12 Days of Christmas Mini Activity Album

I love Christmas.  I love the giving, the conversation, the good will and everything that goes with it.  As a mother of two, I have decided I want my children to know that Christmas is more than parties and gifts.  That is why this year I have created a place to record and encourage my kids to give this year.  

This album has 24 Christmas activities for our family to celebrate the Christmas season.  The activities range from baking cookies to random acts of Christmas kindness giving hand warmers and cocoa to volunteer bell ringers outside your favorite store.  These ideas slip into the cutest little bag I created to clip into the back of the album and my kids will take turns drawing a random activity for twelve days. 

 If you would like a copy of these ideas, you can download them here:

Random Acts of Kindness Cards:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/w823sn39wqpjlw8/RAK Cards.pdf?dl=0

Family Activity Cards:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/i50w5f9ysq7880p/Family Cards.pdf?dl=0

I created this album before the season starts this way as we complete each activity we can take a photo or two and place them in each of the twelve pages.  The Authentique Three Christmas’ in One paper pad made this project easy by giving me perfectly coordinated papers, stickers and diecuts all in one place. 

I am looking forward to using this little album to encourage my kids to give more than take during this holiday season. Here are the steps to help you create one for you and your family this year. 

Supplies Used:

Authentique Paper Three Christmases in One Paper Stack

Darice Stickerz: Red and Black

Darice Trims: Red Snowflake, Red and Black Glitter

Thickers Black Number

iCraft Super Tape

Grafix Chipboard

Triveni Craft 4mm Red Gems

We Are Memory Keepers Gift Bag Punch Board

Baker’s Twine

Foam Tape

Directions:

Creating the Cover:

Step One:  Decide what size you want your album and cut two squares of chipboard to that size.  Next decide what size you want your spine and cut a piece of chipboard to that size.  I decided my album should be 6 ½ x6” so my chipboard cover pieces were cut 6 ½ x6“ and the spine was cut 1 ¾“x6 

Step Two:  Layout your chipboard pieces with the spine piece in the center making sure to leave a gap between each piece of ¼”.  Measure the length of your chipboard pieces to find the size of your inside cover.  Next add two inches to both the length and the height of the measurement to get a piece of paper the correct length to wrap around the cover.

Step Three:  Cut and splice together a piece of paper long enough to cover the inside of the album using the inside cover measurements you just made.  Then create a piece of paper to cover and wrap around the outside of the album.  I wanted the spine to be a different color than the cover or back so I made the center four inches of my cover piece a different color.  Cut the corners of this sheet diagonally to help give it a finished look after it folds.

Step Four:  Using super sticky adhesive such as iCraft SuperTape carefully place adhesive around the boarders of all your chipboard pieces and carefully fold your paper over gluing down each flap.  Then again place your adhesive around the edges and place your inside piece of paper inside your album. 

Creating the Pages:  

Step One:  Cut two lengths of Darice Trim Ribbon one yard long and using super sticky adhesive glue the ends of the two pieces onto the inside of the spine of the album.  Next cover these ends with another piece of cardstock completely gluing down the edges. 

Step Two:  Cut the base of your pages.  You will need spots for 12 days of activities so I created 12 pages.  I like some of my pages to differ in size so two of those are half pages are two pages have flaps to lift or open.  So basically I cut 8 6x6” pieces, four 3x6” pieces and two flaps to glue onto a 6x6 that measured 4¼x6.”  (*Note:  I thought I would like my pages to be slightly smaller than my 6 ½ x6” cover so my pages are actually 5 5/8 ”x 5 5/8”.  I regretted it later.  So my measurements in my photos will slightly differ.)    

Step Three:  Match up the pages and place one page on top and one page under the ribbon.  Using strong adhesive to sandwich it all together.  Make sure to leave space between each set of pages so that your album folds.  Also make sure you place any half pages you have next to each other or the album will not fold correctly. 

Decorating and Embellishing the Pages and Cover: Using the diecuts an the stickers in the Authentique Three Christmas’ paperpad, embellish the cover and the inside pages of the album.

For the cover I used foam adhesive to layer the diecuts from the paper pad and add depth.  (Some places have three layers of this foam tape!)  I tied bakers twine around the spine and I also used Darice stickers to lay out the title. 

For the inside pages I used a combination of papers, stickers and ribbon to embellish each page.  Since I want this to be an easy project to put together this Christmas, I wrote the dimensions of the photos in the locations they will go. 

Punch the Bag: Using the We Are Memory Keepers Gift Bag Punch Board punch and fold a gift bag that measures small enough to glue into the back of your album.  If you have young or “energetic” kids, you may consider clipping the bag to the back cover so you can remove it when it is time to pick an activity and then clip it back in when you are done.  (I’m considering this option. J)  

Print and Cut Out the Cards:  Download and print the cards I made or make your own and cut them out and place them in the bag. 

