Impressive Dollar Store Gift Wrap Ideas: Blue, Silver and Snow

It's Christmas Eve. You're supposed to be wrapping presents but you're trolling Pinterest and the blogosphere instead. Don't worry. It happens to the best of us.

Get something done while you're here and learn how to wrap impressive looking presents with dollar store materials! While these presents look fancy, they are very easy to execute.

Supply List:

• Silver wrapping paper
• Silver and blue jingle bell garland
• Snowflake ornaments
• Blue and while crepe paper
• Glitter pipe cleaners
• Doily
• Blue and silver wire ribbon
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks

All of the above supplies were purchased at Dollar Tree and provided enogh supplies to wrap about 15 presents with lots left over.

Did you notice that I had a glue gun on the supply list? That's right! All of the accessories on these gifts were adhered with hot glue. It's faster, easier and more secure than tape. I did use tape to wrap the paper wround the boxes but I do have a friend who uses hot glue for that part, too!

Supplies used:

• Silver paper
• Jingle bell garland

Just cut a piece of the garland long enough to string across the front of the package and secure on the ends with hot glue.

Supplies used:

• Silver paper
• Glitter pip cleaners

Twist 4-6 glitter pipe cleaners in complimenting colors together in the middle. Then twist the ends around a pencil to make them round. It looks kind of like a firework, it's dimensional and it's more sturdy than ribbon if you need to travel.

Supplies used:

• Silver paper
• Blue crepe paper
• White crepe paper
• 3 Snowflake ornaments

Wrap two pieces of blue crepe paper around your package to make a double-wide strip of blue. Wrap one piece of white crepe paper around the center over the seam. Add three snowflake ornament across the front.

Supplies used:

• Silver paper
• Doily
• 1 glitter pip cleaner

After wrapping your package in silver paper, wrap a doily around the front. Twist the pipe cleaner into the first initial of your gift recipient and glue to the doily.

Supplies used:

• Silver paper
• Blue and silver ribbon scrap
• Snowflake ornament

Wrap a scrap of wide ribbon (or use crepe paper) around the width of your box. Add a single snowflake ornament.

Tute-Less Tuesday: Pom-Pom Ornaments

Materials:

• Glass Bulb Ornament (6 for $2 and up)
• Sparkly Pom-Poms ($1 and up)

Some crafts are so easy they really don't need instructions. This is one of them. But in case you need them:

Step 1: Remove top from ornament
Step 2: Insert pom-poms (AKA "puffy balls" in our house)
Step 3: Replace top

You can, of course, do this with any color but red and green were my choice. These sparkly pom-poms were in the $1 section of Jo-Anns near the registers.

Make a Melted Snowman Christmas Ornament

I found the instructions for this clever ornament via Dollar Store Crafts (where, by the way, I'm now a Contributor as well as the Newsletter Manager. Pop over and subscribe by e-mail and get a cleverly written newsletter from me in your inbox each week).

I made mine with a small bulb ornament, chunky epsom salt, black peppercorns, a scrap of ribbon and a scrap of orange fleece for the nose. {Get the full melted snowman tutorial here}

Make a Christmas Countdown Chalkboard with Mod Podge

This post is brought to you by Mod Podge and The Blueprint Social. I received free product and was compensated for my time creating this project. All opinions expressed are 100% mine.

I love Christmas! As soon as the table is cleared on Thanksgiving night, I am counting down the days until the calendar flips over to the big 25. I love Advent calendars as an interactive way to countdown to Christmas but I needed something else. When I got a big box of shiny and glittery Mod Podge and paint in the mail, I knew my something else needed to have some bling. After a couple weeks of pondering, my Christmas Countdown Chalkboard was born.

Supplies Needed:

• Wood frame OR a framed chalkboard
• Chalkboard paint  (if you're using a plain frame)
• Scrapbook paper
• Sparkle Mod Podge
• Glossy Mod Podge
• Gift Tag shape from package of Podgeable Shapes
• Paint (I used Folk Art brand)
• White
• Metalic Gold
• Gold Chunky Glitter
• Ribbon scraps (I used a combo of metalic gold and red)
• Mod Podge Dimensional Magic
• E beads (red and iridescent)
• Glue
• Paintbrush and/or Foam brushes
• Scissors

Prep the Frame 

Remove the wire hanger from the frame and paint it white. Once its dry, paint the center with two coats of chalkboard paint if you are using a plain wood frame. Obviously, skip this step if you purchased a framed chalkboard. Set it aside to dry.

