Mini Handbags

In case you missed these first time round, I've jiggled with past posts and added them again today ......... a friend showed me how to make these little handbags, so I cannot claim the idea as my own, but I loved them so much, I thought I would put my own spin on her idea.

They are so simple to make.  Just take a strip of paper 4cm wide by 12cm long.  Score the strip into 4 sections, measuring 2cm, 4cm, 2cm, 4cm.

The first 2cm makes the flap of the bag, the next 4cm makes the back, the next 2cm is the bottom of the bag and the final 4cm makes the front.

I have used 4 Twilight mints inside my bags , just  tape them together so they don’t fall out, and secure them to the bottom of the bag with a sticky pad. Add a short length of ribbon at the crease of the flap for the handle, and then use another sticky pad to fasten the bag together.  Finish off with an embellishment of your choice for the fastener, I have used gems. Simples! 

Since I first posted these bags back in 2009 they have changed the wrappings on the Twilight mints - to plastic instead of foil and paper (not so classy!!!) but you could use Cadbury minatures instead.  The basic template & dimensions can easily be tweaked to suit whatever confectionary you want to put in them.

Pamper Jar

Usually at Christmas I make up a little basket of goodies like bubble bath, face packs etc. to put in my guest bedrooms but when I saw this idea for “Pampering in a Jar” on the brilliant blog below,  I just had to have a go …..

http://www.thegunnysack.com/2011/10/everything-in-jar-handmade-gifts.html

I’ve been saving large Douwe Egberts coffee jars for ages as they are just to decorative to throw away.  All I’ve added is a very simple label using an A4 sheet of printable canvas and a bit of bling.

I haven’t filled it completely yet, but when I am on my travels I will be looking for miniature versions of popular products in Boots, Superdrug and Asda, especially if they have a 3 for 2 offer on.

As an extra touch I’ve popped a Yankee Candle tea light into the lid of the jar, so that when my guests are having a little pamper they are also surrounded with beautiful wafts of perfume!

It’s well worth having a look at Tonia’s blog as she has a lot of other brilliant ideas for gifts in jars along with a lot of other ideas too

http://www.thegunnysack.com/2011/10/everything-in-jar-handmade-gifts.html

Jars are really versatile for crafting ideas but I HATE trying to remove all the sticky stuff off them …..  until I found this in Aldi - £2.99 a bottle ….. its brilliant!