Fun holiday treats and a tutorial

Hi everyone! Hope you have been having some fun getting ready for the upcoming holidays! It's been busy around here! I just had both girls home for the Thanksgiving break and hated to send them back to school, but they will both be home soon for their winter break from college. As I get ready for the holiday here I have been working on some treats for my friends and my coworkers. I really enjoyed creating these test tube hot cocoa treat holders for everyone and wanted to share the process with you. You will find a PDF file with the instructions at the end of this post.

I started with a piece of 12" x 12" cardstock and cut it into 2 6" x 12" pieces. Each treat holder uses 2 pieces. You could easily just do 1/2 of the holder with 2 test tubes for a variation.

I scored each piece lengthwise and widthwise according to the directions. I then cut away the extra cardstock and cut along some of the score lines to make the tabs. I used double-sided tape to adhere the tabs to make the box as well as to adhere the two boxes together to make the holder. I punched two 1" circles for the test tubes and then punched a handle at the top for carrying the holder.

I wrapped some strips of cardstock around the box then added some stamped images as well as ribbon for decoration. To add a little bling I used a Shimmer Brush on the cup cap, cup band, and the holly berries.

I filled the test tubes with hot cocoa mix, crushed peppermint candies, mini-chocolate chips and mini-marshmallows. 

Download the PDF with the instructions here

I hope you like the treat holders and would love to hear if you made some! Thanks for stopping by!

Close To My Heart Supplies Used:

Z7250S - Holly Jolly Paper Pack

Z7250D - Holly Jolly Coordinating Cardstock

Z7251S - Cedar and Pine Paper Pack

Z7251D - Cedar and Pine Coordinating Cardstock

Z3537 - Perk Up Stamp Set + Thin Cuts

Z4230 - Candy Apple Striped Ribbon

Z3293 - Clear Shimmer Brush

Z4223 - Red Shimmer Brush

Additional Supplies Used:

Scoring Board

Double-sided Sticky Tape

1" circle punch

Punch for handle

The test tubes I purchased through Amazon. You can probably get them anywhere but make sure you get ones with a screw on cap.

Reindeer Crossing

I have enjoyed crafting with the December Stamp of the Month from Close To My Heart - Reindeer Crossing. This set of 10 stamps is so perfect for card making and scrapbooking this wonderful time of the year.

I used a sketch from the Make It From Your Heart Volume 4 How-to Book as a starting point. The papers from the Cedar & Pine Collection are perfect with the stamp set. I stamped the reindeer with Toffee ink. The pine cones and sentiment were stamped in Intense Black ink. The pine cones and branch were colored in with TriBlend markers. I finished the card off with some ribbon to add a little sparkle to the card.

I hope you like the card. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

S1912 - Reindeer Crossing Stamp set

9044 - Make It From Your Heart Volume 4

X7251S - Cedar & Pine Paper Pack

1385 - White Daisy Cardstock

Z2828 - Toffee Exclusive Ink

Z4189 - Intense Black Exclusive Ink

Z2478 - Earth Brown TriBlend marker

Z2485 - Light Green TriBlend marker

Z4194 - White & Gold Skinny Ribbon

Cedar & Pine

I cannot believe that Christmas is almost here! I have been getting busy finishing up some crafting for the season as well as getting ready for both Meghan and Nicole to be home for their winter breaks from college. I am excited to have both of them home!

I took a little break from the craziness to do some scrapbooking with this month's featured paper pack - Cedar & Pine. I love the traditional colors and festive designs in this collection.

I was inspired to create this layout from a recent post on the Close To My Heart blog all about using your scraps. You can see the whole blog post here. The Cedar & Pine papers were perfect for these pictures from an evening out in Boston with our girls.

I added a little bit of splatter to the French Vanilla panels using our watercolor paints and brush before I adhered the strips and photo mats. The title was cut using our Block Alphabet Thin Cuts and I added some Gold Glitter Gems for a little sparkle.

Supplies Used:

X7251S - Cedar & Pine Paper Pack

X7251D - Cedar & Pine Coordinating Cardstock

Z3132 - Watercolor paints

Z3225 - Medium Round Water brush

Z3386 - Block Alphabet Thin Cuts

Z3312 - Gold Glitter Gems

Click here to see the whole Cedar & Pine Collection.

Hope you liked the layout. Thanks for stopping by.