Product Gift Wrapping Part Two

Hello! I hope everyone is having a great day! In my previous post I said I was going to share a video I recorded of me wrapping some stationary and here it is. I hope you enjoy it, and stay tuned for another. I’ll be showing how I wrap my tags and cupcake toppers with poly-bags, card stock, and stamps.

Product Gift Wrapping that’s Adorable & Affordable

As a seller I’m always looking for cute ways to wrap my sold merchandise before it’s shipped. I’ve tried lots of different ways to wrap my cupcake toppers, zipper pouches, stationary and more; but lately I’ve discovered that using wax paper to wrap most of my items looks so cute, and one roll of wax or parchment paper can go a long way—which allows me to save money. I snapped a few pictures, over the weekend, of the tools I use to wrap a zipper pouch and the end result. I hope you like it!

What I love about using wax paper is: it keeps the product safe from dust, debris, and possibly water as well. But not only does the wax paper serve as a good protector, it also looks cool because the wax paper is transparent.  Try using wax paper when wrapping your next order and share you pictures here! You can contact me when the images and I’ll share them on my blog.

Today while I was getting an order ready for shipment I thought I’d record the entire process. So, I’m going to get started on editing that video so you can see how I go about wrapping stationary as well.

Stay tuned for my video to see how I use wax paper to wrap stationary. Also coming soon, a video showing how I wrap my cupcake toppers using poly-bags, card stock, and stamps!

Dressing Favor Boxes

I wanted to share this cute idea I had in mind for the favor boxes I sell on my website. I received an email from the Etsy Press team asking if I would like to be involved with an ad they were going to run with an online newspaper; and the specific item they had in mind for their ad was my Valentine’s Day favor box. So I figured it would be a good idea to add a photo onto my Etsy page with a cute idea on how to use these cute boxes—and I want to share those pictures here too!

What I used:

My Valentine’s Day themed Favor box

Clear candy bags

Cookies

Ribbon

Tags (Optional)

I love these boxes, and this idea works well with other boxes as too. So whether you have a Cricut cartridge like me, or you find favor boxes somewhere else you can use this cute and simple idea for weddings, Valentine’s day, and even Christmas (Of course with different colors and stamp designs).

My Blue Valentine Edible Cupcake Topper Tutorial

When it comes to Valentine’s Day many individuals like to make their special someone something from the heart—something they can make with their own hands. Baking is one of the best ways to express our love, and I have a fun, easy, and affordable way for you to spread some love around.

What you’ll need:

1.       Mini Crockpot or double boiler.

2.       1 bag of candy melts

3.       Glue

4.       A ceramic cup with a spout

5.       Squeeze bottle

6.       Wax paper or parchment paper

7.       Heart cut-outs and scrap paper

8.       Tray

9.       Iced cupcakes

Step 1: Glue your heart cut-outs onto your scrap piece of paper, leaving enough space in between each heart.

Here is an example of what it should look like:

Next, place your paper with the glued hearts onto your tray, and then place a piece of wax paper over hearts and set aside.

Melt your candy melts over a double boiler (instructions for double boiler is on the back of the candy melts package), or in your mini Crockpot. Once the candy is completely melted pour it into your ceramic cup. Tip: What I like to do is place my ceramic cup into the microwave for a minute or two—bringing the cup to room temperature.

From this point, transfer the melted candy into your squeeze bottle.

Now you can begin to trace the hearts on the wax paper using the template you made.

Front this point you can leave it the way it is, or you can fill in the heart with a creative design like so:

Once all your hearts have been drawn let them set for 15 minutes at room temperature. Once they have hardened you can gently remove them with a spatula, and then decorate your cupcakes! Here are two ways to lay your edible cupcake toppers.

I ended up having a little bit left over so I had fun with free hand designs in the end and this is what I came up with!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial/idea. I certainly had a lot of fun making them and sharing them with my friends and family. Also, don’t let the fun end here. Think of ways you can use this idea for other holidays or even birthdays!

Till next time ;)

Ideas for heart embellishments

Hi everyone! I just wanted to share this cute collage of images I made with ideas on how to use some of the heart embellishments that are for available on my website.  Valentine’s Day is nearing and these are cute ideas for the upcoming holiday!

Etsy Christmas Rush--So far so good & Announcement of Upcoming Items

Hello! I haven’t been around lately to fill the pages of my blog; however, I have a good excuse. I’ve been working hard on making new items for my website, shipping holiday items, and marketing my products. My holiday rush turnout was great, and yes I may not have had a huge amount of sales but it’s a start! I do feel that I have learned my lesson and next year I think I’ll be ready for the Christmas rush 3 months in advance. Here are a few of the items that I sold for the holiday rush—and I’m so proud.

Today I finished shipping may last custom order for this week (or maybe the last custom order for Christmas, we’ll see), so I started cutting fabric to make some more point-n-shoot camera cases in the meantime. I couldn’t believe how fast the first four I made sold out! Therefore, I have 10 more in the making.  One of the cases I’m working is going to be a surprise. You see, I took a picture of the camera cases that I’m working for my FB fans—showing all the fabrics and everything. But, I left one out. It’s a secret fabric and I know it’s going to be a hit! Or at least I hope it’s a hit—sometimes I have these visions of things in my head and then when I make them, they don’t work out, so let’s hope it does.

Moving forward, after I’m done with these cases I’ll begin to work on my Valentine’s Day collection. I’ve learned from my past mistakes, as mentioned before, and I’ll be ready for Valentine’s Day for sure. I have a list of items I want to make, and they are as follows (all V-day themed of course):

·         Tags

·         Cards

·         Gift card holders

·         Pouches

·         DIY cupcake kits

·         Cupcake toppers

·         And I guess whatever else I come up with after that

But rest assured I will share my ideas, and maybe even create some cute V-day themed tutorials with you all! I can’t wait. Ugh, I love holidays!

Tissue Paper Pom-Pom Tip for Hosts’ and Party Planners’

Hello! Today I wanted to share this cool tip for party planners and decorators. Last year I was the host of a baby shower, and one of the many tasks’ of a being a host is to ensure that there’s a lot of eye candy for the mother to be and guests; and one of the cute decorations I made was the popular tissue paper pom-poms. Now, this was the first big party I was in charge of arranging so I knew little to nothing about what it would take to pull it off. However, I managed to do a great job planning this bumble bee themed party regardless of my poor party planning qualifications’. After the party I did notice a few things that prevented me from a smooth decor set up, and I said to myself, “What could I have done differently?” Then a few months later, while preparing for another party, I came up with a little invention that turned out to be such a time saver!

One thing I never came across while viewing many tissue paper pom-pom tutorials was how much of a hassle it would be to hang the pom-poms after you’ve made one. I’m sure some may think common sense should have played a role in my pom-pom making and I should have thought ahead about it--but I didn’t. It didn’t even cross my mind until I was ready to hang them and it took me so long to string each pom-pom up. However, now I have an easy way to prepare my pom-poms way in advance and have them ready to for a quick hang-up.

What you’ll need: A thick marker, floral wire, and wire cutters.

Next, go ahead and cut a piece of wire at the desired length (I usually do about 15 inches).

Then wrap the wire around the marker like so:

Then give it a few twists’.

Remove the marker: and what you’re left with is a perfect circle big enough to fit any size string or ribbon.

Next, wrap the two open wire pieces around the pom-pom like so:

Remove the access.

And there you have it! A pom-pom that’s finished and ready to be stored away for the big event. What I usually do is make about 20-30 of these extremely in advance, and decide later whether I’m using fishing string or thick ribbon to hang them. It may not seem like the perfect invention but I’m telling you—it saves me so much time.