12 Days of Christmas 2013

I've shared a couple times before that one of our family traditions is to make and gift the 12 Days of Christmas.  It started because friends of ours dropped off a gift every day for the 12 days before Christmas.  Each gift came with a sweet tag, a poem and kind words.  We'd no idea who was doing this until Christmas Eve when the last gift arrived.  It was so very touching and thoughtful that I immediately craftied the idea up and have been doing it every since. 









I typically make one set for my nephew, one set for my niece and nephew and one set for good friends of ours, the McCleary (mamma McCleary being the one of Bubble Guppies crafty fame who is featured occassionally).









I am not nearly organized enough to get everything made and decorated and wrapped for the 12 days before Christmas, but instead gift the entire set on Christmas Eve or Christmas day with the intention that they open one each day til the Epiphany.  This year, I came across Graphic 45's stamp set and said- "That, my friend, belongs to me".  I really did say that out loud because Brandy was shopping with me!





The tricky part was making time to create with the stamp set and 6 x 6 paper pad.  In the end, these tags were made for the outside of each bag on the weekend before Christmas- terribly late.  However, my husband and the kids were away for two days visiting his mom and dad so it was craft heaven around our house.  Just me and the saints a craftin' away to Christmas tunes. 

























As a reference, I'll connect in to the two other posts I've made regarding the 12 Days of Christmas.  The first post shows how I made a set of 12 Christmas cards as a gift to a few of my Bible study friends.  I found a list online that linked Bible verses to the 12 Days ideas and used the same layout for each card varying the patterned paper layers in each card.







The second post outlines a few ideas for a 12 Days of Christmas gift like this one.  I used the exact same idea this year- 12 paper lunch bags with the gift and tag inside telling our friends of the connection to the 12 Days and a tag outside the bag to tell you which bag to open on which day.







This year, the tags for the outside were very simple.  Here's the details:

• Each tag was cut using my Accent Essentials Cricut cart from the Graphic 45 6 x 6 paper pad.  The paper is double sided with one side solid and the other side patterned.
• I stamped the Graphic 45 stamp for each day using brown Archival Ink on the solid side of the tag.  I edged the tags with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

•  Each tag is embellished with FlowerSoft, glitter, and/or bling accents.  I used Crystal Accents to clue on the FlowerSoft (Delphinium Blue, Christmas Green and Heather) and the bling accents and a glue pen to accurately place the glitter.  Please forgive the poor glitter photos.  I just tried to get an exposure that would highlight that glitter was used!

I didn't have a whole lot of time and I envisioned a much more beautiful, intricate and detailed final product than what I made.  Yet, I am so pleased with how they turned out.  Sometimes, simple is just beautiful and I think these tags ultimately hit the mark!






















Here's a photo of the supplies before we began bagging everything up.  I'll confess that the cost of filling the bags varies greatly.  I look for low cost, high impact items like candy and slippers, etc.

ETA:  The whole Google Plus thingy didn't work.  I've included the copy here though you'll have to delete the parentheses which identify what I gave as a gift:

On the first day of Christmas… The partridge dropped off an ornament for you! (a bird ornament)	On the second day of Christmas… The turtle doves thought  you might enjoy these little Cuties. (Cutie oranges)
On the third day of Christmas… Those French hens are talkative, so they gave you these cards to write someone a note. (handmade cards- look below)	On the fourth day of Christmas… The calling birds are always talking.  Everyone has been going on about this treat.  What do you think? (Chocolate Covered Pretzels a new favorite in our house)
On the fifth day of Christmas… Search through these rolls to find the elusive gold (pineapple!) ring. (Rolls of Lifesaver candies)	On the sixth day of Christmas… The geese a-laying made a huge mess so they kindly left these to help you clean up. (washrags)
On the seventh day of Christmas… When you get done swimming with the swans, sooth your dry skin with some peppermint lotion.	On the eighth day of Christmas… The maids thought you might enjoy making some muffins to go with all that milk. (muffin mix)
On the ninth day of Christmas… The ladies recently started dancing by candlelight.  Light this candle and see if they visit!	On the tenth day of Christmas… The Lords find these socks feel real good on their tired feet.  They even agreed to share with you. (I made them wash their feet first!) (fuzzy socks)
On the eleventh day of Christmas… The pipers find they suffer from dry mouth – all that piping.  Here’s some of their favorite gum to wet your whistle. (a pack of gum)	On the twelfth day of Christmas… The drummers like to celebrate- enjoy a fizzy cup on them. (sparkling cider)

This year, I printed the cards out on my printer and then cut them using my Spellbinders Labels 18 and my Spellbinders Labels 17.  I then stamped the corners of some of the cards with the corner stamp from the Graphic 45 stamp set.









You'll notice that I got my craft on making some thoughtful cards (those French hens- always communicating) as one of the gifts.  This card was made by stamping a kraft card using my Papertrey Ink Rustic Wreath stamp using brown Archival Ink and coloring in the leaves using my Peeled Paint Distress Marker and finishing it off with a brown Archival Ink sentiment stamp right in the middle.  Quick and easy but highly effective, don't you think?








In process picture>>>>>>

I ended up stamping white cardstock with the title stamp from the Graphic 45 stamps and accented with the corner stamp.  I then cut out this image using my Imperial Gold Labels 4 die.  I simply glued this to a cardboard box top that I had wrapped with some plaid Christmas colored wrapping paper. 

The finished product.  I have so much fun doing this, I'm convinced that no one enjoys the gift as much as I enjoy making it.  They assure me this is not so, but I can't imagine that.  Thanks for sticking with this very picture heavy post.  Hope you enjoyed the trip.