Teacher Appreciate Gifts 2021

Hello! It is Teacher Appreciate Week and boy do we appreciate our teachers! After months of virtual learning I am SO glad my kids are back at school in person! I put together these small gifts for my kids' teachers as a small way of saying thank you for all they do. 

I spied these adorable mini sparkling juice cans at Trader Joe's this week and the wheels immediately started spinning on how I could dress them up for gift giving. They came in a few different flavors; I bought the strawberry and watermelon ones. I had some small white gift bags already that fit the cans perfectly. They just needed tags!

For the strawberry cans I pulled out a retired Papertrey Ink stamp set called Strawberry Patch. I used the cans themselves as very literal inspiration for the tags. I began by die cutting an Essential Tag from Sweet Blush card stock. Then I cut several of the strawberries and leaves out of white card stock and stamped them in Real Red and New Leaf inks. The "For You Teacher" sentiment is from another retired Papertrey Ink set called Enclosed: Apple. I was delighted to find this "so appreciated" sentiment from one of my The Stamp Market sets called Summer Stems! I also stamped a few curly vine images, also from Strawberry Patch, directly on the tag peeking out from the strawberries and leaves. I tied the tag using some matching green satin ribbon.

For the watermelon tags I also cut an Essential Tag, this time from white card stock. I used the Fruit Salad: Watermelon die set from Papertrey Ink for this tag. SO fun! I used Berry Sorbet, New Leaf and white card stock. I die cut the watermelon a second time from True Black card stock and inlaid the seeds. After the tag was assembled I also went back over the seeds with glossy accents for some realistic shine. The sentiments were stamped in New Leaf, Berry Sorbet and Onyx Black inks. I used matching Berry Sorbet Saddle Stitch Ribbon to tie them on. 

I am so happy with how these turned out and they were delivered to the teachers today. I hope they enjoy them and thank you to all of the teachers out there!

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: Enclosed: Apple, Strawberry Patch (PTI), Summer Stems (The Stamp Market)

Paper: Berry Sorbet, New Leaf, True Black, Sweet Blush (PTI), Accent Opaque White

Ink: Berry Sorbet, New Leaf (PTI), Real Red (SU!), VersaFine Onyx Black

Dies: Fruit Salad: Watermelon, Strawberry Patch, Essential Tag die (PTI)

Other: Berry Sorbet Saddle Stitch Ribbon (PTI), Limeade Splash Satin Ribbon (Fun Stamper's Journey), glossy accents

Some Bunny Loves You

Easter is coming up quickly and as we'll have my niece and nephew with us this year I wanted to make small Easter baskets for each of them. Papertrey Ink's Berry Basket die was perfect for this! The blue basket was die cut from Spring Rain card stock and the pink basket was die cut from Sweet Blush card stock.

I made cute little tags to go on each basket by die cutting a Tag Sale #3 from Rustic White card stock. The background was stamped with the Nifty Plaid background in Spring Rain ink. The bunny, also cut from Spring Rain, is from Sugar Pea Designs Egg Cut Away Window die. I got the idea to add the carrot after seeing The Greetery's newest release with their Botanicuts Carrot die. I looked through my supplies and found a carrot from a retired Papertrey Ink set called Vegetable Garden. I was so happy that it was the perfect size to go with my bunny! I have to say it never occurred to me to use this carrot for an Easter card, so thank you to Betsy Veldman for that piece of inspiration!

I also included the little sentiment from another retired Papertrey set called Bunny Basket. It was so appropriate for this project! It is stamped on another Sugar Pea Designs die called Sentiment Strips. The bunny, carrot and sentiment are all popped up with foam tape.

I tied a bow of white satin ribbon onto the handle of the basket and then used thin jute button twine to tie the tag onto the bow. 

The basket die doesn't come with a handle so I made my own. I found the very old blog post where this die was introduced because I remembered that Nicole Heady had made a handle for her basket. I followed her instructions and it worked great. 

And here's the pink basket! It is done entirely the same way as the blue one, I just swapped out all the blue for pink. I did fill this basket with white paper shred while I used kraft shred for my nephew's basket. 

Pink bunny tag!

I'm really excited with how these turned out and can't wait to give them to my niece and nephew in a few weeks. I'll fill them with some fun goodies like bubbles and chalk and a *little* candy. :) 

Thanks for reading!

