Christmas Hostess Gifts - Day Four A Tea Light Box Card

I had extra tea light candles left over from my first project so I decided to make a tea light candle card.  This project could easily be adapted for any occasion not just Christmas, to hold small cards or other trinkets or candy in the box.  So even if you're not a fan of tea lights there is still a reason to make this box.   

My Version:
   

Supplies:

Stamp Sets:
Santa's List #131811
Very Merry Tags #130402

Ink:
Early Espresso #126974
Cherry Cobbler #13002
Whisper White Craft Ink #101731 or Staz on White Ink

Card Stock:
Early Espresso #119686
Cherry Cobbler #119685
Whisper White #100730
Season of Style Designer Series Paper Pack 
Window Sheets #114323

Accessories:
Chevron Ribbon Cherry cobbler #130012
Basic Rhinestones #119246
Labels Collection Framelits #125598
Clear Embossing Powder #109130

Assemble The Card Shell:

STEP 1:  Cut a 9 x 4" piece of Cherry Cobbler card stock to measure and score at 4" and 5". Crease and fold on the score lines. This will form the spine of the gift card.

Step Two: The inside and the outside of the box are layered with card stock and designer series paper. Do step 2 before assembling the tea light candle box.

Front, Inside and Back Panels:
1st layer:  Cut 4 pieces of 3 7/8 x 3 7/8" Early Espresso card stock.
2nd layer: Cut 4 pieces of  3 1/2 x 3 1/2" Season of Style Designer Series Pack paper. Apply adhesive to the back sides of the card stock and DSP and adhere to the card base front, inside and back panels.  

Spine Outside and Inside Card Base:
1st layer:  Cut two pieces of 7/8 x 3 7/8" Early Espresso card stock.  Adhere to the spines on the front and inside of the card base. 
2nd Layer:  Cut two 2 pieces of 3/4" x 3 3/4" DSP and adhere to Early Espresso pieces on inside and outside of the card base.
  

Outside view of the card base.  The inside should look the same.  When using striped DSP make sure the stripes are all running in the same direction before assembling. 

Assembling the Tea Light Box: 

STEP 1:  Cut a piece of Early Espresso 5 1/2" x 5 1/2 card stock. Score this piece at 1/2" and 1 1/4" on all four sides.  

Step 2:  When you've score this piece you'll see squares in each corner. Trim away the corners on these score lines as indicated in the diagram below. need to be trimmed as per diagram. 

Step 3:  Cut the flaps to the 1 1/4" score line on all four sides before forming your box.  See arrows on box diagram.

Step 4:  Fold in the sides to form a box and secure the flaps with a glue dot or sticky strip.  Trim the opening of the box flap by snipping the corners.

Step 5: Cut a 3 x 3 piece of designer series paper and adhere it to the top of the box. 


Step 6: Using the smallest size of Label Collection Framelit dies to make a cut out in the center of the box top.  Flip over and cover with a square of acetate or window sheet to ensure the contents of the box don't fall out.  Use glue dots in the four corners of the accetate to secure.  

Apply sticky strip to the two sides and the bottom of the box.  

Note: If you want to keep the contents of the box a surprise then omit step 6 and just decorate the top of the box.

STEP 7:  Attach the box to the card base with sticky strip.  

Finishing Touches:

Step 1:  I decorated the front of the box with a stamped image from the Santa's List stamp set. It's one of my favourite sets this year.  I stamped the Santa image in Early Espresso on Whisper White card stock and then cut it out with an Oval die from the Oval Framelits set.  I distressed around the oval's edges with Early Espresso ink and a sponge  dauber.   

Santa's List # 131811 - One of those great classic stamp sets.  Only available in the Holiday Mini until January 3rd, 2014.

You can easily cut stamped images from the Oh, Hello Stamp Set with these framelit dies. Largest scallop oval measures 4-1/4" x 5-1/8". There are 6 dies in the set and they cut single sheets of paper with your Big Shot, Standard Cutting Pads, and Multipurpose Platform. 

Step 2:  I added a layer beneath the Santa in Early Espresso Card stock cut out with a Labels Collection Framelit die.  This additional layer really makes the stamped image pop.
 

Labels Collection framelits coordinate with the Apothecary Art Stamp Set. The largest label is approximately 5-7/16" wide. The set includes 6 dies in a sturdy envelope for easy storage in SU's Big Shot Die Storage.

Step 3:  The "Naughty or Nice" sentiment from the Very Merry Tags stamp set was stamped in Whisper White craft ink on Cherry Cobbler card stock and then heat embossed with Clear Embossing powder.  I added two medium sized Basic Rhinestones to the checklist on the sentiment for a bit of sparkle.

Very Merry Tags Stamp Set #130402

Step 4:  To keep the box closed when it's completed, I added a piece of the beautiful Chevron Striped Ribbon in Cherry Cobbler that I adhered to the top, spine, and back of the card base with Glue Dots.

Chevron Striped Ribbon is elegant and smooth and ties so easily.  You'll love it! 

I used over 20 inches of ribbon so I could tie it on the side.  Tip:  Before cutting ribbon strip measure from the spool how much you'll need to tie either a box or just a double bow knot like I did.  

