What Does a Pineapple Have to Do with Anything?

Today is the first day of school here, and you all know I love to share my teacher gifts! A few weeks ago, I saw a really cute project by demonstrator Marisa Alvarez (Kitchen Table Stamper), and I thought it was just perfect for my first day of school teacher gifts. She had a set of tropical pencils, and had created a little holder with a pineapple tag for them. I did a little bit of looking, but couldn't find any pencils that were similar. I bought some Papermate Flair Pens instead - what teacher doesn't love to write with fun pens?!

 

You can find her measurements here. Even though my pens are probably a bit wider than pencils, and I had two instead of four, they still fit in the holder pretty well! I changed just a few things from the original design:

• I used retired True Love Designer Series Paper for my wrap around the holder.
• I used the Sweet Strawberry stamp set for my sentiment.

As I was finishing putting these together last night, I started to think perhaps it was a little strange to have the pineapple tag when the pens have nothing to do with pineapples. Neither does the sentiment. But. The pineapple was really cute. So I just went with it. And I love how they turned out!

 

Here is a full list of the supplies I used, and remember, you can follow Marisa's tutorial here.

Stamps: Sweet Strawberry

Ink: Memento Black

Paper: Crushed Curry, So Saffron, Garden Green, Flirty Flamingo, Basic White, True Love DSP (retired), Stampin' Blends Markers: Dark So Saffron

Embellishments: Metallic Pearls, White Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon

Tools: In the Tropics Dies, Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine

Adhesives: Tear & Tape, Stampin' Seal+, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Mini Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Happy Stamping!

Rachel 

Have a Wild Summer!

As promised, today I am sharing the gifts I made for the teachers at school to thank them for a good year. I used the Wild Cats stamp set and some clever masking to come up with the tags for these cute gift bags!

 

The template for this gift bag comes from Ronda Wade. It's a pretty easy design that can be used with any patterned paper! 

 

You'll need a piece of cardstock measuring 3 1/2" x 3 1/2". Score each side at 1/2". Cut up one score line on each side to create tabs, and then use a strong adhesive like Stampin' Seal+ or Tear & Tape on the tabs to create the bottom of the bag. It will look like the bottom of a small box.

 

Next, cut a piece of Designer Series paper 6" x 12". Put Stampin' Seal+ or Tear & Tape along one of the short sides and one of the long sides. The long side will wrap around the bottom of your cardstock "box". Go slow so that you don't get any "bubbles" in your paper. When you've wrapped the paper all the way around, there will be some left that overlaps. This is the short side that you already put adhesive on. Let it fall into place and press to hold the adhesive. 

 

Pinch the top sides of your bag together, and punch a circle with a circle punch in the size you'd like. I used a 3/4" Circle Punch. This is where you will tie your ribbon through.

 

Finally, design a tag for the front of your bag. These bags are perfect for any occasion - birthday, Christmas, a little appreciation gift... In these we put some chocolates and a Sonic gift card.

 

One more note about my stamping - I did use a retired alphabet set - Skinny Mini Alphabet - to spell 'SUMMER'. You could also use the Playful Alphabet Dies. I found that the die-cut letters were just a little bit too wide for my tag, and I needed something quick and easy because I was putting these together last minute! The sentiment in the stamp set says "Have a wild birthday". I masked off the "birthday" before inking the stamp. Same with the "you're the beast" - I masked off the thanks before inking (although it was appropriate in this instance, I liked how the sentiments flowed better without it). I used the Tailor Made Tags Dies to make a little tag for each teacher's name.

 

I hope you enjoyed this project! I just love the funny play on words, and the teachers loved these too! Here is a full list of supplies I used:

Stamps: Wild Cats, Skinny Mini Alphabet (retired)

Ink: Crushed Curry, Memento Black

Paper: Blushing Bride, Evening Evergreen, Basic White, Pattern Party DSP, In the Wild DSP

Embellishments: Blushing Bride Metallic Ribbon, Evening Evergreen Open Weave Ribbon

Tools: Hippo & Friends Dies, Tailor Made Tags Dies, Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine, 3/4" Circle Punch (retired)

Adhesives: Stampin' Seal+, Stampin' Dimensionals

Happy Stamping!

