Throwback Santa Suit Gift Card Holder

This is my Santa suit gift card holder from last year, I thought it would be fun to re-post it so you can see the basic gift card holder design, and well it is way cute. I did re-visit this gift card holder and the picture in this post is a little different, I added some glitter and some black "buttons" to spruce it up a bit.

Click here to go to the original post for complete instructions

I hope you have a wonderful day!

12 Days of Christmas Snowman Gift Card Holder

12 Days of Christmas - Day 10 - Snowman Gift Card Holder

I know, I had to post him as well. For the basic instructions for making the base of the gift card, go here

To make the Snowman Face

• Cut face 2.5 x 2 inches
• Draw eyes, nose, and mouth
• Dry emboss to add texture by running it through the cuttlebug with embossing folder
• Add glitter, well just because I love glitter
• Tip: It is easier to draw the face before you emboss the paper
• Tip: Check out the photo below to see the difference a little glitter makes

To make the Top Hat

• Cut black cardstock approximately 1 in x 2 in
• Find some fun paper to cut the brim of the hat, cut it a little wider than your hat
• Dry emboss to add texture by running it through the cuttlebug with embossing folder
• Add glitter
• Tip: You can use any kind of paper or pattern you like, this is where your personality shines through

Assemble as shown and gift to your heart's content! I have a question for you. When making these snowgirl and snowman gift cards, I made a few extra snowmen because I was thinking if I forgot someone (I mean, it's not like I always forget someone or anything like that, lol) a snowman is more of a unisex gift and that a man might think it odd to get a snowgirl, but a woman would be ok with a snowman. Do you agree?

I hope you have a wonderful day!

12 Days of Christmas Snow Girl Gift Card Holder Tutorial

12 Days of Christmas - Day 9 - Snow Girl Gift Card Holder

If you have been following my blog, you know that I love gift card holders. As the nieces and nephews get older they don't want gifts, instead they want money and gift cards, so I get to indulge in my obsession, lol. This year, snowmen are on the agenda for my gift cards. These are super simple to make, I hope you give them a try.

These are super simple to make, decide what scrapbook paper you will use (this is always a process for me, I always second guess the paper I selected). I am always trying to maximize my paper, so I make them 4x6 so that I can get 6 gift card holders from my 12x12 paper.

Gift Card Holder

• Cut paper to 4x6
• Fold at 1 in and 4 in on the 6 in side
• Glue only the outside edge on the 1 in side
• Slide gift card or money into the pocket (see photo)
• Tip: After I made this batch, I decided that it would be easier if I used some of my washi tape to tape the sides (it makes it much easier)

To make the Snow Girl Face

• Cut face 2.5 x 2 inches
• Draw eyes, nose, and mouth
• Dry emboss to add texture by running it through the cuttlebug with embossing folder
• Add glitter, because what girl doesn't like glitter (lol)
• Tip: It is easier to draw the face before you emboss the paper

To make the Snow Girl Winter Hat

• Cut 2 in circle and cut in half (I used my 2 in circle punch)
• Cut a coordinating trim
• Dry emboss to add texture by running it through the cuttlebug with embossing folder
• Add glitter, I cannot get enough

Assemble as shown.  The possibilities are endless with the colors and styles you can try. Would love to hear your thoughts.

This picture shows how I added the gift tags from this earlier post so I know who was receiving each gift card!

Click here to go to original post to download these gift cards!

Click here to go to original post to download these gift cards!

I received an early Christmas present, I was featured on the Inspire Us Thursday Link Party! I am so thrilled!

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Happy Birthday Card and Gift Card Holder

Such a fun card, this is one of those where I probably went a bit overboard with all the different elements I added to the card. A combination of fun paper, punches, Memory Box dies, and embossing folders all came together to create this fun card. The punches are Martha Stewart, I have had the most success with her punches, and prefer them over other brands. There is, of course, glitter for that touch of sparkle.

