December PTI Blog Hop: Gift Wrapping Leftovers

 

The last PTI Blog Hop of the year - let's make it a good one!  This month's challenge is to utilize holiday giftwrapping leftovers for a delicious papery creation. 

I dreaded this challenge at first - thinking there was no way I could come up with a way to use my leftovers, but I rose to the occasion and came up with something that I'm really excited about!

I'm also entering today's project into this week's CAS-ual Friday Challenge titled "Brown Paper Packages Tied Up with String"...and as you'll see, this project definitely fits the bill!

For my leftovers, I used kraft wrapping paper and couple of gold gift bags that are actually mess-ups from some personalized gift bags I was making for friends.

 

From these materials I decided to create a non-holiday project that would also make the perfect gift for the coming new year.

While on Pinterest and a few other stationery sites, I've been blown away by all of the amazingly beautiful wall calendars out there.  With each one, I found more inspiration and in true Amber form, I thought to myself, "I can make that!" So I did...

With the help of the newly released Rosie Posie and the previously released Daydreamer stamp sets, I created a colorful, folkartsy, cluster of leaves and flowers, surrounding the calendar header.

 

I designed the calendar in Microsoft Word then printed the months and dates onto 11x17" cardstock, leaving plenty of room on the top for custom stamping. I also used a small solid circle stamp to highlight a few key dates (e.g. birthdays, holidays, anniversaries).

I used up my leftovers by die-cutting the numbers from the gold giftbag paper. 

TIP: To make the giftbag paper a bit thicker, I adhered it to cardstock before die cutting.

  

Now, I needed some packaging for this  calendar! That's where my kraft wrapping paper came in handy...

As if I was wrapping a gift, I used the kraft paper to create a flat paper bag to fit the calendar. I used my sewing machine to stitch and seal the bottom of the "bag" and I trimmed the top with a pair of pinking shears to create a neat edge.

 

 And for one last added touch...a tag...

 

To create the tag, I stamped and die cut the stem and large floral images from Rosie Posie. I adhered them together, then scored the top of the stamped flower and adhered the scored portion to another blank die cut. This gave me an inside portion to write on and I could also use a mini clothespin to attach the tag to some twine.

After making the calendar, I'm totally in the mood to make more!! My plan is to feature a few more handmade calendars in early January so be sure to come back for some inspiration. Calendars make great gifts for the new year....and as a matter of fact, I gifted this particular calendar to my future mother-in-law! She loved it!

Here is is sitting under the Christmas tree!

Okee dokee.... time for you to head back over to Nichole Heady's blog to see the rest of the blog hop goodness!

P.S. For those that are interested, I plan to offer a download of this 11x17" calendar printout. I just need to make a few more tweaks to the design before it's ready to share! In the meantime, if you'd like to design your own, go for it! Feel free to email me with questions if you need any help or advice.

Supplies:

Stamps: PTI (Rosie Posie, Dreamweaver, Calendar Basics)

Ink: Impress Fresh Ink (Fuchsia, Basil, Mojito, Pink Lemonade, Sugar, Mango, Honey, Island)

Cardstock: Paper Presentation (11x17" 130lb cardstock)

Other: Kraft wrapping paper, PTI (button twine, Rosie Posie die collection, By The Numbers die collection, Mat Stack 4 die, Mat Stack 4 Layerz die), mini clothespin