A Quick And Easy Graduation Gift!

May

Good morning, Pebbles friends! It’s Wendy Sue here with you today – sharing a project I created for my daughter, who will be graduating from high school in just a few short days and then will be heading off to the college of her dreams only a few weeks after that. To say I am having mixed emotions about the upcoming events is an understatement. On one hand I keep wondering how my sweet baby girl (who it seriously feels was just sitting on my lap with her long brown curls and her American Girl doll and books only a few days ago) is ready to pack up her favorite clothes, books, and mementos and move out into the big big world to live on her own. And on the other hand, I marvel as I watch a beautiful young woman, who is smart, confident, and more prepared than I could ever hope, as she prepares to move on to the next phase of her life and chase after her dreams.

I knew, as soon as I opened my package with the Cottage Living” collection, that it would be perfect for a few projects for Meagan – the gold foil is one of her favorites, and the designs are perfect for her! She doesn’t like a lot of frills and fluff, but I wanted to make her a little something to hang in her dorm room – so this is what I came up with:

I pulled out the photo garland kit from the Happy Day collection, which makes everything super quick and simple.

I filled each of the photo openings with either a photo, or something beautiful from the Cottage Living collection – a quote from the sheet of 3×4 cards (which fit perfectly in the photo openings) or a beautiful piece of foiled, patterned paper so Meagan can add a photo of her choice (or not – because the paper alone is absolutely gorgeous!)

Since the kit comes complete with the twine and clips, she can adjust the length as she needs to (I don’t know how much space she will have to hang it in her room).

I’m excited to see how she’ll display it!

Of course, I couldn’t give a gift without creating some fun packaging for it as well. I pulled out the handy, dandy Gift box punch board and created the largest box possible with a 12×12 sheet of patterned paper. The finished box is 4x4x4 and it’s perfect to hold this little gift.

The gold tipped tags, along with a sticker and beautiful premade flower made the perfect accent for the gift box.

The jumbo gold clip made adding the tag to the box super easy – and now she can reuse the tag and box if she wants to, because there’s no tape and no adhesive residue.

This was a super quick project, but one that I hope will be meaningful to her. I want her to look at the words on these cards each day – aren’t those words powerful? And maybe, just maybe, she’ll think of home when she looks at it as well!

Supplies:
Cottage Living Let’s Visit Patterned Paper
Cottage Living Sweet Greetings Patterned Paper
Cottage Living Gold Tipped Tags
Cottage Living Paper Flowers
Cottage Living Jumbo Paperclips
Cottage Living Puffy Stickers
Happy Day Photo Garland Kit
Gift Box Punch Board

Paper Gem Gift Card Holders

Dec

3 Comments

Hello! It’s Renee and I’m back with some simple handmade gifts for my girls’ teachers using the Home for Christmas collection. I made Christmas cards for their specials (art, gym, music, etc.) teachers and this time I’d like to share a tutorial on how I made paper gems to hold their teachers gift cards. These paper gems are a unique way to present a gift and thanks to the Triangle Score Guide (with super easy to follow instruction booklet) by We R Memory Keepers they were simple and fun to make.

Supplies you’ll need to make these paper gems:
Triangle Score Guide
scoring board (the Triangle Score Guide works with the Martha Stewart Scoring Board)
12″ x 12″ sheets of pattern paper
pencil
scissors
adhesive

1. I followed the instructions to make a Decahedron (which looks like a 3-D pentagon). I scored the 12″ x 12″ pattern paper, Peppermint Swirl, every 3 inches. I added a tiny fold at the bottom left corner to keep track of how I will rotate my paper.

2. I rotated my paper 60 degrees counter clock wise and placed it into the Triangle Score Guide, which was placed with Side A facing up. Because I was using the Martha Stewart Scoring Board, I switched the measurements to start scoring at the 4 inch line and then scored the rest of the paper every 3 inches.

3. I rotated my paper 120 degrees clock wise and placed it into the Triangle Score Guide, which was placed with Side B facing up. I switched the measurements to start scoring at the 8 inch line and then scored the rest of the paper every 3 inches.

Here’s a close-up photo of the triangle pattern I had on the majority of the 12″ x 12″ pattern paper after all the scoring was done.

4. I flipped the paper over and followed the Decahedron Template (in the instruction booklet) to pencil in my lines. Then, I cut out my shape. I used my scissors to cut on all the pencil lines. DO NOT let this part intimidate you when you first look at the template. If I can do it…you can do it.

5. I folded my paper on all the scored lines. Then, I flipped the paper over…

…and added adhesive to the tabs. I folded the paper into the shape with the tabs on the inside and pressed the tabs firmly. You can see how cool the shape is looking here. But, wait! I had to add the fun and exciting part to it (or in it) before I closed it up.

When the teachers open up their paper gems, I want it to be a fun surprise for them than just the gift card inside. So, I added some snow, red glitter (in just this one), and sequins. You could also add some tiny jingle bells inside and it will sound so pretty (and fun) when it’s shaken.

