Mason jar themed gifts...

It's a new month over at Gossamer Blue and the line up of kits is fantastic.  Using mostly the Bits & Pieces Kit, I created a set of six mason jar themed gifts.  I might have a little luncheon for some retired ladies or at the very least, I'll have some nice gifts ready in my stash.

I started out with some drawstring bags that I got at Michael's.  I layered up all of the adorable mason jar tags and filled them with sequins and punched paper flowers.  

 I stamped on some congratulations type stamps from the set in the Main Kit.  Definitely well suited for retirement gifts or just a fun little gift in general.  I tied on baker's twine from my stash and used a brown safety pin to attach the tags to the cloth bags.

 Next I used the strawberry stamp in red ink and stamped them into a mason jar stamp from Michael's.

 I used various patterned papers from the 6 x 6 paper pad plus added Washi tape and some enamel stickers to each card front.  More images from the Main Kit stamp set were added to the cards.

 Reaching into my stash again, I grabbed some cello bags that I can use to hold a few candies or perhaps a baked treat.  I punched a mason jar from a punch I got at Target, outlined the jar image, then stamped on the "YAY" sentiment.

 I attached the jars to the sacks with more of the pretty October Afternoon Washi tape.  The giant clothespins were from Michael's in that cheap section.

 From my coveted collection of jams that I've been canning this season, I chose six of my prized Strawberry Peach Jams.

Each jar was topped with a punch circle label with some Washi tape underneath. 

Here's a little look at what a recipient might receive.  The cards will be tucked into the cloth bag.  If I do a luncheon this ensemble will probably top the plates.  Otherwise, it all might be tucked into a Kraft handled sack with a strip of torn vintage sheet for wrapping.

 Until then I'll just tuck all my goodies into my wire basket and them upon a shelf.

I hope you're inspired to create some gifts of your own.  Handmade....and homemade....is always best in my opinion.  Have fun!

Be sure to check out the Gossamer Blue Design Team galleries over at the website.  The projects are just oozing with amazing-ness.

Homemade Peach Jam Jars..

Hello there.  I'm sharing a cheery little project today made fresh from my kitchen.  I grabbed a few of my homemade peach jam jars off the shelf and embellished them with items from my 1970-Something Kit + a few items from the April Gossamer Blue kits (which go on sale today).  

I used the vintage strip of fabric from the kit + a trimmed down tag to make some cute packaging for my peach jam jars.  I typed the label using my vintage typewriter.  The wood veneer and enamel dot are from the Gossamer Blue kits.

I found the vintage, peach gingham fabric at a local thrift shop.  On top of the jars, I adhered the cute wood veneer embroidery hoop pieces from the Bits & Pieces Kit from the April Gossamer Blue kits. Such a fun little addition that gives my jars even more of homespun look.

I'll sit these on the shelf and keep them for just the right person.  They'd be cute as a last day of school gift for some of my favorite teachers and secretaries at the school, along with a little jar of fresh flowers.

Note:  Recipes are from the pectin boxes and Pinterest.  Enjoy!

Vintage aprons now in the shop.....

My vintage aprons are now in the shop.  I've searched all Summer long for aprons and I have a pretty good stash built up.  I finished up a nice selection for the shop and will add more as I finish embellishing them. 

 Each apron has been cleaned, mended and embellished with vintage doilies, lace and buttons.  I have covered any holes or spots with buttons, the vintage pieces of doilies or lace.  These aprons may show slight signs of wear but they are in excellent shape.

Aprons will ship out within 24 hours of placing an order, making them a perfect Christmas gift for the cook on your list.  Add a favorite cookbook and a pretty wooden spoon or measuring cups....that would be my favorite gift this year, guaranteed.  Help me bring back the aprons, friends.  Be sure to tag your aprons with #apronrevolution on Instagram.

Also in the shop, all of my Noel Notion items have been reduced in price.  There's still time to add a few kits to your holiday crafting stash.  I've got some fun wrappings, tags and more.  See previous blog posts for wrapping ideas.

