Blast From The Past - Lottery New Year Favours!

As you know,  I like to make little favours for the first day back at work after a major holiday ….  and seeing nets of chocolate coins reduced to 25p with a use before date of August 2013 … well I just couldn’t resist, and came up with this idea…..

I created the sheet of sentiments in Publisher, using  “High Tide”  font free  from http://www.fontpalace.com/font-details/2Peas+High+Tide/

If you would like a copy of my file you can download it free here :- https://www.dropbox.com/s/8vzvploygfll6yl/lucky%20monkey.pdf

I cut the sentiments out and backed them onto the back of a lottery ticket,  trimming the edges to fit the narrow cello bags I used (9cm wide)

I put three coins in each bag,  which then I sealed with my Elitech bag sealer.

I made another sheet of “Happy New Years” which I punched out,  to stick on the front of each packet

Et voila, all that was left to do was pop them in everyone’s sling or pigeon hole on the first day of term.
It's an idea that could be altered to suit other events .....and I shall put my mind to doing a couple more versions of the wording and then offer them as a free download, so watch this space ......

Blast From The Past - Sizzix Christmas Favour Box From Christmas 2013

I have been wracking my brains trying to think of a festive idea to use as a gift idea for all the bags of starlight mints I bought back from Las Vegas …..that filled my suitcase to bursting point!
And then I remembered my Sizzix Bigz XL Shaker Box Die (Item # 655134), that hasn’t seen the light of day for at least two years!!!  OMG, it was perfect!

I used it to cut the red striped card from Payper Box I got a few weeks ago which just spelt Christmas to me!  Not wishing to waste any scraps, I stuck the piece that came from the window in the bottom of the box as a background to the sweets.

The inside of the box didn’t look quite right, it needed a little something else …..

…… but it had to be flat,  so I decided to punch some red scallop edged hearts and then add a Christmas message using a white gel pen, sorted!

I used Marc’s band idea from his Christmas cards to make one for the boxes to stop them flapping open, using a strip of contrasting red card …… and creasing it using my box maker board.

I then made the sentiment decoration using my Stampin’ Up scalloped punch, scraps of card and gold, white and silver  Christmas circles from Craftwork Cards http://www.craftworkcards.co.uk/products/1585/in-circles-christmas-gold-silver.html

The felt holly leaves and berries were from this years Hobbycraft Christmas collection  but I just couldn’t find them on the website to make a link! I think a tub of 12 cost about £2.99/3.00.

I made twenty six boxes in all, some of the decorations on the band vary, because I ran out of the holly, so it was an excellent opportunity to use up all my other bits and pieces that have been hanging around in my Christmas embellishment box for far too long!

New Year Favours Using Rainbow Twizzlers

When Lucy and I went shopping in Walmart in Las Vegas one of the “most wanted” things on my shopping list was a big bag of Rainbow Twizzlers …….

….. no wonder I had to pay for extra baggage on the way home!!

It’s a miracle that the said Twizzlers weren’t eaten between the time we got back and just after Christmas, when I made these favours, believe me at times I was sorely tempted!

Wearing latex gloves, I put a layer of white mini mallows at the bottom of each cello bag (to look like clouds), added a 6cm length of each flavour Twizzler, and then sealed the bags using my Elitech bag sealer.

I then made thin bag toppers using gold card, fastening them with double sided tape to the cello bags and sentiment tags using my Stampin’ Up plain and scalloped edge punches.

In the centre of each tag I hand wrote my New Year message and added a matching ribbon to the side.

The final touch was a gold chocolate coin, (stuck on the front of the bag with double sided tape)  …… because at the end of every rainbow is a crock of gold! I shall give these to friends on our first day back at work after the Christmas break. Happy Days!

Candy Rainbows

My friend Josie sent me this picture and link with Tom and Laura’s “rainbow” wedding in mind ……
http://catchmyparty.com/photos/525090 – it’s an idea I have seen before and I just love ….

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2012/03/st-patricks-day-rainbows/

They are made using American sweets/candy called Twizzlers ….

….  I checked out to see if they are available over here, and yes they are …. from Amazon, Ebay and other online shops specialising in American products, with prices varying from £1.19 a pack to £1.99+,  so making them for every wedding guest would be rather prohibitive ….. but nevertheless it’s such a lovely idea ….. it’s one to keep on the back burner! 

I may also try and find a few packs when I am in Las Vegas to bring back because when I did a Google search on them there were lots of other lovely ideas I would also like to try out.

http://www.icandystore.co.uk/twizzlers-rainbow-fruit-twists-53g-403-p.asp

http://www.cybercandy.co.uk/store/Hersheys-Twizzlers-Rainbow---American-03453201.html