Once the ribbon was attached I mounted my two images by adhering Stampin' Dimensionals to the back sides and then adhering them over top of the ribbon strip.  

Step 5:  Add your candles to the box.  The box will hold 4 was tea light candles, but you could easily substitute other little trinkets or goodies to this box such as "chocolate".  

This view of the box shows the candles inside.  They fit perfectly!

Side view of the box opening.  You could also turn the box so this faces the top but I chose to put it on the side for easy access and also in case the box opened the tied ribbon will hold in the contents.  

Well that's it for today's tutorial.  I hope you enjoyed it and will leave me a comment.  Thanks for stopping by.

Seven Days of Christmas Hostess Gifts

Christmas is my most favourite time of the year! Why?  Because it's the season for visiting and friendship in our household. Our calendar is already filling up with invitations, and I need to be prepared. 

Good etiquette and form suggests bringing a hostess gift when visiting and dependent on how many places you're going to visit this can get pretty pricey, but don't worry, I have a solution for you!  

Over the next seven days I'm going to provide you with my own gift .... some cute and inexpensive hostess gifts that you can make in a flash and won't cost you a lot of cash!  

And, the great thing about these little tokens of friendship is that they can be made all year through..... just change up your card stock, designer papers and stamp sets and you're set to go.  

I hope you'll enjoy these free tutorials starting on Monday December 16th. They're all made with Stampin' Up! products and accessories.  Please leave me some comments I'd love to hear from you. Let me know which ones you make. Merry Christmas! 

Post It Note and Pen Holder - Tutorial

Aren't these cute?  Post It Note and Pen Holders are one of my favourite gift items to make. Especially at Christmas time.  

These little cuties make great stocking stuffers or hostess gifts and sell quickly at craft and vendor fairs.  People can't resist them, after all everyone uses Post It Notes in some shape or form.

Another thing I like about making Post It Note holders is that they're adaptable for any season and they're quick and easy to make.  Anyone can make these!  

Today I'm going to walk you through the easy steps and show you some samples from my recent Christmas theme Post It Note & Pen Holders.   Enjoy!

Supplies and Accessories:

• Small mini gel pens ( I buy mine at Staples - 12 to a package for $3.95)
• Post It Notes (I'm using 3 x 3 post it notes for these holders)
• Card stock cut to 3 1/4 x 7 3/8" for the base a contrasting card stock measuring 2 7/8 x 3 1/8" for the first layer and a neutral card stock measuring 2 3/4 x 3" for the next layer
• Designer Series Paper in two coordinating designs enough to punch out four 1 1/4" squares
• 1 1/4" Square Punch
• Stamp Set of your choice or embellishment for center of cover
• Ink to coordinate with DSP and card stock
• Paper Trimmer
• Adhesive - Snail and Sticky Strip

 Steps to Create Post It Note Holder:
1. Cut card stock for base to measure 3 1/4 x 7 3/8", score at 3 1/8, 3 1/2 and 3 7/8 inches.

2. Crease along each score line with a bone folder. Fold cover on the 3 1/2 score line. 

3.  Make two cuts to the score line about an inch apart for the pen holder.See picture for placement.

4.  Open up the card stock and leave the slot for the pen facing outwards but push the two outer pieces to the inside of the cover.  Apply two small strips of sticky strip to the inside score line between the 3 1/2 and 3 7/8 lines and then fold to the back to adhere.

5.  Attach the Post It Note pad to the back cover with sticky strip, and   decorate the front of the  cover in whatever design you choose.  

Here's two of my recent designs:

• For this Post It Note and Pen Holder I used Smokey Slate for the card base, Coastal Cabanna for the 1st layer (2 7/8 x 3 1/8") and Whisper White for the next layer (2 3/4 x 3") and adhered them to the front of the note holder.  
• I cut out four 1 1/4" DSP squares from the Winter Frost DSP Stack #132183 and adhered them to Whisper White layer, leaving a space in between the squares.  
• I adhered a piece of Silver Glimmer Paper cut to 2 3/4 x 1/4" in the center between the squares.  
• For the embellishment I cut out two of the small snowflakes with the Festive Flurry Framelits #132193 - one was stamped in Smokey Slate on Whisper White with the Festive Flurry stamp set #131781 and the other was cut from Silver Glimmer paper.  These snowflakes were glued together with glue dots and then mounted to the center of the DSP squares with Stampin' Dimensionals.  
• I matched up the colour of the mini gel pen with the card stock. 

• This Post It Note and Pen Holder is made the same as the above sample, but with the following changes:  
• I used Real Red card stock for the base and topped it with a piece of Gumball Green card stock (1st layer).
• I added Whisper White for the next layer and topped this with four squares punched from the Season of Style DSP Stack #132181.  
• Red Glimmer Paper was adhered to the center.  
• I stamped the Santa image from the Tag It stamp set #130303 for the tag in Gumball Green and Real Red inks.  Tip:  I stamped two tags, one in Gumball Green and the next in Real Red and then I cut out the Real Red Santa square and glued it to the Gumball Green base. 
• The tag was cut out with the Chalk Talk Framelit dies and mounted to the note book base with dimensionals.  I matched up a red gel pen to the notebook cover. 

Here's what the inside of the Post It Note Holder looks like.