This birthday card also has a secret "gift card" holder, lol.  When you open it up, you will see the gift card nestled inside. I used some chipboard elements to hold the gift card in place. When you remove the gift card you can see the sentiment. The best part about this approach is you can use any embellishment, pop them off the page and there you have a place to rest your gift card. One more tip: I put the tiniest dab of removable tape to hold it in place.

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Santa Gift Card Holder Tutorial

Santa Gift Card Holder Tutorial

I love gift card holders, especially for teachers as a special something extra during the holidays. This is such an easy gift card to make - it doesn't hurt that it is really cute too!

I love to get the most out of my paper, so I took a 12 x 12 sheet of paper and cut 6 gift cards, each is 4 x 6 inches (10.16 cm x 15.24 cm).  I found that it looks much prettier if you use a paper that has a bit of a pattern to it. I selected one that has a damask design.

Fold the short end 1 inch (2.54 cm), and glue or sew the outside edges only.  This creates the pocket for the gift card.

Fold the opposite short end 2.5 inches (6.35 cm), this becomes the outer jacket for Santa!

Note: .  If you have paper that has a pattern on only one side, you want to make sure that you make your folds such that the pretty red is on the outside. (check out this picture to get an idea of the pieces and the folding)

Santa Gift Card Holder Tutorial

Fur Trim:

1. Cut a 1.75 inch (4.45 cm) strip of white paper and take out your handy dandy border punch and create a scalloped edge to give the impression of a nice fluffy trim.  I used my Martha Stewart Doily Lace Edge Punch.  I love it!
2. Glue the white fur trim to the center of the outside of the gift card holder

To Create the Belt:

1. Cut a strip of black paper approximately 1/2 inch (1.27 cm) wide and 7 inches (17.78 cm) long. Snip off about 1 inch (2.54 cm)
2. Cut a yellow square approximately 1.5 inches (3.81 cm) for your Belt Buckle

To Assemble the Belt:

1. Place your gift card in the pocket
2. To create your Belt Buckle, take your yellow square and glue the small 1 inch (2.54 cm) piece of black paper to the center of the square.
3. Attach your yellow Belt Buckle to the approximate center of the black strip
4. Now take your black strip and fold it over the card holder and glue the ends together

And there you have it! This was the gift card holder I handed out last year, so I cannot give them out this year again.  This year I think I am going to make Christmas stockings (it has been a few years since I've made them, so hopefully no one will remember).

Santa Gift Card Holder Tutorial

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Wacky Wednesday - Hug Card

Welcome back to Wacky Wednesday! 
Oops... forgot my definition:  wassail - means toast to someone's health

I don't know if this is the official name of this type of card, but I call them "HUG Cards" - can't say why exactly, but they remind me of a hug.  I made my first card like this in January, and have been making many variations of them ever since because I think they are so versatile and they are perfect for gift cards.

This is how I made this card:
The HUG:
Cut 5" x 12" decorative paper
Score at 4" and 8"
Now you will notice that if you fold the sides in, you cannot see into the center of the card.  So now we need to do a bit of cutting so we can get the HUG :-)
You want to cut a diagonal line beginning at the crease down to the corner
Do this on both sides
Now when you fold the card onto itself you have a hug

To make the Pocket Insert:
Cut 3-3/4" x 9" (just under 4" so that it slides in and out easier)
Border punched both ends
Score at 4" and fold up - the folded height is approx 5" so that it peaks above the base card
I punched a scallop in the middle of the shorter side(so you can see the gift card or tag)
Note: I used double sided paper so that there was a pattern on all the visible pieces)
I then took a coordinating paper and cut it at 3-3/4" x 3"
For this one, I adhered it to the inside of the shorter side so that it was visible when folded up and then punched a scallop in the same place.  This way I didn't have to measure, and the coordinating paper created a contrast so that you could more easily see that something was back there.
I then decided what I was going to put into the pocket and glued the pocket so that the item fit.

