Christmas Treats

I had so much fun with this year's Christmas treats.  First, let me share with you the Gift Card Holders I made.

Just before Thanksgiving, I stopped in at Starbucks to treat myself to a Caramel Macchiato.  That's when I saw these cuties.

Isn't it adorable????  I just had to use these for gifts at the office this year.  

I used this tutorial to make these gift card holders.

The lid pulls out to reveal the gift card.

 

I used a variety of products: A Muse Studio cardstock (cherry, sugar, kraft), Stampin' Up Confetti Cream cardstock (retired), Stampin' Up Christmas Punch stamp set and matching punch, May Arts ribbon, double-sided adhesive and foam adhesive.

(I made one change to the tutorial when making my holders: instead of using a 4 1/4" x 1" white piece, I used a 4 1/4" x 2" piece and folded it in half.)

Everyone just loved these Gift Card Holders.  

My second Christmas Treat were Santa mugs filled with hot chocolate goodies.  

I first made these to send to the A Muse Consultants who participated in my Recipe and Calendar swaps as a "thank you" treat.  Then, I ended up making more to share with friends and family.  I ended up making 55 of these adorable mugs.

I made all of the templates for the different pieces to the mug (mug, face, beard, mustache).  The hardest part was tracing and cutting each piece.  It would have been a cinch if I had an electric cutter, which is on my Christmas wishlist. :)

Then, it was just a matter of adhering all of the pieces together.  Sticky tape just wasn't strong enough to keep the mug adhered together.  Unfortunately, I didn't find this out until after I shipped the ones to the consultants.  I ended up using Aleene's Tacky Glue and it did the job. 

The mug piece needed to be cut from a 12x12 piece of cardstock.  I was able to get 2 mugs per cardstock.  I used an unknown red cardstock from Stampin' Up.  The pieces for the face were cut from A Muse cardstock (sugar, shell, onyx shimmer).  I used punches to make the eyes and nose.  I also used an oval punch to make the hole in the handle.

That's it for now.  I really need to get some presents wrapped.  

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas, filled with many blessings.