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: Bunny Basket, Vegetable Garden (PTI), Nifty Plaid (Ink to Paper)

Paper: Rustic White, Spring Rain, Sweet Blush, Kraft (PTI)

Ink: Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie (SU!), Sweet Blush, Terracotta Tile (PTI), Mossy (The Stamp Market)VersaFine Onyx Black

Dies: Vegetable Garden, Berry Basket, Tag Sale #3 (PTI), Egg Cut Away Window, Sentiment Strips (Sugar Pea Designs)

Other: buttons, button twine, white satin ribbon, foam tape, white and kraft shred

You've Been Boo'ed!

 

It's that time of year again, when little ghosts go around our neighborhood under the cover of darkness and leave anonymous treats for all the children. Does your neighborhood participate in the You've Been Boo'ed tradition? Ours does, and last night our house was Boo'ed! I'd seen the ghosts popping up on neighbors' doors, so I was ready with goodie bags when the time came. Of course I wanted to dress them up with some homemade tags, though, because that's what stampers do! :) 

I used the Booed stamp set (retired) from Neat & Tangled, which of course is just perfect. It was embossed in white and layered nicely on a Tag'd die from The Stamp Market. The spider web, embossed in silver, is from Papertrey Ink's Corner Adorner: August stamp set.  Some black and white baker's twine finished it off. I think it turned out super cute and loved how it looked on the treat bags. 

Thanks for reading!

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: Booed (Neat & Tangled), Corner Adorner: August (PTI)

Paper: True Black (PTI), Pumpkin Pie (SU!)

Ink: Versa Mark

Dies: Tag'd (The Stamp Market)

Other: white embossing powder, silver embossing powder, baker's twine

Paperwhite Neighbor Gifts

This Christmas we gave our neighbors gifts of blooming paperwhites. I thought that was a fun alternative to sweets that probably wouldn't get eaten, and live plants just bring so much beauty, especially in the winter. 

I found the bulbs for sale in glass vases at Trader Joe's. They weren't yet blooming when I bought them, but I picked plants that already had buds forming or that looked to soon bud, and hoped for the best by Christmas!

The gift tags I made for them are actually the Mat Stack #4 die from Papertrey Ink, but I punched a hole in the top to turn it into a tag.

The little house is stamped from PTI's Tinsel & Tag House Additions set. The large "Merry Christmas" sentiment is from Sentiment Staples: Christmas, as well as the smaller "From our home to yours".

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: Tinsel & Tag House Additions, Sentiment Staples: Christmas (PTI)

Ink: Pure Poppy (PTI), Mowed Lawn (Ranger Distress Oxide), Versa Fine Onyx Black

Die: Mat Stack #4 (PTI)

Other: Crop-a-dile, red satin ribbon

End of Year Teacher Gifts

 

These are the end of year gifts I made for the teachers who taught "specials" at my son's school, as well as the secretary, school nurses, and custodian. I found the popcorn buckets 3/$1 at Dollar Tree and I filled them with a bag of microwavable popcorn, a mini can of Coke, and a coupon code for a movie rental at Red Box. I thought the idea of having a movie themed gift to celebrate the end of the year would be fun and different!

I wrapped them up in clear cellophane to keep everything together and made tags to dress them up. The schoolhouse image is from Petite Places: School, the "thanks" is from Ways to Say: Thanks, and "for everything" was from Enclosed: Apple.

And this is the gift I gave my son's classroom teacher. I wanted to do a bit more for her as she is with him day in and day out, and as his mom I know that is a lot of work! Ha! This larger popcorn bucket is also from Dollar Tree, and this time it was filled with an assortment of movie theater candy (more Dollar Tree finds), three bags of microwavable popcorn, a bottle of Coke, the card I shared yesterday, and Red Box codes for three movie rentals.

This tag is very similar to the others, with the same school house image. This time I used a larger tag to accommodate the larger sentiment and also used a scallop border punch on the bottom.

I was very happy with how they turned out and hope his teachers all enjoyed their gifts and enjoy their summer break!