You may wonder, how did I keep the pocket from sliding out of my card?
Well, I cut a scrap piece of cardstock, 3" x 3" and folded it in half
I glued one side to the bottom of the inside of my hug
This is then covered by the sides when they are folded in, and you slide the Pocket right in

The Scallop Flowers
I punched 6 scallops
Folded and bent them to create dimension
Snipped along either side of the scallop (see the detailed picture)
Put a brad in the center
I used the brads to adhere it to my card - but you don't have to, you can use a glue dot just as easily

Finishing touch:
I cut a 1" x 9" strip of coordinating paper
Take a Ribbon and tie it to the strip

Slide the pocket into the hug
Fold up the flap at the bottom of the hug so the Pocket doesn't slide out
Fold in the sides (arms) of the hug
Take your 1" wide strip, wrap it around the card and glue it to the back - make sure your ribbon is positioned in a nice place in the front of the card - you can move it around until you like it and then glue everything.

That's it!  Would love to see what you do!

Note: I have included a template with dimensions, it is not drawn to scale, but shows the dimensions (click on it for a bigger picture)

Update - 6/24 Linkup:  Top Tip Tuesday - http://toptiptuesday.blogspot.com/2011/06/ttt-39-cross-it-challenge.html   (this challenge is to make the exact type of card I have posted - YEAH!! How cool is that?)

Update - 5/25 - Link Parties:

I Heart Naptime - Sundae Scoop Link Party - http://www.iheartnaptime.net/2011/05/sundae-scoop-link-party-8.html

Make It Monday #38 - Anything Goes - http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.com/

A Marvelous Mess #14 - http://marvelouslymessy.blogspot.com/2011/05/marvelous-mess-14-and-features.html

Update - 6/4 - Link Parties

Sundae Scoop Link Party - http://www.iheartnaptime.net/2011/05/sundae-scoop-link-to-party.html
One Stop Craft Challenge - Texture - http://onestopcraftchallenge.blogspot.com/

Enjoy! Copyright for Personal Use Antonella DeFalco

Blue Snowman Card

Can you believe it, I am posting another project this weekend, and don’t forget to stop by on Sunday, January 30^th because the final One World One Heart Giveaway starts.

I love this style of quilling.  Just thought I’d share some of my quilling love with you.

Once again, my handsome little boy chose the subject:  “A Snowman” and I put my finger to my head and thought about it, and then thought some more.  I was under the gun on this one, my sister-in-law called me on Friday to say that she was going to have my nephew’s birthday party on Sunday.  So I was a little worried I wouldn’t get one made in time….

The base of the card is a Bazzil blue that is 4” x 12” folded in half to be 4” x 6”.  I then took some snowflake paper and tore it so that the torn edges would be part of the snowdrifts.  I tore 3 pieces and glued the longest directly to the base card, then used a dimensional tape to glue the next two layers.  I used dimensional because I wanted to add a pull out tag.  The tag is also torn and is placed between the 1^st dimensional layer against the back of the front of the card.  What you cannot see is that the tag is also a gift card holder.  The tag is cut extra long and folded up in the back which is where the gift card is tucked away.

For the Snowman I took a long strip of 1/4” wide paper and wrapped it around a bottle – approximately 2” in diameter for the body and a smaller bottle for the head.  Then comes the fun part, cut strips of paper (I used blue, green, and purple) and create whatever shapes you want.  I love the coils and scrolls so if you’ll note, this snowman is filled with them.

I then added a scarf and some matching jewels and he was ready for a birthday bash.  I know that you are thinking that you may be wondering why his scarf is brown, well I wanted to do something with kraft paper since that is everywhere these days and I wanted to use some (if you look closely you will see that it really isn't kraft paper).  He is topped off on both the base tag and on the quilling strips with crystal accents (yes, I love this stuff!)

I have decided to enter this fun fella in the following challenges:

Our Daily Bread Designs “Blue” challenge (as you can see he his really blue)

The Whipperberry  “show us what you have a flair for” challenge – my flair is quilling.

Enjoy! Copyright for Personal Use Antonella DeFalco

Cupcake Birthday Card

I’m Obsessed I tell ya... I know that is normally not a good thing, but I must be, because almost all of the cards I have created lately have been gift card holders.  Yes, that is true, I am building quite a collection of photos of gift card creations that I have made (I promise to start posting more of them for you)... Most of them inspired by something that I have seen.  

