and bottom of the candle). You will want a little extra length, so that the ends will overlap.

#2 Because I only wanted one Santa Claus, and it is in a different embossing colour than the words, I dipped the santa stamp into the versamark pad and then onto the tissue paper, sprinkled black embossing powder over the image, and then set using the heat tool.

#3 Repeat as in #2, but with the hohoho stamp, and green embossing powder

#4 Once you have all of the desired images & words on the tissue paper, you wrap the paper around the candle, and use your heat tool to set the paper into the candle, so that You cant see the tissue paper, but it looks as though you stamped directly onto the candle.

You will want to work fast on this step, so that you don’t melt the candle any more than is necessary.

I start at the end of one side of tissue paper, and secure it in place, and then work my way around the candle, until I reach the other end of tissue paper. (Be careful, as it is easy to burn fingers at this step).

#5 Embellish candle as desired. You could use gems, rubons, stickers, bling, brads, etc.

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Today I thought I would share a fun project showing you how to make some cute little back packs.  I found a fabulous template by Mary Armia on Splitcoaststampers to use as the base for this project.  You can find a link directly to the template on my blog.

Here’s the simple steps to create a cute little back pack creation of your very own:

Print and cut out the template pieces using regular paper.

Trace each template shape onto the patterned papers or cardstock of your choice.  I chose a white cardstock for my back pack bases which allowed me to stamp images all over my cardstock.

For my first back pack I grabbed my “Wishing You Sunshine” stamp set and went to town stamping all over my pieces of cardstock.

Once I had stamped and coloured all my images in, I scored and folded my cardstock according to the details on each template piece.  I add my eyelets and threaded my ribbon straps and the adhered all of my pieces together to create my mini back pack.

Here’s my end result….

And here’s a photo of the back of my creation….

I thought one of these little back packs would make a great gift for a sick friend.  So I bought a fuzzy little teddy bear, added some goodies to my back pack with a small get well soon card in the front pocket…

A simple but cute present for an ill friend!

Since Christmas is just around the corner, I thought a Christmas themed back pack was in order as well!

So I grabbed my “Hohoho” stamp set and made a second little back pack with a few modifications.  Here’s my final creation….

Instead of putting on a front pocket, I left it off and put a fun Santa Claus stamped image on an oval.  The flap from the top tucks under the raised oval to hold the flap closed on the top.  I can totally picture creating these as a fun way to send a friend a gift card!

I hope you have enjoyed my project today!  Have a great Tuesday!

~ Allison ~