SUPPLIES:

Thanks for Everything Tag
Stamps: Petite Places: School, Ways to Say: Thank You, Enclosed: Apple
Paper: Stamper's Select White
Ink: Real Red (SU!), Bright Buttercup, Weathervane (PTI), Versa Fine Onyx Black
Dies: Traditional Tag STAX die namics
Other: red stitched ribbon, hemp twine, crop-a-dile

For a Special Teacher Tag
Stamps: Petite Places: School, Great Teachers (PTI)
Paper: Stamper's Select White (PTI)
Ink: Real Red (SU!), Bright Buttercup (PTI), Versa Fine Onyx Black
Dies: Traditional Tags STAX Die Namics (MFT)
Other: Scallop Border Punch (SU!), crop-a-dile, red stitched ribbon, hemp twine

Happy Thanksgiving Tag

With Thanksgiving this week I wanted to let my son's teacher and bus driver know how thankful we are for them. I gave each of them gifts of homemade pumpkin spice soap, dressed up with some pretty packaging.

The soap is in a glassine bag, tied closed with ribbon and a tag. The pumpkin and the double ended banner die are both popped up, while the leaf and tendril are stamped directly on the tag. A small bit of Orange Zest pattern paper helps the tag stand out and ground the pumpkin.

Happy Thanksgiving!


Supplies
Stamps: Autumn Pumpkins, Keep it Simple: Thanksgiving (PTI)
Ink: Orange Zest, Ripe Avocado, Dark Chocolate (PTI)
Dies: Autumn Pumpkins, Double Ended Banner, Tag Sale #5 (PTI)
Paper: Rustic Cream, Orange Zest pattern Pack (PTI)
Other: green satin ribbon, twine, glassine bag

We've Been Boo'ed!

A few nights ago as we were getting the boys ready for bed our doorbell rang. We'd been boo'ed! A bucket of fun Halloween treats had been left on our door step! Here are the bags I put together to bless two other families in our neighborhood to carry on the Halloween fun. The bags are filled with small Halloween trinkets like pencils, stickers, glow sticks, pumpkin carving kit, etc.

I started with a regular brown lunch bag that I stamped all over with spiders using an old favorite set, Inkadinkado's Creepy Crawly.

For the topper I layered on the die cuts! The bottom black layer is the largest of the Nestabilities Labels 1 dies, folded over and tied with orange ribbon to secure the bag. Next I cut the largest of the Spider Web Trio dies from silver card stock. The white tag is Papertrey Ink's Tag Sale #3 die. The web and spider are both from Creepy Crawly. I simply used a ruler and thin black Sharpie to draw the thread from the web to the spider. The small sentiment at the bottom is an old Stampin' Up! set called Teeny Tiny Wishes. The orange tag is cut with My Favorite Things Traditional Tags STAX Die-namics. I used Papertrey Ink's Penned Elegance Alphabet set to stamp the word "Boo". I notched the end of the tag with scissors. The web and two tag dies were attached to the ribbon with orange and white baker's twine. I hope the families that received these bags stuffed with goodies will enjoy them!

Neither of our direct neighbors on either side have kids but I didn't want them to be left out of the fun. My youngest son and I made a double batch of pumpkin bread, then dressed up the loaves with pretty ribbon and tags for a more adult treat.

I used the same orange "Boo" tags and also included a kraft tag letting the recipients know what kind of treat they had received. The loaves were wrapped in cling wrap and then wax paper to keep them fresh, then tied with black satin ribbon and the tags.

Our family had fun going out on our "Boo Missions" under the cover of darkness to deliver these treats to our neighbors!

Happy Halloween!


Supplies:
Stamps: Creepy Crawly (Inkadinkado), Penned Elegance Alphabet (Papertrey Ink), Typewriter Alphabet (My Favorite Things), Teeny Tiny Wishes (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Only Orange (Stampin' Up!), Kraft, Stamper's Select White (Papertrey Ink), silver
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Only Orange (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Spider Web Trio, Tag Sale #3 (Papertrey Ink), Labels 1 (Nestabilities), Traditional Tags STAX die-namics (My Favorite Things)
Other: orange and white baker's twine, 1/2" black satin ribbon, 1/4" orange satin ribbon

Daffodil Easter Tag

Today I have a little project to share, an Easter tag! The daffodils have been blooming like crazy around here the last few weeks and so I was inspired to use this image from Papertrey Ink's set Year of Flowers: Collection. It always makes me so happy when the daffodils and crocuses start to bloom because it means spring is finally here!

I die cut a tag from watercolor paper and stamped the daffodil image in Versa Mark ink. It was then embossed in white. Using an aqua painter brush and Daffodil Delight ink, I went back over and filled in the image, concentrating the color in the center of the bloom. I layered a second tag behind to add more color. The sentiment strip is cut from Kiwi Kiss cardstock and also embossed in white. The tissue paper is tied with white cotton string but I used yellow and white baker's twine to tie on the tag.

