It is never too early to start creating all those handmade Christmas gifts and July is the perfect month to stay indoors, get out of the heat and dream of a white Christmas! My favorite niece just graduated with a Master’s degree in music, so creating a Christmas gift for her using some of the wonderful U-Paint® Metal Crafts Holiday Horns was a perfect project!

Supplies:

• Three Holiday Horns by U-Paint® Metal Crafts
• Americana® Multi-Purpose™ Sealer (DAS13) Matte by DecoArt®
• One 16” burgundy/green preserved eucalyptus wreath
• Three to four yards  of ¾” cream/gold metallic-edge ribbon
• Twenty-two (22) gauge silver wire
• Container large enough for Holiday Horns to lay flat and be submerged
• White Vinegar
• Scissors
• Soft cloth

Instructions:

1. Wash the Holiday Horns with hot soapy water.
2. Dry thoroughly with a soft cloth.
3. Pour white vinegar into the container deep enough to cover the Holiday Horns.
4. Place the three Holiday Horns into the container.
5. Leave the Holiday Horns in the container for 12 to 24 hours.
6. When you have achieved the amount of “pickle” you want, remove the Holiday Horns from the container.
7. Wash with hot soapy water.
8. Dry with the soft cloth.
   
9. If you want more “pickle”, place the items back into the mixture.
10. Spray the Holiday Horns front and back with the Americana® Matte Sealer.
11. Allow the spray to dry.
12. Weave the ribbon through the wreath.
13. Tie a medium size bow and attach it to the top of the wreath with some 22-gauge silver wire.
14. Arrange the three Holiday Horns on the wreath and attach them with small pieces of wire.
15. Place some of sprigs of eucalyptus through the Holiday Horns.
    

Letterpress Cards from Collectable Bookmarks

My older sister is an avid reader and a many times published author. It is not unusual for her to be reading several books at a time. When I saw the beautiful collectable bookmarks from the U-Paint® Metal Crafts  I knew they would make a perfect birthday gift for her. Deciding which ones to give to her was the hard part. Before sending them to her I thought it would be fun to do something “creative” with them.

Supplies:

• One (1) each U-Paint® Metal Crafts Collectable Bookmarks:
  • CB_129 Eggs & Dart/Ovals
  • CB_131 Classic Wave
  • CB_132 Greek Key
  • CB_133 Greek Wave
• Beacon® ZipDry™ Adhesive
• ClearSnap® Black ink pad
• TONIC® Tangerine® die cut/ embossing machine and embossing pad
• TONIC® Paper cutter and scissors
• Four (4) word stamps by Impression Obsession® :
  •  “Gratitude…” B14281
  • “It is…” C17192
  • “Life…” C3775
  • “Your…” B13197
• Four (4) 5 x 7” kraft colored cards and envelopes
• Two (2) sheet kraft card stock
• Two (2) sheets black card stock
• Black gross-grain ribbon for the bookmarks

Instructions:

1. Cut eight (8) strips 1/14” wide from the kraft card stock.
2. Cut eight (8) strips 1 ½’ wide from the black card stock.
3. Apply Black ink to the back side of one of the Collectable Bookmarks.
4. Place one (1) strip of the kraft card stock onto the inked side of the bookmark,
   run it through the embossing machine.
   NOTE: you will need two (2) strips of each design. You will need to re-ink each time.
5. Repeat this step using the other three (3) bookmarks.
6. Layer and adhere the inked/embossed strip onto the black strip with ZipDry® adhesive.
7. Trim the strips to fit the card. Refer to photo for placement.
8. Ink the stamps and stamp the phrase stamps onto kraft colored card stock.
9. Trim the stamped phrases.
10. Layer the trimmed phrase pieces onto black card stock.
11. Trim the black card stock pieces leaving Approx. 1/8″.
12. Adhere the phrases to the cards. Refer to photos for placements.

  Add the Black ribbon to the Collectable bookmarks.