Make the Gift Tag

Take the gift tag Podgeable shape and trace the outline onto the back of the scrapbook paper you would like to use. Cut out the paper shape.

Podgeable shapes are lightweight acrylic pieces that can be Mod Podged on both the front and back for cool dimensional effects. This was my first time working with them and I love how great they make the finished piece look.

Paint one side of the tag with chunky gold glitter paint. Next, give it a generous coat of Sparkle Mod Podge (on the same side you put the glitter on). Apply Sparkle Mod Podge to your scrapbook paper as well and flip it design-side down onto the podgeable. Rub the back to get out any air bubbles before applying another generous coat of Sparkle Mod Podge, being sure to seal the edges. Place it acrylic-side-down to dry (I propped it up on a paint bottle so the edges would be free to dry without sticking).

When the Mod  Podge has dried enough to touch the back (the clear side may look cloudy for a while but it will dry clear and sparkly), cut two pieces of gold ribbon the length and width of the podgeable with a little extra to wrap over the edge. Apply Sparkle Mod Podge to the back side of the ribbon and adhere it to the front of the gift tag. Wrap the extra around the back and adhere with glue.

Make the "X-mas countdown" label by using a fine point brush and gold metallic paint to write on a piece of white scrapbook paper. Use the Glossy Mod Podge to adhere it to the front of the Podgeable using the same technique described to adhere paper to the back of the Podgeable. When the Mod Podge is dry, use Mod Podge Dimensional Magic to cover just the white tag. This will give it a finished look similar to poured resin or expensive puffy stickers but with way less mess. (if you have never used Dimensional Magic before, check out Plaid's great how-to video here). Set the tag aside to dry.

Mod Podge the Frame

To cover the frame with scrapbook paper, make template pieces from some plain paper (pic 1). This allows you to tweak the shape without messing up the pretty paper. Then trace the template shapes onto the back of the scrapbook paper and cut out the pieces (pic 2). To adhere, apply a generous coat of Sparkle Mod Podge to one side of the frame (pic 3) as well as the back of the scrapbook paper. Press onto the frame, rubbing to get out the bubbles before applying another generous coat of Sparkle Mod Podge over the top (pic 4). Repeat with the other three sides.

Finishing Touches

To give the plain wire hanger some bling, I strung red and iridescent E beads onto the part that stuck up above the frame. I also threaded some gold and red ribbon through the hole on the gift tag.

Before using the chalkboard, you need to remember to prime it. To do that, rub the side of a piece of chalk all over the board and then rub it in/off with a rag. Lastly, reattach the beaded wire hanger and glue the tag onto the edge of the frame. 

Once the glue is dry, you can write your countdown message on your chalkboard!

Finished Product:

I hope you enjoyed my project and feel inspired to make your own. For more great holiday inspiration, visit Plaid, online here:

Inspired by Plaid on Facebook | Plaid Crafts on Twitter | Plaid on Pinterest

Get Inspired:

I'm not the only one blogging about great holiday projects made with Mod Podge this holiday season! Check out more of my fellow bloggers' great projects below:

This post is brought to you by Mod Podge and The Blueprint Social. I received free product and was compensated for my time creating this project. All opinions expressed are 100% mine.

Make a Cute Vintage Style Apron

I love aprons! I made my first apron just a couple months ago for a bridal shower. While I wouldn't call them fast projects, they are pretty easy to make. I made the apron in this post for my friend, Kathy and I'm pretty sure she loves it.

This isn't really a tutorial so much as a "walk through." I didn't take pictures while I was making the apron, but the pieces are not hard to put together.