Step Six-Have Fun and Add Photos!

- Elizabeth

Authentique Christmas Bouquet by Design Team Member Michelle Philippi

I’m so excited to be here with you today sharing some paper flowers I made for a fun Christmas arrangement.  I had this huge Authentique Three Christmases in One paper pack to work with (which is exclusive to Craft Warehouse), and this neat Flower Punch Board from We R Memory Keepers which made really easy work for this project.

The directions in the package and on the board make it easy to follow and keep you on task.  Cut paper strips (sizes are on the Punch Board) and then follow the guidelines for where to stop, punch, and score.

I’m kind of a go big or go home kinda girl, so I went for the biggest size (XXL).  And these flowers were huge!  One sheet of 12x12 paper cut down to (2) 6x12 piece, then punched and scored come together to make one big, beautiful flower.

Once you have your pieces, you just add some adhesive down at the bottoms and accordion fold.  The scores that you make on the Punch Board make it fool-proof.

I played around with different papers and sizes and found that my favorite combo was the XXL on the outside with the XL on the inside.

I used the Flower Stem Kit (also from We R Memory Keepers) to add stems for forming my flower arrangement.  I poked a hole in the center and had a back that looked like this where I would attach the long stem.  The long stems have wire in them so that you can form them to various angles and heights.

I coordinated my paper with a little red bling from Triveni Crafts that I would use to top my center stem-top with.

I had my daughter hold my bouquet so that you could see how big these are.  They are so big, and so fun.  You could make them smaller too, but I love these!  They remind me of those accordion paper circles that you put on a wall for party décor.  I could totally see doing that with these larger size flowers.

If you’re a papercrafter, and love doing some custom crafty decorating for parties and such, you’ve gotta get this flower maker!

- Michelle Philippi 

Authentique Joy to the World Banner

Christmas is such a special time and I had a ton of fun putting this banner together thinking about all the different types of people in their cozy little houses and apartments.  Singing “Joy to the World” with a smile on my face.  It defiantly got me into the holiday spirit. 

I loved the way these turned out.  Put one together yourself to start your holiday season with a smile on your face.

Supplies Used:

Authentique Paper Three Christmases Paper Stack (exclusive to Craft Warehouse stores!)

Jen Hadfield Gold Letter Stickers

Stickles

SPC Jute Ribbon

Hazel and Ruby Sequins

Paper Accents Chipboard Pennants

Darice Stickerz

Darice Trims Gold

Marvy Snow Maker

Vellum

Twine

Directions:

Step One-Cover the Pennants:  Cover the pennants with Authentique paper making sure to glue paper down close to the edges of the pennant.  Then cut a strip of Vellum 3 ½ inches and glue it to the top of the pennant and cut it to the same shape as the pennant. 

Step Two-Cut Snowdrifts:  Cut some white cardstock into 5x6” pieces and then cut them from corner to corner creating a abstract triangle.  This gives you the perfect angle to glue into the point of your pennant.  Hand cut the tops of the snowdrifts to make every drift look different.  Carefully outline your snowdrifts with Stickles.

Step Three-Make Trees and Houses: Hand cut small houses, trees and buildings.  Add Marvy Snow Maker ink to the tops of the buildings and trees. Heat to make the snow puff up. 

Step Four-Assemble the Pennants: Glue down the snow drifts leaving a small border around the pennant to see the pattern paper.  Using the Jen Hadfield Letter stickers and the Darice Stickerz spell out “Joy to the World.”  Slip small houses and trees under the snow drifts and using the Marvy Snow Maker add snow to the vellum. 

Step Five-Hang the Pennants:  String the assembled pennants onto the SPC Jute Ribbon.  Tie Darice Gold Trim, twine, and SPC Jute Ribbon between the pennants. 

Grab yourself an Authentique Paper Three Christmases Paper Stack on sale until November 27th and have fun 'decking the halls'!

- Elizabeth 

Simple Authentique Christmas Cards!

Hello Craft Warehouse fans! Michelle back today with a quick tutorial for a basic card that anyone can make. But I’m not only going to show you how to make one card, I’m going to show you how to use the same two base pieces to make several cards using the awesome patterned paper from Authentique’s Three Christmases in One pad, an exclusive to Craft Warehouse!

Each of these cards start with a 4 ¼” x 5 ½” piece of patterned paper and a 3 ¾” x 5” piece of patterned paper.

You can either use a premade card base or create your own by trimming a piece of cardstsock to 8 ½” x 5 ½”, score in half lengthwise to create a card base that is 4 ¼” x 5 ½”. Attach the 4 ¼” x 5 ½” piece of patterned paper to the card base. Then attach the 3 ¾” x 5” piece of patterned paper centered on top of the larger piece. This is the start for all of the cards I’m sharing today.

For this card I used a couple of the die cut pieces that come with the paper pad. Just punch them out and attach them to the card as desired.

