Crafty Secrets September Linky Party

(For my Craft Hoarders Challenge #15 post, please click HERE.)

Good morning! Welcome to the Crafty Secrets Design Team September Linky Party ! (I do have two posts this morning, so make sure you click the link above to see the second post. It just happens that the Crafty Secrets blog party post is always on a Monday...so one Monday a month you get slammed! {wink})

The Crafty Secrets designer challenge for September is...Fall/Halloween. I went with a fall project, but if you want to see a Halloween project, please check HERE! I have been sharing some fun rooster projects on my blog lately, and had the big idea to continue with that theme and make a matching set of gift-giving items!

Today, I will share with you how to create the gift box, the decorated gift bag, and the two fancy envelopes in this set. (You can see the information for making the large rooster tag HERE, the chicken gift card holder HERE, and the rooster greeting card HERE.)

Creating a gift-giving set, or even a set of matching cards is pretty easy. Once you have your supplies and theme picked out, just make multiples of your cards, or make matching envelopes and gift bags! 

For this gift set I chose a rooster theme with several coordinating digital papers from Crafty Secrets. I chose red "picnic" check, chicken wire, book text, and fall floral prints for my papers. I chose kraft, cream, and black as my neutrals, and I added pops of red, yellow, orange, and green. I also used the same trims throughout: cream canvas, cream lace, kraft twine, and black/cream gingham ribbon.

Let's take a look at how I made the gift box and matching tag. The box is 4 x 4 x 4 inches, the perfect size for a baked treat, a candle, or other small gift.

I also created a matching lid for my box, which I decorated with fall blooms. (Please keep in mind that I live in southern California and my fall colors may not look exactly like yours. However I did grow up in Pennsylvania, in a PA Dutch community...hence the roosters!)

I wanted my box to be very sturdy, so I created it from WorldWin Papers lightweight chipboard. This type of chipboard is about as heavy as 2-3 sheets of high quality cardstock. I takes the score lines well, and is easy to manipulate. 

Using the We R Memory Keepers gift box scoreboard, I created a 4 x 4 x 4-inch box from a 12 x 12 inch sheet of the chipboard. I taped the top closed with a piece of removable tape. That way, I can place a gift inside, and seal it, but the recipient can easily open the box.

Since I wanted to decorate the top of my box, I created a lid from kraft cardstock. I trimmed the cardstock to 6 1/8 x 6 1/8 inches. Using a score board and stylus, I scored 1 inch from each edge. I trimmed to the sore line on each left-hand corner to create tabs, and I used a strong adhesive to glue the tabs to form the lid.

The lid fits snug to the box, with enough room to decorate the box. Before adding decor, I rubbed all the exposed edges of the box and lid with Vintage Photo ink.

I printed the Crafty Secrets digital papers at 8 x 8 inches onto cream cardstock. I cut four pieces of the floral, from the Radiant Paper Collection, to 3 7/8 x 3 7/8 inches and used the pieces to decorate each side of the box. I rubbed all the edges with Vintage Photo ink. I cut one piece of the red picnic check paper (Vintage Patterns CD) to 3 7/8 x 3 7/8 and attached it to the bottom of the box. 

I wanted to decorate the lid so that the box could also be a home decor piece for the gift recipient. Since the lid comes off, I did not have to worry about what I added to the top. The lucky gift-ee can just lift off the pretty lid and open the box to get to the gift!

I cut one piece of the chicken wire paper (Vintage Patterns CD) to 3 7/8 x 3 7/8 and attached it to the top of the lid. I created a few paper rosettes from the digital paper scraps to add to the lid. I filled in the empty spaces with flowers and other floral embellishments. I added some twine and a button to one of the rosettes.

I stamped the sentiment from the Farm Chicks stamp set onto cream cardstock with black ink. I fussy cut the banner and then rubbed the edges with Vintage Photo ink. I added the sentiment to the box with foam squares.

I trimmed four pieces of the red picnic check paper to 7/8 x 8 inches and wrapped them around the box lid. I created a small gift tag from a kraft tag to which I added a bit of the red check paper and a stamped rooster from the Down on the Farm stamp set. I tied a bit of twine to the tag and looped it over the button on the top of the box. 