Piece 1: The Top

The top is based on the Tea and Crumpets knock off apron pattern over at Sewing in No Man's Land (her post includes two aprons, scroll down until you see a white a teal apron called Tea and Crumpets). If you scroll about halfway down the page, she has links to download the pattern pieces via Google Docs and gives you great instructions with pictures about how to make the top.

I made the top from some khaki cotton. At the bottom of the top (where it would attach to the waist), I finished it with a piece of thin fabric that I double folded (think bias tape....without the bias).

Piece 2: The Waist Band

The waist band has three pieces. The front center piece is made in the print fabric with the khaki edging and then two side pieces that are from the khaki only. 

You can make edging for the front part using the technique Sewing in No Man's Land describes on her Tea and Crumpets post OR do what I did.

I cut the printed piece to be 4 inches wide and the khaki piece to be about 5 inches wide. I lined up the top edges, right sides together and sewed them together. Then I had to shift the fabric to line up the bottom edges with right sides together and sewed that down. When I flipped it right sides out, the khaki part is bigger, so when you look at the printed side, there is little khaki stripe along the top and the bottom.

Piece 3: The Skirt

The skirt was very simple: 1 rectangle of printed fabric (maybe 30 x 24?) and a rectangle of muslin that was the same size. I sewed them right sides together (with an opening) and then flipped it, pressed it and top stitched around the edges.

Assembly:

To put the pieces together, I center the top and skirt on the waist band then pinned them in place. Then, I top stitched the center part of the waist band, being sure to catch the other pieces as a cruised by. 

Are my pictures not making sense? Check out my video walk through to see if that helps:

Make a Cute Christmas Birdhouse

Photo Credit: Heather Mann // Project by: Carissa Bonham

Right now Jo-Anns and Michaels both have small wood birdhouses available for $1. Using some felt and ribbon (you don't need much!) I personalized it to make a cute gingerbread-style birdhouse. Make several in a bunch of different colors for a fun take on the traditional Christmas village. Keep the colors sweet and candy-like and re-use your birdhouse display for Valentines day!


Project Cost: $2

• Wood birdhouse: $1
• Felt $0.90 (1 sheet each of 3 different colors/$0.30 each)
• Ribbon (borrowed from a friend)
• Hot glue (on hand)

How I did it:

Use the felt sheets to cut shapes the same size as the walls of the birdhouse. I used light pink for the front and back and dark pink for the sides. Be sure to cut out holes for the bird door and perch. Attach with glue.

Use wide chevron ribbon to cover the edges of the roof. Attach another piece of cut-to-size felt to the roof (I used brown). Repeat with the bottom edge.

Use a piece of skinny red and white ribbon to wrap the perch. Use more skinny ribbon to cover the edges where the felt colors meet.

That's it! Super easy and inexpensive enough to make a little birdy town affordable. Pick up a few wooden candle sticks while you're out to elevate some of the houses for added interest in a multi-house display.

Free Christmas Card Templates

 

One of the ways we save money on Christmas cards each year is to design our own in Photoshop and then just print them as a regular 4x6 print from any photo kiosk or online photo printing service. If you keep your eyes peeled, Shutterfly and Snapfish frequently offer penny prints or other super low prices on 4x6 photos.

I made four versions of our Christmas cards this year and I would love to share the templates with you! Just follow the link below each picture to download. The text is editable so you can write in your family's name. The font used is Harrington but you can switch to another font you might prefer

Please note that you will need some kind of photo editing software to add your photos to the templates. I am not able to provide technical support regarding how to do that. If you're not sure what to do after downloading the files you want, I recommend talking to your local teenager or your web graphic savvy friend.

download blank 4x6 editable card template

download blank 4x6 editable card template

download blank 4x6 editable card template

download blank 5x7 editable card template

download blank 4x6 editable card template

download blank 5x7 editable card template

Permission is granted for unlimited personal, non-commercial use. Please do not sell products made using my free templates. It's not legal and it's just not nice.

This is my first free download offering. If you have any difficulty getting the TIF files to download, or if you have suggestions for better ways to manage free downloads, I would love to hear them!

(some links within this post are my affiliate links and I may receive a portion of any sales resulting from your click. I promise to only link to products I personally recommend. Thank you for supporting Carissa's Creativity Space)