It has been a ton of fun making them and oh so gratifying when the person who received it (or their mom) says something about how much they liked it - yes, I do melt when someone says something nice about something I’ve done (which is why I so love the comments I receive from you).

So, I have decided to enter this card into a challenge.....

This is a cupcake, gift card holder.  My son likes to give me challenges and ideas (especially when the card is for one of his friends or cousins).  He almost always gives me something that will make me scratch my head to try to figure out how to make his request come alive (well, not literally alive).  

So his challenge for me this time was he wanted a card with a cupcake and he wanted a gingerbread man on the cupcake... I do not remember which cupcake card it was that inspired the cupcake, but I thank all of you who have posted pics of your cupcakes.... I took the idea and drew up a little sketch to make sure I got approval from the requester (lol) and ended up with the following card.

For the top of the cupcake I used paper that was pre-cut in a scallop design that I got from the bargain bin at Michaels.  After I put the card together I wasn’t thrilled with the colors - the paper didn’t pop enough for me, so I tried to add some embellishments and that helped a little... and in the end it looked better in person than the picture I took shows.

For the cupcake, I created my own pattern.  Take a look at the photo with the cupcake open, and you can see that the base card started with a strip of 4” x 12” paper. I used my circle punch on one end, and folded the paper to get the general shape. I then added the scalloped paper and glued it to the top flap and cut around the top to make it rounded (like the icing on a cupcake).

I added some quick open coils and placed them on the "dots" - my thought was like the confetti you can get on your cupcakes sometimes.

The Gingerbread man was based on a gingerbread image I printed and then used as a template to cut out of my brown paper. I then added his "icing", a bow, and 2 buttons. I think he is adorable. He is actually placed on the card with dimensional tape.

Finally, I added the "shine" to the project by painting on the crystal effects.

Hey, I am going to be a busy girl this weekend. I am hoping to participate in a quilling blog hop - see the link on my sidebar (I will post tomorrow if I didn't miss the deadline) and Sunday kicks off the final One World One Heart Giveaway... Stay tuned because I will be giving away a quilled item to one lucky winner :-)

Hope you are having a wonderful Friday!

Enjoy! Copyright for Personal Use Antonella DeFalco

Happy Birthday Explosion Box

Isn't this a cute way to deliver a Birthday Gift Card? I was doing my weekly round of the blogs that I follow and I found this post on the CraftiBlog, where she placed treats inside of an Explosion box... So, I used this for my inspiration to create a Gift Card Explosion box.

We are going to a Birthday Party and I wanted a new way to deliver a gift card to the birthday boy, and this was fit the bill perfectly.  I followed the instructions found here to create this little box.  Note: It is a very small box, a standard gift card fits inside when it is at an ever so slight angle because the box measures 2-1/2" all around.

My base started as a 7-1/2" square and the paper itself is glitter paper from the DCWV Bon Voyae Travel cardstock stack.  The top is 4-1/4" square from the K and company ancestry.com Designer Paper pad.  The inside of the explosion are 2-1/4" squares cut from a DCWV mini stack that I have.

This is the decorated inside of the base of the box. Since this is for a birthday, I selected the birthday base.  I could have stamped, but I chose to use paper instead.

 This is the glittery outside of the base of the box.  Note, when I make another one of these, I will try to keep the glitter for the lid instead of the base because this paper is difficult to fold.

 This is the top of the box, you can see the ribbon that I used.  To attach the ribbon, I cut a square, slightly smaller than the top of the box and punched 2 holes using a standard hole punch.  I then pulled the ribbon (from Michaels) through the holes and used the extra length to wrap around the box and tied a knot on the side.

 This is how the gift card nestles inside the box, ready to explode.

I'd love to hear from you if this inspires you to create one of these. I'd love to see your creation.

This was a lot of fun to make, and I hope that the recipient enjoys their gift.

UPDATE: I am entering this in the Make It Monday Linky Party

Enjoy! Copyright for Personal Use Antonella DeFalco