Free Printable Treat Bag Toppers for Reindeer Noses

Are these the cutest Christmas treats you've ever seen or what?  I got the idea from Zoe at A Personal Touch.  She used real scrap booking supplies, but I cheated and designed them in My Memories Suite.  I found the cute little reindeer clip art here and used embellishments and monograms from the software to create the rest.  I am just loving this digital scrap booking stuff!  It has come in handy for all sorts of things.  I think I may make a Christmas themed header for the blog with it next!  They just came out with Version 3 so I've been playing around with it and there are definitely some improvements!  They even fixed one of the things I complained about in my review!  There is now an easier way to find your store purchases.  And I really love that they made custom sizing available.  You can set your paper size to just about anything you want. 

   

If you would like to try it out for yourself, use code STMMMS54717 for $10 off, making it only $29.97!!  Plus this will give you $10.00 of in-store credit to buy some supplies!  This would make a great Christmas gift! 

I filled each bag with 8 Whoppers and 1 Sweet's Christmas Fruit Sour (can be purchased at Walmart).  Click here to access the free downloadable tags (via freepdfhosting.com)!  I recommend printing them on some nice paper like Premium Presentation Matte.  Once they are printed, simply cut them out on the dotted lines and fold in half.  Staple to your treat bags and you have a fun and cute little gift or favor.

An Unconventional Christmas Tree

200 + book pages rolled and glued to a heavy cardboard cone then attached to a wooden dowel.

And a 3D star for the topper.  If you missed the tutorial, click here.

Although the rolling and gluing were very time consuming, the hardest part of this tree proved to be the base.   My original idea of sticking the dowel in a piece of styrofoam and covering it with burlap, completely flopped.  It was top heavy.  So, I thought about it and experimented with different things and finally decided on some scrap wood I had laying around.  And guess what?  There was already a hole which was the perfect size for the dowel!! How lucky is that?  I spray painted it Rust-Oleum Metallic, sanded it down a little and my tree is now finished!  What do you think, good use of an old book?

How to Make a 3d Paper Star

I was in need of a star to top a rolled paper Christmas tree I am working on, so to be all matchy matchy, I made it out of paper.  Book pages to be specific!  Are you excited to see it?  Well, it should be finished soon - just working on a few little details.  And boy will I be glad when it is done!  My fingers can't take any more rolling.  Luckily this star only involves folding, giving them a break! 

All you need are a couple of paper stars and some glue.  I used Mod Podge.

Like the pictures show, start with one star and fold it in half at each point.  This will give you 5 creases.  Then fold the star in between the points in the opposite direction you folded the points.  Do this to both stars and then glue them together.  Use them for tree toppers, ornaments, shelf decor, or whatever your heart desires.

A Holiday Wreath

I've started my holiday decorating with a simple wreath for my front door.  

Every time I go to the craft store I longingly gaze at all the pretty wreaths.  Then I stroll on, because I can't get myself to spend $20+ dollars on one.  When I saw how inexpensive this unfinished twig wreath was (something like $3.00 or $4.00) I decided to try making one from scratch.  I found some berries for a buck a piece and a couple of  star ornaments for not much more.

Put them all together and my door is dressed for the upcoming months.