Valentine Treat Jars

I found these plastic "jars" at the dollar tree and picked them up, because I knew if I didn't they wouldn't be around long. I went back tonight after making these and I was right; they didn't have anymore. Oh well, I picked up three different bags of chocolate candy hearts and used those to fill each one.

Halloween Gift Buckets

For The Love Of Tea!

I made this card and tag box after watching a tutorial posted by MayMay Made It Crafts! on Youtube and just love making these. This it the third box I’ve made and probably my favorite so far.  I used the For the Love of Tea! paper pack from Fabscraps and love the soft, but elegant look and feel of the paper. This particular box is for my Aunt who loves teacups. I thought it was the perfect gift for when she comes to visit my mom in September.  

A Friendly Little Package

I've been inspired by Amber (lyriclover810) over at YouTube. I watch her channel faithfully, as she has a ton of ideas for things to make for a craft fair and she is just simply awesome.  She makes these cute little mini loaded bags, which were a perfect gift to make for a special friend of mine and possibly make some to sell.  I picked up some bags, tags, and dimensional stickers at the local Dollar Tree.  Everything else I included in the bag I either made or already had.

The Art of Wrapping Gifts!

These last two weeks have been filled with lots of wrapping of presents.  While, I loath this part of Christmas, it did bring up some very interesting questions for me.  What exactly is the art of wrapping paper and who started this?  

I read on the do-it-yourself website that "...according to the Japanese, who are masters at gift wrapping, it is a ritual with great meaning."  Really, what is the meaning?  I guess I will have to go look this up, as it has peaked my interest.

Japanese gift wrapping is called tsutsumi.  They use both paper and cloth for creating these simple and elegant wrapped gifts. The large piece of cloth that is used is referred to as Furoshiki.  This type of gift wrapping is used by the Japanese for birthday, holiday, and wedding gifts.  They even use this type of wrapping when shopping.    You can even support and promote recycling by using this specific type of wrapping technique.  So, all you conservationists looking for a new idea for wrapping presents this year should definitely look into this.


Read more about Japanese Gift Wrapping here.

Also, don't forget to always have at your side the relevant tools necessary to wrap a present including scissors, one-sided and double-sided tape, paper cutter, wrapping paper, ribbon, and bows. 

Here is an awesome article on the history of wrapping gifts. 

Off to read the article and maybe get enlightened on this strange tradition!