Thanks for stopping by!




SUPPLIES
Stamps: Year of Flowers: Collection (PTI), Teeny Tiny Wishes (SU!)
Paper: Daffodil Delight, Kiwi Kiss (SU!), watercolor paper
Ink: Daffodil Delight (SU!), Versa Mark
Tools: Tag Sale #5 die (PTI)
Other: white embossing powder, baker's twine

Halloween Spider Tags

I'm sneaking in one more Halloween project for you. Gift tags are one of my favorite things to make so I couldn't help but make a few for Halloween. These would be cute on treat bags for little ghouls and goblins. :)

I die cut the tag shape with Papertrey Ink's Tag Sale #3 die and then stamped the spider and web images. I used a fine point sharpie and a ruler to draw the thread the spider is dangling from. A simple sentiment and some orange and white baker's twine finished them off!


 

SUPPLIES
Stamps: Creepy Crawly (Inkadinkado), Teeny Tiny Wishes (SU!)
Paper: Stamper's Select White (PTI)
Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine), Tangerine Tango (SU!)
Tools: Tag Sale#3 die (PTI), black fine point Sharpie
Embellishments: Clementine Baker's Twine (Maya Road)

Reindeer Christmas Gift Tags

Hello! Today I have a few more Christmas gift tag designs to share with you. For these I pulled out an old Stampin' Up! set that I love called Winter Post. I simply stamped the "To: / From:" and the reindeer in Cherry Cobbler ink on a Tag Sale #2 die cut and then strung them with red and white baker's twine. Simple but I love how they turned out.  

I also made a set in kraft. Which set do you like better? Happy crafting!


 

SUPPLIES
Stamps: Winter Post (SU!)
Paper: Rustic White, Kraft (PTI)
Ink: Cherry Cobbler (SU!)
Tools: Tag Sale #2 die (PTI)
Embellishments: baker's twine

Fill 'er up!

Happy Monday! I've busily been getting ready for my two upcoming holiday craft fairs, trying to make sure I have enough inventory. I don't want to be that sad little table in the corner with only a few items. Ha!

As previously mentioned, I love making gift tags, so that is what has been coming out of the craft room recently. These tags use an older Stampin' Up! set called Eventful. This cheeky little phrase just cracks me up! The stocking and sentiment are embossed in white for a crisp look against the red and green card stock.

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas around here!



SUPPLIES
Stamps: Eventful (SU!)
Paper: Real Red, Wild Wasabi (SU!)
Ink: Versa Mark
Tools: Fillable Frames #9 die (PTI)
Embellishments: white embossing powder, baker's twine

Papertrey October Blog Hop Challenge

Hello! After a bit of a blogging break I am happy to say I am back! To get back in the swing of things I thought I would participate in Papertrey Ink's monthly blog hop. This month's challenge was to create a set of five gift tags.

I love making gift tags, especially this time of year. Dressing up gifts in pretty packaging makes them feel extra special. As a paper crafter it seems almost remiss not to make my own tags! :)



I chose to use one of my favorite PTI sets, Wreath For All Seasons. The wreath and sentiment were stamped on a Tag Sale #2 die cut from Rustic White card stock .

I made a set of eight and strung them with red satin ribbon.

I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else creates today!

SUPPLIES
Stamps: Wreath for All Seasons (PTI)
Ink: Garden Green, Riding Hood red (SU!)
Paper: Rustic White (PTI)
Tools: Tag Sale #2
Embellishments: red satin ribbon

Sending You Thanks

I've been making gift tags again. I do love me some pretty gift wrap!  While working on another project I made the serendipitous discovery that this lovely "thanks" image fits perfectly on a Mat Stack 5 die cut!

I chose to again use Smokey Shadow card stock with white embossing, like I did on these bicycle tags.  The typography and flourishes in this image reminded me of the chalkboard art that is so popular right now, and this color combo really lends itself to that look.

I made one set for myself and another is listed in my shop. I think they look great on gifts. Or. . .

. . . tied to a bottle of wine. Whatever little thank you gift you may have, these would make a pretty presentation for it!


SUPPLIES
Stamps: A Big Thank You (PTI)
Paper: Smokey Shadow (PTI)
Ink: Versa Mark
Embellishments: white satin ribbon, white embossing powder
Tools: Mat Stack 5 die (PTI), Crop-a-dile