Wrap it up Thursday - Making Flower Tags

These little tags are from a collection that Helana and Ali made, over the course of a few days, a couple of years ago.  They were quite proud of their handiwork and I must say that they were great to grab last minute to jazz up a simple gift.  They are made with a collection of circles punched from scrap paper.  This is a great project to do with kids ( say 10 to 12 years old) over the period of an hour or so and at the end of all that good, crafty fun you will hopefully be left with a handful of cute tags to boot.   

 

I can't really take credit of this technique -it is all the girls'.

Row 1 - It started with lots of different scrap papers, ribbons, buttons, solid card stock, tacky glue and a circle paper punch.  Row 1 picture 2 - The girls used a pencil to round the circles into petals.  You could use a premade tag but we custom cut ours from cardstock. Row 2 - they began to arrange the circles, starting with the outer petals and then overlapped the circles into the open spots, as they layered into the centre of the flower.  

The final layer has the circles overlapping in the centre leaving room for the button in the centre.  These flowers are made up of three layers of petals, four petals in each layer.

Add a ribbon and you are good to go.

Loads of tags at the ready and a fun hour or two of crafty goodness - what could be better?!

Wrap it up Thursday - Starting Fresh

 You've probably seen all the magazines at the grocery check out on organization, the commercials for detox and the flyers for gyms.  It's a new year and everyone wants to start fresh.  

I think it would be neat to start the new year with a signature wrap.  Gather all the supplies you need and you have a go-to look no matter what you are wrapping up.

I found this yellow combination from etsy shops and bakery supplies.  Inspire Lovely on etsy is about to open again after a new baby.  Look at the lovely choices of bakery twine.  The yellow fringe is from Bake it Pretty.  They also have novelty cupcake toppers that you can customize for other crafting you might like to do. Parcel and Paper on etsy has packaging supplies including this sweet lace doilie.  And ... finish it up with a cute yellow tag from LCBpaper on etsy.

I can only imagine that a special package, put together with these pieces, would be greatly appreciated.  I love the idea of a little signature butterfly and this blue reminds me of a fresh new year.  The Gilded Bee (butterflies,  ribbons, twine and pom pom fringe) also on etsy has an inspiring range of ribbons, millinery, toppings, twines ... you name it.  Inspire Lovely has great glassine bags (I can never find these) and cute little clothespins. 

Okay, I have to confess.  I love this idea, I dream of this idea but I hate to get rid of what I have and I find that I want to customize each gift I give- but hey a girl can aspire to a fresh new year ... Now I'm off to buy detox tea.

(I'm not kidding!)

Wrap it up Thursday - Nest of Yarn - Gift Topper

You may remember my tutorial on making felt flower rings.  Well I have been busy crafting a whole group of them to give to friends as gifts.  My friend Shelley appreciates thoughtful wrapping so I decided to get creative.

I found some gorgeous turquoise velvet ribbon and thick cream wool, on spools at Anthropologie.  I knew I wanted to use them for something special.

I took a circle of card stock and began adding a strand of cream and a strand of taupe yarn, anchored with a glue gun.  I build the nest up with circles of yarn, continuing to glue,  and finally added a few strands in the center for my eggs.  The eggs are from a collection including store bought and hand felted.  Once I added the eggs I finished up the nest by building up yarn around the eggs.

I took three of the felt rings that I thought Shelley would like and added them to some thick kraft paper to fit in the box.  I made an x-acto knife cut, to fit them into the paper.  I used that same paper to make a tag and added a grommet to finish off the tag.

 Okay ... one present finished.  I better get cracking :)