Tray Tuesday.....Spiced Tea Mix

Hey there, I'm back today with a fun Tray Tuesday share.  I've been making this Spiced Tea Mix ever since I can remember.  I use my mom's recipe and it was always my job to mix the tea and store it in the Tupperware container.  I love this stuff and I'm not sure now if it's the actual tea or the memories it evokes that I love so much.  Recently I packaged some up in a gift basket I made for a friend to give to her apartment tenant.  The renter texted my friend and told her how much it reminded him of his mom and that he loved it.  Then our little friend Brayden came over with his brother while I was making a new batch.  He was curious so I made him a cup.  He loved it too.  So I sent him home with a little batch of his own.  Good stuff and good memories happen with this stuff, I tell ya. 

 Sooo...what better gift to give than a little jar of my Spiced Tea Mix.  I reached for a Modern Wrappings Kit from my shop to create my packaging.  I also carry a Vintage Wrappings Kit which uses all vintage fabrics.  I took one of the strips of fabric and ran it through my sewing machine, creating folds as I fed the material through the foot feed.  I left about 4" on both ends plain.

 I wrapped the fabric strip around my jar that is filled with Spiced Tea Mix and some cinnamon red hots.  I added a red sprig from the kit and a Gold Glitter Clothespin for embellishments.

 The ruffled strip of fabric looks fun and festive wrapped around the jar.  I like to leave the lid free of embellishments so it can be screwed on and off with the wrappings left in tact. This way it looks cute sitting out during the holiday season.

 I like these gingham lids from my stash.  They add an instant holiday feel to my jar gift.

 I tied a few candy canes up with a white tag from the kit and some Candy Cane Baker's Twine. I sat the jar on a white doily from the kit. I sat all the goodies on a pretty, vintage tray.  Just the perfect gift for a teacher or friend who comes over to visit.

Here's the entire Modern Wrappings Kit from my shop.  You can see my previous posts for some additional wrappings ideas.

The Gold Glitter Clothespins come in a set of ten here.

 You can find 5 yards of the Candy Cane Baker's Twine here.

I love to give handmade gifts and wrap them up with unique wrappings.  This year though I'm all about keeping it simple.  This little gift jar took about 10 minutes or less to assemble, including sewing time.  Here's to a handmade Christmas.  Thanks for stopping by today. 

Gift Sacks with Paperclip Fabric Flags...

Hi there.  I'm back today to share some gift sacks I made using the Rose Gold Craft Kit from my shop.  The kit is now sold out so thank you to all who ordered a kit or two. Remember, if you ordered some Gossamer Blue Gramercy Road items, the kit items coordinate wonderfully.  If you're interested in something similar you can check out my Indian Summer Paperclip Flags Kit.  You can also find the Large White Sacks and XL Manila Parcel Tags sold separately.   

I saved back some kit items for myself and here's a few gift sacks I created.  Lots of fun layering and lots of fun little pretties....which makes the gift sack just as special as the gift tucked inside.  

I use these for packaging up a few cards, a notebook, flat candy bars and treats, fat quarters and crafty supplies, etc.

Several of you have asked what you do with the fabric clips.  I created these extra long so you can use them as is, notch the bottoms like I did on my projects today, trim them down, cut an an angle, etc.  You get an old clothespin wrapped with lots of pretty seam binding.  I used this peach color below and ran it through my sewing machine with gold thread.  By just fold the ribbon over and over you create little messy pleats.  I put double sided tape on the back and just tucked the raw edges to the back of the sack. For the little sentiments, I used my vintage typewriter to type out just what I wanted.  

The key to making gift sacks with lots of embellishments is to just layer and tuck little items here and there.  I like to use flat items paired with dimensional items to create interest.  That's why you get so many little goodies in my kits, I just love creating them.  Hope you enjoy and thank you for stopping by!

Tray Tuesday...creating my own little mini kits

Hey it's Tuesday....and I have lots of goodies piled up on a tray.  Perfect!  Today I'm sharing my own little mini kit I created using items from the Gossamer Blue Gramercy Road collection and some items I created for my Rose Gold Craft Kit. 

 I like to nestle all the little bits and pieces onto a tray so that I can keep everything contained in one spot.  If I want to move my tray around my craft room I can.  It also makes it easy when I just have small spans of time to work on projects.....I can just shop my little stash and finish a project in 20 minutes or so.

 My tray gets a little scattered looking but I know that everything coordinates and I just love to dig around for just the right embellishments.

 Little tags and stickers here and there.  It's like a little contained mess.  Probably the way just about everything in my house.

