Cookies, Cocoa & A Clean & Simple Card Class Giveaway

Taking a break from calendars for a couple days to work on a few design team assignments, but I wanted to stop in with a few fun photos and of course, the winner of the Clean and Simple Card Class Giveaway.

First up....the winner of a spot in the upcoming Clean and Simple Card Class:

This means that  Sue McRae has won a seat in this wonderful class! For those who did not win this giveaway, I hope you'll consider signing up! It's going to be a full of great inspiration, techniques and products.

Sue, send me an email so that I can pass along your email contact to the powers that be.

Alrighty - business is done. Time for some fun.

Recently, I had some friends over for a little Cookies and Cocoa get-together at my house, and I thought I'd share some of the photos.

As far as I'm concerned, paper-crafting and party planning go hand in hand. I love using my supplies for projects other than cards, and I did just that for this little gathering.

Fortunately, Clear and Simple Stamps offers two stamp sets that are perfect for this sort of party:  Cookie Bake and Cookie Bake Extras.

 

Cookie Bake

 

Cookie Bake Extras

I realize that this post comes a little late, since Christmas has come and gone, but you can always file some of these ideas away for next year! Or better yet, you can use the ideas for another themed cookie party!

 

I stole the idea for these cupcakes straight from the pages of Pinterest! They are so easy to do and are simply adorable!  I adhered the little paper label to the peppermint stick using royal icing and I used PTI's Everyday Treats set for the "cupcakes" sentiment.

On our buffet, I set up a little cookie bar, and used punches, stamps and skewers to create labels for each cookie.

 

 

To each skewer, I adhered a mini clothespin and a few business card sized recipe cards. This way, the guests could go home with the recipes for their favorite cookie flavors! 

 

I also wanted to be sure that my friends could take home a goodie bag of cookies, so I used take out containers to create festive boxes for them to fill.  I used the Clear and Simple stamps Trendy Tags die and stamp set along with the poem from Cookie Bake to create a Christmassy to-go box.

Now...what's a cookie party without cocoa?

 

I  put together a little cocoa bar in our kitchen complete with marshmallows, homemade vanilla whipped cream and crushed peppermint sticks.

 

The cocoa pitcher needed a little dressing up, so I used some ribbon and tags to create a label.

 

I stamped the tag with Clear and Simple Stamps Dots and Lines set along with the "Family Favorite" sentiment from Cookie Bake.  

And for one last photo - I thought I'd share our holiday table settings. We recently got a new dining room table and I've been having lots of fun dressing it up for the holidays.

 

I put together the centerpiece with candles and extra christmas decorations. I love using what around rather than going out to buy new supplies!

 

For our plates, I passed on store bought napkin rings and created some of my own using a paper punch that I received with my World Cardmaking Day prize package. I punched some glitttered wrapping paper we had left over, then adhered it to a strip of acetate for stability. Then I just wrapped the strip around our napkins.  This is such a great way to create inexpensive napkins rings to match any decor!

PHEW! Ok - that's it for me today! Hope these photos give you a little inspiration for upcoming parties or for next year's holiday decorations!

Have a great day!  See you tomorrow with the final 2011 issue of Clear and Simple Stamps Style Watch!