Sara Jane's Studio

Easy Food Gift Packaging

The hostess at my Thanksgiving dinner likes - no, loves! - my family recipe for English Toffee.  And I have to say that I made a particularly good batch this year.  But of course I can't take toffee to her in tin foil or paper plates!

All I had in my stash were some old Christmas-themed tins.  So I quickly converted one into an autumn gift-giving tin with a little paper, ribbon, glue, and some rubber stamps.

 

I traced the top on the back-side of my Designer Paper (last year's design) and cut it out about 3/8" larger.  I snipped the paper to the traced line, and then glued it to the top of the tin with tacky glue.  I folded the snipped pieces over the edge and covered them with 1/4" grosgrain ribbon.

The tag was stamped with a combination of "Thankful For" in Early Espresso and "A Day of Gratitude" in Cajun Craze.  The leaves are from "French Foliage" stamped in Cajun Craze and Always Artichoke.  Everything was tied up wth raffia - and ready for Thanksgiving dinner!!

 

 

 

Quick and Easy Presentation

Have you ever wanted an inexpensive way to present flowers to a dinner hostess?  How about an easy craft to keep the kids busy on Thanksgiving Day, or at Christmas-time?  This is one of them. 

I don't nomally do crafting with trash, but this seemed just too easy and perfect to pass up.  All you need is an emply half gallon container (the waxed paper kind, not the plastic kind), some decorative paper, and some tape.  The carton is already made water-tight, so you can present an arrangement of realy flowers (like I did, below), or use silk flowers for a more lasting decoration.

 

 

Rinse out an empty milk or juice carton (or pour what is left into a pitcher so you can use the carton!), and cut it down to about 5 inches tall.

Using heavy duty adhesive (like Sticky Strip or Red-LIner tape), attach the decorative paper of your choice.  Your kids could even use construction paper.  Decorate the paper as much or as little as you like- because the flowers are really the focal point here.  Big polka dots are great, or just tie on a ribbon like I did and let the decorative paper speak for itself.  I used the Stampin' UP! decorative paper from the Holiday mini catalog, "Autumn Spice", added a 1-1/4" strip of Early Espresso cardstock at the bottom, and a piece of Cajun Craze cardstock at the top that I had used the Scallop Edge punch on (1-1/2" wide before punching). 

You can fill it with floral foam to hold your arrangement in place.  And if you want something to last throughout the season, make an arrangement of silk flowers.

Enjoy!!

 

 

Oak Leaf Ornament

Here is another ornament for the fall holidays.  And another one that I saw somewhere and said: "I can make THAT!"

 
This ornament, like the other ornament for fall (see it here), starts with a plain, 3" round ornament from a big box craft store.  Then you can use silk leaves, or real leaves, or preserved leaves.  I found mine in the florist section of my local grocery store.  Apply the leaves one at a time with Mod Podge or other decoupage medium.  When dry, apply more Mod Podge all over.  I used the gloss finish Mod Podge, and you can see the brush marks when you get close.  And the glass is no longer completely transparent.  But I don't mind that look, and the brush marks are not obvious from a distance.  I finished with a large, gold, organdy ribbon with wired edges.  A pretty chocolate brown or ochre color would look great too! 

Hang them in your windows for the fall through Thanksgiving, or even use them in the centerpiece for your holiday dinner table.   Enjoy!!

Ornaments for Autumn

 
I saw this ornament somewhere- can't remember where.  And it was one of those that I had to try.  You know that thought:  "I can make THAT!"

It really is super easy:  Start with a plain glass ornament from one of the big box craft stores.  This one is 3" in diameter.  Cut some lace-patterned cardstock in a circle that is about 3-1/8" in diameter- in other words just slightly larger than the ornament.  Roll it up, and carefully push it into the ornament.  Now comes the hardest part:  unrolling the cardstock.  By trial and error, I got the best result with a long pair of tweezers, and bent the cardstock in the opposite direction it was originally rolled. 

Glue a piece of ribbon around the top, and tie more ribbon on the hanger, and you are done!  These will look great hanging in your windows through the rest of the fall, and then maybe even on your Christmas tree!

 

 

 

Gratitude comes in all sizes

I saw this little decorated sack in a magazine, and had to make it and share it!

 

Stampin' UP! is now offering these cute little brown paper sacks - they are just like the lunch sack you used to take to school, but are only 3-1/2" wide by 6-1/2" tall.  And the top edge is already scalloped to save us the extra step!!

The colors are Peach Parfait (a new InColor) and Soft Suede (a returning InColor that is now part of the Neutrals family.  The stamp set is Day of Gratitude, from the 2010 Holiday Mini Catalog.  You stamp the sentiment with Soft Suede ink on the Soft Suede cardstock, and then use Old Olive for the leaf on Very Vanilla.

What make this great little package unique is the use of tiny twigs.  Mine are actually too big, in my opinion, but they work okay.  I glued them on with tacky glue, with the sack laying down flat until everything was dry.  If you don't have any already, or are not in a situation to go out and find them, you could also use some 1/8" strips of Early Espresso cardstock as a replacement.

The ribbon is the Peach Parfait 1/2" Stitched-Poly Ribbon. 

Best of all:  I made this up wicked fast (as we say here in Massachusetts).  I think from the time I saw it, until it was all constructed and the glue was left to dry, only took about 30 minutes.  (I already had some twigs in my stash, believe it or not!). 

It's perfect for a teacher gift, for little treats for kids, for a dinner party, or even to package a small gift (I'm thinking jewelry....).
 

 

Year of Collage - November 2010

Here it is November already!!  Time flies by faster every year.  This month's calendar collage was inspired by the papers themselves.  Some of them were fortuitously lying on top of each other withing eyesite, and I thought the color combination was rich and perfect for the fall.

Like October, there is no special technique or trick in this project.  Just a pleasing collection of purples, brown and gold.

The purple is Stampin' UP!'s rich new InColor, Concord Crush.  The papers were all from my stash from various sources.  (Do you collect interesting paper, like I do?!?)  The month was stippled with a combination of Amber Clay and Bisque ColorBox Chalk Ink, to help it blend with the entire design.  THe month name came from a set of Technique Tuesday stamps, and was stamped in Concord Crush ink.

I used large skeleton leaves from my stash, and dry brushed them with Bright Gold Lumiere paint from Jacquard.  It is held on by the glue that I used to atttache the calendar portion.  And the finishing touches were brass charms from my stash.  (Yes, I collect those, too!!) 

Something a little different from the usual fall themes, but it still works, don't you think?

(All of the other months of the Year of Collage can be found here.)