Rachel

Back to School: Hand Sanitizer Holder

It's the first day of school here today, and as always, I sent a fun little gift with my kids for all of the teachers and staff at their school. I used stamps and pieces from June's Paper Pumpkin kit to put together little hand sanitizer holders. This is why it's helpful to have a backlog of Paper Pumpkin kits - quick and easy projects right when you need them! Haha! I followed this tutorial from Erica Cerwin for the measurements of the holder, and then created a design inspired by the Paper Pumpkin kit.

Since I wanted to use the same sentiment on all of the holders, I die cut the shape from the Tasteful Labels dies because there weren't enough pre-cut pieces in the kit for all of them. It didn't have the gold edge that the one in the kit did, but it's the exact same shape!

The little hand sanitizers are from Bath & Body Works. I bought them online, and they came 5 to a package. Perfect for the theme of this kit! 

I did add a few extra supplies to the Paper Pumpkin kit to make these. Here is a full list:

Stamps: Box of Sunshine

Ink: Memento Black

Paper: Crushed Curry, Whisper White, Peony Garden DSP

Embellishments: Bumblebee In Color Ribbon

Tools: Tasteful Labels Dies

Adhesives: Stampin' Seal+, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots

Other: June 2020 Paper Pumpkin - Box of Sunshine Kit

Happy Stamping!

Rachel

Ornate Garden Sliding Gift Box

Hello, and happy teacher appreciation week! As a former teacher, I always have a lot of fun spoiling my kids' teachers for holidays like this one. This year, it looks a little bit different since the kids haven't been at school. I still wanted to do something to say thank you to their teachers, so I whipped up these fun sliding gift boxes and we dropped them off yesterday when we picked up their schoolwork.

Now when I say I "whipped them up", it was not really quick or easy. Creating my own 3D projects is a little out of my comfort zone. Usually I find a tutorial I can copy and then create my own design from the tutorial. This time I actually figured out the measurements myself, and only wasted a few pieces of paper! I will be sharing a tutorial I created for this box with my email subscribers on Thursday. If you aren't on my email list, you can join here.

If you're reading this farther down the road, just send me a message after you join my email list, and I'll forward the tutorial on to you. Hopefully this project inspires you to do a little something extra for the teachers in your life this week!

Stamps: Ornate Thanks
Paper: Whisper White, Terracotta Tile, Old Olive, Crumb Cake, Ornate Garden Specialty DSP 
Embellishments: Ornate Garden Ribbon Combo Pack, Gilded Gems
Tools: Versamark, White Embossing Powder, Heat Tools, Stitched Shapes Dies
Adhesives: Tear and Tape, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots

Happy Stamping!

Rachel 

Shop with me in May and earn a free mystery embellishment for every $35 you spend! You must use the host code GGTQGC3F when you order. You can contact me to place your order or shop here.

 

Back to School Dino Treats

I am sending two kiddos to school this year - 2nd grade and kindergarten - and of course I had to make some little gifts for the teachers.

The cakes are Little Debbie birthday cakes. Last year, they had some Back to School cakes, but I didn't see any, so we went with these since they had primary colors. It reminded me of school, anyway. I pulled from the colors of the sprinkles and used Pacific Point, Real Red, Call Me Clover, and Daffodil Delight as my color palette.

I put each treat in a 6 x 8" Cello Bag, folded it in half, and taped to hold it. Then I wrapped a band of 1 1/2 x 6" DSP from the Brights stack around the treat, and stapled it to hold it. When I've done treats like this before, other adhesives just don't hold up, but a good ol' staple will! I think the dinosaurs will put a smile on everyone's face, and that's a great way to start the school year!

Stamps: Dino Days
Ink: Call Me Clover, Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point, Real Red
Paper: Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point, Brights 6 x 6" DSP
Embellishments: Call Me Clover 1/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, 6 x 8" Cello Bags
Tools: Dino Dies, Die Cutting Machine, Starburst Punch, 2" Circle Punch
Adhesives: SNAIL, Stampin' Dimensionals, Glue Dots, Tape, Stapler

Happy Stamping!

Rachel

Baker's Box Treat

I have a few last Holiday Catalog projects to share with you. This one is from a few months ago - oops!

