Holiday CardMaking for a Cause

On Friday afternoon, I hosted a very small kids holiday celebration to make some Christmas Cards. When the idea originated, I asked my daughter, Molly, if she wanted to make cards for U.S. Troops overseas or the elderly without their families in nursing homes. As Molly is six, this prompted discussions on what these subject matters are.  Quite interesting topics of conversation to have with a young one! Molly couldn't decide which cause to support more, so she asked her friends to choose. Our little guests came prepped and ready from their parents which cause they wanted to support.

We've decorated the house festively and I put out some after-snacks of fruit, veggies and rolled up sandwiches. I couldn't resist cupcakes from Ronnie's Bakery with a Christmas theme!  They turned out so cute.

The kids got right to work stamping with our PSA Essentials stamps, stickers, glue, ribbon tape and more. I had two tables set up - one for the very little ones and one for the bigger kids.

The kids were so cute making the cards! Obviously a great photo opp for me with these cute little faces stamping away with our PSA Essentials stamps.

The kids spent much more time playing outside than making cards - and the mom's enjoyed being together. Truly was a lot of fun and we made some (sort of) cute cards that I am sending off to the USO and a local nursing home. It is the thought that counts, right? What fun to celebrate the season with our friends. Group picture time! (Williamson Triplets had left already and we couldn't get Ian in this one, boo!)

Share what you are doing this season to make someone else's day bright by posting a comment here or to our Facebook page.

DIY Monogram Door Wreath

If you loved Mae Armstrong's DIY fabric pinwheel ornaments last week, you will love this variation on the project. Need a festive, personal front door wreath for the season? Try this one by Mae! It involves quite a bit of work (fair warning) but the result is fabulous and the tutorial is really detailed so you will get a great finished product. Best of all, you can reuse this each season.

For this project, Mae used her PSA Essentials Treeo Peel & Stick stamps. This is really a versatile stamp set!

Mae started by using the biggest embroidery hoop she could find at Michael's.  (Don't forget your Michael's coupon!) 

 Trim the size of the base fabric. For this wreath Mae selected natural burlap as her main canvas.  



Insert the burlap and attach the outer hoop. Tighten the screw and secure. Gently stretch the burlap making sure it's nice and flat. Set aside.

 

Mae also wanted a black initial and she found that felt was the best option. Using her Silhouette SD, she selected a decorative font and trimmed the letter. She used freezer paper and ironed it using a low setting onto the felt to serve as her pattern.  She then cut the felt and glue the letter onto the center of the stretched burlap.

 

Mae chose to decorate her wreath with stamped wooden discs mounted on a fabric pinwheel. She used the PSA Essentials peel and stick TreeO stamp set.

Using her Big Shot, Mae selected a circle die to help her with her fabric pinwheel production. It was a truly a great way of cutting all the fabrics she needed.  You'll need five circles to complete one pinwheel.  (And she made a lot of pinwheels!) 

To assemble the pinwheel start by folding the circle in half.

Then fold into a cone shape making sure the edges meet. Secure with glue and begin with the rest of the of the remaining pre-cut fabric.

Mae made a whopping 14 pinwheels for this wreath as she wanted cover the entire hoop. That means this project required 70 circles to complete the wreath.  Since she knew she was going to re-use it again she didn't mind the time of putting it together.  (This woman is amazing!)

Arrange the folded pieces to make a circle. Glue the stamped wooden disc.

Line the edge of the hoop with the fabric pinwheels and spread them out. Secure each pinwheel with glue.

And voila!  Didn't it turn out beautifully!?

Fabric Pinwheel Ornament

An cue the holiday projects! I'm bringing readers dozens of seasonal, DIY, crafty goodness over the next couple weeks.  This idea comes to us from our design team member, Mae Armstrong.  Mae used her Gigi Monogram Peel & Stick stamps by PSA Essentials and holiday fabric to create beautiful monogram ornaments.  These make great gifts for teachers, neighbors, Secret Santa gifts or are just fun, DIY additions to your own tree. 

Want to learn how she did it? It's fairly simple. First she stamped the "A" onto wooden discs to be the center of the ornaments using her PSA Stamper & Gigi Monograms.

Using her Big Shot machine, Mae selected a circle die to help her with the fabric pinwheel production. It was a truly a great way of cutting all the fabrics she needed.  You'll need five circles to complete one pinwheel.

To assemble the pinwheel start by folding the circle in half.  

Then fold into a cone shape making sure the edges meet. Secure with glue and begin with the rest of the of the remaining pre-cut fabric. Mae suggests cutting all the circles in one batch and the rest of the process gets really easy.

Arrange the folded pieces to make a circle. Glue the stamped wooden disc.

 Attach a stretchy gold string and that's it! 

Try making different sets for friends, family, teacher gifts or a fun gift tag for the Christmas! 

DIY Christmas Tree Garland

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Heidi at Honeybear Lane created this really cute stamped garland using PSA Essentials Peel & Stick stamps. 

Creating this garland is easy. Heidi choose Whimsy Tree Peel & Stick stamps and stamped using her PSA Essentials stamper loaded with hunter green ink onto white cardstock. She used her 1.5" circle punch to cut out and adhered to red and green cardstock punched with a 2" tool.  Then she sewed them together. 

I love how it turned out! She sewed right through the middle, too... 

She also created this "NOEL" sign to decorate her mantel. This one uses Archive Peel & Stick stamps by PSA Essentials. 

How are you adding a festive touch to your holiday decor this season? I love these ladies that are doing it themselves. Share your projects with us on our Facebook page! 

DIY Stamped Gift Card Holder

Do you give a lot of gift cards over the holidays? Consider elevating your gift card gift with a special envelope or holder like Jennifer Holmes did.  She created a gift card holder that makes that gift card extra special! She used UBU Peppermint Swing Peel & Stick stamps by PSA Essentials to create this project. Check it out!

I love how she colored the stamp up and really brought it to life! 

This stamp set is really adorable, one of my favorites for the holidays! 

Shop Peppermint Swing now!