 I'll keep this tray out for a while until I deplete most of this stash.  My goal is to work from now until Christmas time and create gifts for family and friends.  I have some homemade canned goods that I want to pair up with notepads and cards and such.

 I have these lovelies close by my tray too.

 Paint if I want to get a little more artsy and some lovely ribbon, just like the colors you get in my kit.

 These are the fabrics that I used for the fabric flags in the kit.  I just love those little things and will be showing you some ideas of how to use them in a future blog post.

 For the papers, here's a little tip from me....sort through all the papers you get in kits or purchase with a collection....then turn up the sides you like the most.  It makes it easy to see how you'd like to combine patterns and colors.

 Here's my first two creations from my tray of goodies.  I always purchase notebooks, usually from Target, and keep them in a locker basket on a shelf.  Once in a while I'll dig through the basket and pull out something that coordinates with the products I'm using.  Everybody loves notebooks so it's fun to see how I can pretty them up.

 From my Rose Gold Craft Kit I used paper clips and the gold doilies.  Other items were from the Gramercy Road collection, including the stamped image, stickers, dies, paper and enamel dots.

 A fun little notebook to set out on the counter for writing daily lists.

These two will be kept in a basket that will be filled with coordinating cards and gift sacks.  It will be so fun to package these up come Christmas time.

 Here's the full Rose Gold Craft Kit.  There's just a few of these left in the shop.  Some of my favorites from the kit are the handmade fabric paperclip flags, the burlap tag and the yards and yards of pretty ribbon.

Hope you're having a crafty day, my friends.

Tray Tuesday....Halloween treats

I'm back today for Tray Tuesday.  It's time for a some cute Halloween treat sack packaging and I've got just the right little goodies.  My tray today is an old chalkboard with a vintage dish that has some pretty orange flowers on it.  Sometimes the best way to create little vignettes is to just shop your house and cupboards.  This little mixy matchy method really shows off your creativity.  

My favorite candies to put in treat sacks are the candy corn M & M's and Reese's peanut butter pumpkins.  You just can't go wrong. 

 For my packaging today I'm using a Halloween Gift Sack Kit from my shop for the main packaging (now on sale). I grabbed a few Medium Glassine Sacks to package up the loose candy.  I just punched a few holes and added some Halloween twine to secure the sack.

 I assembled my treat sack just as my sample shows in the product listing.  I added a stamped name to the metal rimmed tag + I added in a few Halloween themed items from my stash to spruce up the packaging.  You could easily add a stamped image, stickers or die cuts too.

 Then it was time to package up the treats.  My glassine sack and pumpkin treat will fit inside the Halloween treat sack perfectly.

 Yum is right.  Who doesn't love to receive a little something special now and then?  This little treat is for Miss Becky, our school secretary.  She's the most pleasant, upbeat gal and she does her job very well.  It's always a treat to be greeted by her when you enter the high school.

So have you planned some special treats for those special someones?  There's just a handful of my kits left in the shop.  I'll be shipping them out lickety split so you'll have plenty of time to prepare them before Halloween.  If you're needing some more generic gift packaging take a look at my Pretty Paint & Paperclip Kit or my Darling Dear Kit that is perfect for Fall.  New to the shop recently, my Fall Leaf Kits would be so pretty at the Thanksgiving table.  Happy packaging and thanks so much for stopping by today!

Canvas gift bag with gold shimmer...

Sharing a little gift bag I made using some leftover Gossamer Blue kit kits + some Pink Flower Mini Instagram photos from my shop.  I love to use canvas bags for giving little gifts, especially a little bundle of stamped cards with envelopes. 

I used a journaling card as my base for some paints, glitter paper flag and the fun wood tape that was in a previous Gossamer Blue kit.  I popped the mini photo up with pop dots.  Under this layer are two more layers of notched floral and shimmer gold paper.

I tied the poofy ribbon up with more kit ribbon and gold baking twine.

I mixe some gold Pearl Ex with some iridescent medium from Winsor & Newton to create a shimmery paint color.

I let this run down the side of my journaling card for an artistic look.

I'll probably use this pretty pouch to hold some Mother's Day gifts.  Hope you have a great day.  I'm off to buy flowers for the gardens, make some desserts for Prom kids and then tomorrow will be a full day of toting Josey around to her hair and nail appointments and then volunteering all night for the after Prom party.  Good times.....busy times.  :)