I colored the Baker's Box with Coastal Cabana ink. I first tried to spritz it, but I wasn't getting very good coverage. I ended up using a sponge dauber to finish adding and evening out the color. I think a sponge brayer would probably be the most efficient way to add color to the box. I've since added some to my craft room!


These boxes are food safe, and I added a large slice of cheesecake to mine. This was a birthday treat for Jenna's teacher. The Glittered Organdy Ribbon finished it off with a little sparkle. I love this ribbon!


Stamps: Stitched All Around
Ink: Coastal Cabana, Tuxedo Black
Paper: Whisper White
Accessories & Tools: Baker's Boxes, Sponge Daubers, 5/8" Black Glittered Organdy Ribbon, Stitched Labels Framelits, Big Shot, Rhinestones

Happy Stamping!

Rachel

Back to School Teacher Treats

Today I'm sharing the treat I made for the teachers at my daughter's school to celebrate the beginning of the school year. School has started, but it's never too late to give a teacher a little thank you gift! (And if I'm being real, these did not get delivered the first day of school. Or even the first week. Having a baby in the house is severely side-tracking my timeline for getting things done!)

To make the boxes, I followed a tutorial from Erica Cerwin for making a box of any size. The tutorial begins about 26 minutes into the video. Want to see what's inside?

I also got this idea from Erica Cerwin. She makes the cutest 3D projects, and always has the best treats! If you are looking for an everyday treat that's not back to school specific, the regular Little Debbie cakes are the same size and will fit perfectly in this box.


Here are the measurements for my box:
The base is 7 1/2 inches by 4 3/4 inches. On the long side, score at 1 1/4 inches and 6 1/4 inches. On the short side, score at 1 1/4 inches and 3 1/2 inches.
The top is 6 1/2 inches by 3 3/4 inches. On the long side, score at 3/4 inches and 5 3/4 inches. On the short side, score at 3/4 inches and 3 inches. For directions on assembly, see the link above for Erica Cerwin's tutorial.


A few tips for putting the box together - definitely use a strong adhesive! I used some of my retired Fast Fuse Adhesive, but the lids still kept popping apart. I finally reinforced them with Scotch tape on the inside. Tear and Tape Adhesive would be another option. Which brings me to my next tip - Erica always makes the lids of her boxes just slightly bigger than the bottom of the box, and then it's not such a tight fit. I forgot to do that on mine, and I think that contributed to the adhesive not sticking as well.


I thought the sentiment from Treehouse Adventure was perfect for the start of school - Let the Adventure Begin! I used retired ribbon on these, but the 3/8" Mini Ruffled Ribbon would be perfect here too.

Stamps: Treehouse Adventure
Ink: Call Me Clover
Paper: Crumb Cake, Call Me Clover, Whisper White, Animal Expedition DSP
Accessories & Tools: Starburst Punch, Layering Circles Framelits, Big Shot, 1/2" Finely Woven Ribbon (retired)

Happy Stamping!

Rachel

Cool Treats for Teacher Appreciation

I have a quick post for you this afternoon. As you probably know, it was Teacher Appreciation Week this week. I would have loved to do something for Jenna's teacher every day, but that just wasn't going to happen this year. So we did a fun gift today, and her teacher loved it!

I thought the Cool Treats stamp set and Frozen Treats Framelits would go perfectly with an ice cream gift. The card is just flat, and we wrote on the back. Ice cream toppings fit nicely in the 6 x 17 Gusseted Cello Bags, and I tied it all up with the Lemon Lime Twist Mini Striped Ribbon. Most of these products are retiring, so make sure to snatch them up before they disappear! This gift would also be great as an end of the year teacher gift, so if you missed out on Teacher Appreciation, keep that in mind.

Stamps: Cool Treats
Ink: Flirty Flamingo, Pool Party, Lemon Lime Twist, Crumb Cake
Paper: Flirty Flamingo, Whisper White
Accessories & Tools: Frozen Treats Framelits, Big Shot, Whisper White Baker's Twine, Silver Mini Sequin Trim, Lemon Lime Twist Mini Striped Ribbon, 6 x 17 Gusseted Cello Bags

Happy Stamping!

Rachel