Design Team: Denise O'Connor Week 13

Denise O'Connor's Snowman Treat Bags

Santa is almost here, and we need to spread Christmas cheer! Well, today, Denise O'Connor is going to show us how to make some sweet treat bags, that are as fast and easy to make, as they are to share! Here is how she did it:

 

The countdown is on! 13 days and counting…ladies, sharpen your scissors, ink up your stamps and get your eCraft roaring to go! There is Christmas crafting to be done! Today I am going to show a quick and easy eCraft project that is just perfect for when you feel like you don’t have enough time to get everything done! 

My son is going to be let out from school soon for Christmas break, and as the self-labeled “Crafty Mom” for his class, I have to make sure that he has a little something to give to all of his classmates for Christmas! These cutie little bag toppers went together in a jiffy. Here is how I did it….

First, in Make the Cut, I brought in the hat from Lettering Delights Holiday Hats Cut-Its Set. There was a band on this hat that I could cut, but I took that part out. I created a slightly oval circle for the head using MTC’s basic shapes. My bag topper is only 2” tall, so I had to make sure that my entire snowman was less than 2”. These are really tiny!! While my eCraft was cutting up the heads and hats, I used my paper trimmer and some decorative paper from K&Company that I got at JoAnn’s to cut up the base of my bag topper. My clear treat bags (from Michaels) are 4” wide, so I just cut 4” squares. That means that I got 9 of these from one 12”x12” piece of paper (this project is actually really economical too!). I then used my Scor Buddy to score each bag topper in half. Easy Peasy! Next, I used my computer and printer to print up the little sentiment strips which are about 3/4” tall. The font that I used was from Lettering Delights called LD Deck the Halls. I used my paper trimmer to cut these up, and I cut them at 4 1/4” long (that way I knew they would be long enough and could quickly snip off the excess). I also cut up some plain strips for the back to protect little fingers from staples.

 

Next I added the goodies to the bag. You don’t need to add much to these bags, in mine I added a small sheet of temporary tattoos that I found at my local grocery store (15 sheets for $2…score!), a mini candy cane, and three Hershey Kisses. I then slid the bag topper on the bag and stapled the bag shut. Next I added the sentiment strip to the front (and the plain strip to the back) with my new My Stik from 3L Scrapbooking Adhesives. I am loving that I can personalize this dispenser and the adhesive is strong which is perfect for this project! Can’t decide how I want to personalize it yet! Any ideas anyone?

Now, it is time to talk about my heads and hats that my eCraft finished way before I was ready for them! For the hats, I added some Holly Stickles to form the band and a few dots of Xmas Red Stickles for some holly berries and I set them to the side to dry.

For the snowmen, I turned to my trusty Peachy Keen Stamps! I used the Winter Wonderland Face Assortment. Now, I have to tell you that these little snowman heads are only about 3/4” tall. These faces are not the smallest faces in the set!! I think that it is so amazing that there are actually 2 sizes smaller than the one that I used! They sure do a great job of getting lots of detail in small spaces! I set about assembly line coloring in my little snowman’s noses, mouth and tongue. Even though I did about 22 of these, it only took a few minutes. I then added a small blob of Rock Candy Distress Stickles and spread it around the head with my finger to get a little shimmer on his face (after all he is made of snow and ice!) It is hard to see this little sparkle in the picture but in real life, it adds such a nice little touch!

Once all the Stickles were dry (and a few loads of laundry done) I set about assembling these guys using 3L Scrapbooking Adhesives Thin 3D Foam Squares. I absolutely love these thin foam squares and they were perfect for this project. You see I wanted to add a little dimension, but I also knew that these treat bags were going to get handled a lot before they made it to the kid’s homes. It just works better if there is not too much stuff sticking out that can get ripped or torn. I also love that they are available in white and black. I used the white ones for behind the head and the black ones for the hats. It is nice to not see that glaring white foam square behind a dark piece of paper. It blends in so nice! These Thin 3D foam squares will also be nice for when you have those cards that need some dimension, but you are worried about getting them to fit in your envelopes. Love the options for these!

 

All in all, this project took about 1 1/2 hours to complete (not including drying time) and for me anyways that is great news! I always feel like I have a massive pile of things to do before the holidays and to be able to scratch this off my list (and so quickly too) is a great relief to me!

Hope you all have your Christmas Crafting projects under control! Be sure to come back everyday this week for more inspiration!

Denise O'Connor

www.PurplePaperParadise.com

 

Thank you Denise for this awesome project! Are YOU ready for Christmas?