For this card, I used pop up adhesive to attach the Very Merry Christmas piece, which is from one of the patterned papers in the pad. I love this card because it’s festive without being a traditional Christmas colors.

For this card, I added ribbon and some Stickles. I love this ribbon from American Crafts, thick and shimmery. Make a bow to make this look like a gift ready to give.

This card is about as simple as it gets. Start with the two base pieces and add a sentiment from the patterned paper. I trimmed the sentiment with some red Stickles to add some dimension to this card.

For this card, I chose two stickers from the sticker sheets included in the pad. Then I added a little red Stickles to enhance the poinsettia's on the patterned paper.

Another simple card, with a twist, for this card, I attached a sentiment, but left the top open to be a gift card holder.

This final card is made using a fussy cut Santa piece from the patterned paper. I used pop up adhesive to attach the oval piece. Then I lined the edge with dots of Stickles and accented Santa’s hat and suit with a Snow Marker Pen.

Thanks for looking, I hope you enjoyed these cards and how easy it is to create a variety of cards and looks with two base pieces and lots of patterned paper.

Authentique Christmas Tree Cards

Hello Craft Warehouse fans, Michelle back today to share with you a couple of fun cards perfect for Christmas and the upcoming holiday season. For these cards I used a variety of paper from the Authentique Three Christmases in One paper pad. Have I you heard how awesome this pad of paper is? There are tons of different patterned papers as well as sticker sheets and die cut sheets. And it’s an exclusive to Craft Warehouse! Follow along to see how you can make these card for yourself.

First up is a Christmas tree shaped gift card holder. The best part about this card is that you can shape your tree anyway you want to, it just needs to be large enough to hold a gift card.

Start making a template for the tree shape. Using a 5” x 7” scrap piece of paper, fold in half lengthwise. On one half of the paper sketch a tree shape and cut it out with scissors, make sure you cut both halves while the paper is folded in half. Unfold and you have your tree shape template. Trace this template on the back side of the card base (the inside of the card) and cut it out.

Once the inside is cut, take your template and cut it into three separate pieces for the tree. Trace these three pieces on the backside of the paper for the front of the card. Once these are traced, I used a paper trimmer to cut a straight edge a little above the top of the traced image, then cut out the image. The extra bit on the top helps with the layering of the tree and makes it easier to adhere the middle piece to the top piece. You don’t need extra for the top piece, cut that just as is.

Once your pieces are cut, adhere the bottom piece of the tree to the base of the card. You only want adhesive on the bottom and outer edges so you can slide the gift card in. Next Adhere the middle and top of the tree together. Then with a little bit of adhesive, attach the gift card to the inside of the middle piece of the tree, then the card will slide in and out when the card is opened. For the edges of tree I used the Snow Maker pen from Marvy to add the appearance of snow. Just draw it on the card, let it dry and then heat set it until it becomes puffy and looks like snow. Then to add some sparkle to the snow I used Stickles in Icicle.

I love the finished look with the faux snow and icicle shimmer on top. Add a few spots of Christmas bling and your ready to go with a fun shaped gift card holder.

Next up is an easel card. I have two cards to share with you but the base of the card is the same.

To make the easel card base start with a 4 ¼” x 8 ½” piece of cardstock.

Use a scoring tool to score the cardstock, lengthwise at 4 ¼”and 6 3/8”. Prefold the score lines, they will be folded in opposite directions as shown in the picture. Then place a strong adhesive, like this red line tape, on the end with the smaller flap. This is where the front of the card will be adhered to.

Trim a piece of cardstock to 4 ¼” x 4 ¼” for the front of the card, decorate and adhere to the card base where the adhesive is.

For the front of this card, accordion fold strips of paper that are one inch in width. Use a quick dry liquid adhesive to attach to the card front in the shape on an upside down arch. Continue to add layers adhering each new layer as you go. This takes a little patience as the higher you go on the tree, the smaller the folds become and you need to work them into place. Well worth it for the look! Top the tree with a star or a glittery bow from Darice. To allow the card to stand up, like an easel, you need to add something to hold the card up to the bottom portion of the card. I love these strips of adhesive crystals, just attach a strip to the base and stand the card up.

For the front of this card I used small strips of a various papers from the pad, cards like this are great for pads because you can use a mix of papers for a variety of cards. Trim a piece for the trunk, then trim pieces for the tree, these are about ½” wide and taper up from about 3 ½” length to about ¾” length at the top. On this card I used some of those strips of crystals as garlands. Just cut them down to the size needed. You can even cut them into individual pieces and use them as ornaments (like I did on the other cards). The star on top is a wood veneer star from Studio Calico. I stamped it in embossing ink and embossed it with a metallic Zing embossing powder from American Crafts.

Happy Crafting and be sure to share any cards you creating using any of the goodies you find at Craft Warehouse!