To complete the gift set, I created a matching gift bag. Once the bag was finished, I tied the large rooster tag to it. See directions for making the large rooster tag HERE.

The bag is a simple kraft bag, 8 1/2 x 5 1/4. I buy them in packs at Michael's. 

I trimmed a bit of the floral paper to 5 x 5 1/4 and rubbed the edges with Vintage Photo ink. I wrapped a bit of white lace around the paper, about 2 inches from the bottom. 

I used a bit of the black and cream gingham and some floral embellishments to create a cluster on the left edge of the bag. I used a circle punch to punch out an image from the Farm Fresh Creative Scraps, which I glued to a flat bottle cap. The rooster tag matches perfectly and makes a lovely gift tag!

I shared a gift card holder and a greeting card in this same theme. Now, I will share how to spice them up by making your own matching envelopes!

I used the We R Memory Keepers envelope punch board to make my envelopes. You can make many different sizes, and if you are good with math, the sizes are only limited to the size of your base paper! 



My card is 6 x 4 1/2 inches, therefore I used the measurements on the score board for a 6 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch card.

I used kraft cardstock and rubbed all the edges with ink. I lined the envelope with chicken wire paper prior to gluing the envelope closed.

To decorate the envelope, I used scraps of digital paper and cream lace. I also added a floral embellishment and a stamped image. If I wanted to mail the envelope, I would "tone down" the decorations!

The card slides into the envelope, and you have an extra-special card with a matching envelope!

The gift card holder that I created, doesn't really need an envelope, but it is always fun to really go all out sometimes when you give gift cards!

Again, I used the We R Memory Keepers envelope punch board to make the envelope. I chose the measurements for a 3 x 4 1/2 inch card. I printed the book text digital paper (from the Creating with Vintage Typography CD 3) onto cream cardstock and edged it with Vintage Photo ink. Before I glued the envelope together, I lined it with the red picnic checked paper.

I wrapped the envelope with a bit of canvas ribbon, tied in a knot. I added a paper rosette and a button.

I also added some twine and another button to the top of the envelope. The fun part about making your own envelopes, is that you can choose the orientation! I wanted my envelopes to "open at the top" so that is how I arranged the flaps before gluing them! 

The gift card holder slips neatly inside!

I hope that you enjoyed this gift set and batch of tutorials. I loved making all of these Autumn-themed rooster projects! 

Now hop along and see what the rest of the team made!

Crafty Secrets Design Team

Kathy Clement, DT Leader  

Darlene Pavlick

Diane Hover

Elizabeth Lincoln
Glenda Brooks - September Guest Designer

Gloria Stengel - YOU ARE HERE

Melody Clement

Michele Kovack

Shantaie Fowler

Sheila Rumney

Crafty Secrets Blog

Create a new project featuring a Crafty Secrets products, link it to the CS BLOG, and you’ll automatically receive a $6 store credit. One lucky participant will be randomly chosen to win a $50 shopping spree in the store! If you don’t have any Crafty Secrets goodies, you can download FREE images from the Crafty Secrets blog; just look in the sidebar! You have until 11:59PT,  Sunday September 14th to play!

Come and play along! I mean you get $6 just for linking up your project! How can you pass that up! And a $50 shopping spree for the winner...come on, people! Make something and link 'er up!

Crafty Secrets products:
Vintage Typography CD
Vintage Patterns CD
Radiant Paper Collection
Farm Chicks stamp set
Down on the Farm stamp set
Creative Scraps: Farm Fresh 

Other products:
Cardstock: WorldWin Papers Kraft; Neenah Natural White
Chipboard: WorldWin  Papers
Tag: Recollections
Bag: Michael's Crafts
Bottle cap: Bottle Cap Company
Canvas fringe: Canvas Corp
Flowers, leaves: Petaloo, Prima, Wild Orchid Crafts
Floral sprays: Michael's Crafts
Button: Maya Road
Ribbon, lace, and twine: Really Reasonable Ribbon
Ink: Ranger Distress Vintage Photo; Memento Tuxedo Black
Tools: We R Memory Keepers Gift Box and Envelope Score Boards; Stampin' Up Circle punches; Tim Holtz Rosettes dies
Adhesive: Aleene's Tacky Glue; Scotch 3M ATG tape; Scor-tape; Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L 3D Foam Squares