Look how cute! I just love it! The gift card fits perfectly inside!

Here’s the finished geometric shape all closed up and ready for a bit of decorations.

I love this Decahedron! Adorable.

This Paper Gem Gift Card Holder is ready for Caitie’s teacher to open. I added a poinsettia sticker, a gingerbread girl die-cut shape with candy cane dot buttons, and a cool label sticker with her name on it.

This Paper Gem Gift Card Holder is ready for Payton’s teacher. I followed the instructions and template to make a Icosahedron shape using the Snow Flurries pattern paper. I added a pair of mittens sticker, a tree die-cut shape, and an outdoor winter themed label sticker with his name on it.

Happy Holidays to you, your loved ones, and the other special gems in your life!

Supplies:
Home for Christmas Peppermint Swirl (732655)
Home for Christmas Snow Flurries (732656)
Home for Christmas Phrase & Accent Stickers (732662)
Home for Christmas Label Stickers (732663)
Home for Christmas Die-Cut Cardstock Shapes (732674)
Home for Christmas Candy Cane Dots (732676)
American Crafts This to That Adhesive Runner, Strips (61712)
We R Memory Keepers Triangle Score Guide
Scoring Board (Martha Stewart Crafts)

Paper Apples for Teacher

Aug

7 Comments

Hello! Amanda from Popper & Mimi here today and I’m so excited that school has officially started! Today I am sharing a fun way for your kids to greet their new teachers this year.

My kids are always a little nervous to meet their new teachers so I created a fun and inexpensive project to help them break the ice.

Paper apples are easy to make and only require a piece of patterned paper or cardstock. I used patterned paper from Pebbles’ Home+Made, Back to School, and Birthday Wishes collections. Using a variety of patterned paper adds a bit of extra charm to each individual apple.

Each apple is topped with a real twig and is about 3″ tall, making it even more life-like.

To begin making each apple, cut 12 apples from a single piece of 12″x12″ paper. Choose a die, cut file, or pattern that is symmetrical. I used my die cutting machine to cut and score the apples at the same time. Head on over to my blog for a brief tutorial on how to add a score line to a cut file.

Fold each apple in half and apply dry adhesive to one side of each apple slice.

Adhere the apple slices together until you have formed a little stack of apple slices. Apply additional adhesive to the top piece, open up the apple, and adhere the slices together forming a complete apple.

Once adhered together, your apple should have a little hole in the middle. Place a little twig in the middle to create a little apple stem.

Cut leaves from patterned paper and place them between the apple layers.

Embellish the top of the apple with a sticker or other fun embellishment. Now your new teacher has a fun decoration to place on his or her desk for the entire school year.

Happy crafting!
Amanda

Supplies:
HOMEMADE DOUBLE-SIDED CARDSTOCK 12″X12″ LOVE SEAT
BACK TO SCHOOL DOUBLE-SIDED CARDSTOCK 12″X12″ RULERS
BIRTHDAY WISHES DOUBLE-SIDED CARDSTOCK 12″X12″
GARDEN PARTY CARDMAKING PAPER PAD
GARDEN PARTY CARDSTOCK STICKERS
BACK TO SCHOOL CARDSTOCK STICKERS 5.5″X12″ TEACHER PHRASE
HOMEMADE CARDSTOCK STICKERS 6″X12″ 2/SHEETS PHRASE & ACCENT

Birthday Burger Box Favors

Jul

1 Comment

Tired of the same old party favors? Want something new, fun and different? Today, Design Team Member Wendy Sue Anderson tantalizes our tastebuds with these fun and super unique birthday burger box party favors.

If you are looking for a unique favor box for your next birthday bash, check out these fun burger boxes I created using a Silhouette Cut file and products from the “Birthday Wishes” line!

I cut the boxes from the “Confetti” patterned paper. After following the instructions to assemble the boxes, I cut a ½” x 12” strip of paper from the “Happy Birthday” patterned paper to create a wrap to put around each box.

To embellish the top, I simply layered some of the medallion die-cuts with coordinating rosettes and tucked a “Thank you” tag, cut from the “Celebration” patterned paper, underneath each rosette.

The result is a distinctive little favor box, ready to fill with a sweet treat, to send home with party guests!

Supplies:
Birthday Wishes – Confetti Paper (732560)
Birthday Wishes – Happy Birthday Paper (732559)
Birthday Wishes – Celebration Paper (732561)
Birthday Wishes – Die Cut Cardstock Shapes (732570)
Birthday Wishes – Rosettes (732584)

Special Delivery Collection with Guest Sheila Burns

Mar

23 Comments

*Be sure to hop over to Facebook and enter our Special Delivery giveaway!

We’re kicking off a week of AMAZING projects featuring the Special Delivery collection. Here to start things of right is Guest Designer Sheila Burns, from Part Time Pretties, with a trio of paper craft and scrapbooking ideas using the line.

Sheila is a wife, mom and crafter! She works with many mediums from knitting to paper crafting and scrapbooking. She’s also an avid blogger, providing craft inspiration to others many times a week.