Ahhh, The Warm Glow Of Christmas!

Hi Everyone,
Yet another addiction of mine is flameless candles.  It's true I have them in every room in the house. I buy CandleImpressions brand and they all have timers so by the time I arrive home from work the whole house is glowing. I also buy them for Christmas hostess gifts each year. I buy them from QVC and when the candles are shipped they arrive in cardboard shipping boxes so I always try to re-package them in a pretty way.  This year I bought sets of 5 little white glittered trees. They are pricey but I really like giving them so I make sure that I budget for them in my holiday expenses. Here is a picture I grabbed from the QVC website of the little candles:

They are so sweet and they have a lot of glitter on them.  During the day when they are not glowing they just look pretty sitting on the table.  I wanted to break up the sets so that I would be able to make a number of gifts out of the 3 sets that I bought.  Some peeps are getting 1,  some 2, and some are getting 3 of the little trees. When they first arrived I wasn't sure how to package them but I did remember that I had bought some nice boxes from Stampin' Up that had a clear plastic sliding sleeve top.  I think they designed this box to hold cookies.  Here is a picture from the SU website of the boxes:

I loved the box but of course the candles were to tall to fit.  Not a problem as with a bit of a crafty good remake I was able to use the box.  Here are some pictures of how they came out:

So here is what I did, I cut the box down to just under 2 inches with a decorative edge so it would be below the widest part of the tree, I made a belly band with the same edge using some K&Co. paper that I had in my stash. I cut one side of the plastic sleeve cover off so that it fits to the inside of the box and rests just on the top of the tree. All the parts are inked up with SU crumb cake ink. The tag was made in CA2 and punched with the SU bracket label punch.  I used my SnC to make the shadow shape for the punch.  I get my raffia ribbon at Joann's.  I just love craft and hunter green as Christmas color combos.  I think they all look so pretty sitting on the table waiting for me to grab one when I need a little gift to bring to someone. Now I have to get the favors for the work peeps done and I am running out of time!!  Enjoy this last weekend before Christmas and I hope you all are done with the shopping and enjoying the fun side of the season. Thanks for visiting,
Lysa

Reindeer Food 2013

Hi Everyone,
Christmas is starting to come together here in our house.  I was able to get to some gift buying and that always helps to get my spirit flowing. Every year I make a check list of the things I need and want to do during the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  It's funny how I put the word "annual" in front of so many of the things.  Like "annual" Target run, "annual" mall trip, "annual" Joann's run, etc. but my most favorite on the list is "annual" Reindeer food!  Every year Rory and I make reindeer food.  It is our tradition.  This years batch came out great and I will say Rory now has more creative control than ever.  I really think this is a craft she will bring to her own family years from now.  We have a great time each year planning the project.  We have a special tin where we keep our supplies that we use.  I just love it.  Here are our pictures of this years batch:

  I have so much going on in the craftspace that we needed to use the ironing board as an extra table top.  Rory used the Xyron to make stickers for the tag.  I call my Xyron vintage because I think I have had it for more than 10 years. It never lets me down.

Rory is getting better at the layout and by next year maybe the rows will be closer together for less waste.

She did an awesome job attaching the graphic to the tag shapes.  She is getting a better hand for centering things.  Practice does make perfect just like our Mom's told us!

Mixing up the ingredients is the most fun of all.  I think its the colors of the sugar that makes us smile.

 Once the containers are filled it is back up to the craftspace for a belly band and tag attachment.  I added the belly band and Rory tied the tags on.  The backside of the tag has the standard Reindeer Food poem.  Notice our ingredient list on the bottom.  Our Reindeer food contains no GLITTER and is non toxic.  Every year I beg people not to use glitter in their food.  No animal, person or the environment likes glitter in Reindeer food!!!

 And there they are happily on our reindeer by the front door just waiting for friends to take one as they leave after a play date.  I love when I hear Rory say to someone as they are leaving "Oh, I made some reindeer food, Please take one"  Don't they look great?!
Today is "annual" card day so I am off to get the Christmas cards done and out in the mail for Monday.  Thanks for visiting and wishing you all a crafty good weekend,
Lysa

Here I Am!

Hi Everyone,
Well I guess we can say I will never be a professional blogger.  I am pretty sure the professionals can't let weeks pass between posts. It really is a good thing that I never tried to be a pro and have kept this little corner of cyberspace as more of my crafty diary than anything else.  I have been so busy with life that I just haven't had a moment to post.  I guess that too is a good thing.  The holiday season is running in full force and I am ... well let's just say dancing as fast as I can (and between you and me, that is never a pretty sight!). I actually have been enjoying the holidays with a lot of family and fun so I feel blessed and very lucky that the only thing I have to complain about is the time slipping through my fingers.  I wanted to check in and show you the Hanukkah gift card holders that I had made.  As always my pictures fail to show how nice they came out.  I have been using the Stampin' Up pattern for the file folder card that is all over the internet.  I just love it.  This weekend I want to shrink it down and get a Ghirardelli chocolate into it.  I just love it.  I use my envelope punch board just as they did to make it.  I have the original We R Memory Keepers board (they make it for SU).  Here are my pics:

I love how they came out!  I have a Christmas version too! I had great fun using CraftArtist2 to make the printed template and digi stamp on the file card.  I used my Brother ScanNCut to fussy cut the Star of David digi stamp.  That cutter has some drawbacks and some awesome goodness as well.  I hope to check in again before Christmas to show off my favors that I am making for the girls at work. Thanks for visiting, I am off to work on Christmas cards.  Wishing you all happy days as we move closer to Christmas.
Lysa
OMG! the reindeer food! add that to the list!!