Creating Me

Vintage-Look Christmas Gift Tags

Posted on July 16, 2021 by Anita

Hi friends,

What’s Christmas in July without gift tags? 🎄 These Vintage-Look Christmas Gift Tags are so fun and easy to make – and they can double as ornaments after you gift them. 🙂

Disclosure: Some of the links on my site are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

I found these chipboard tags on clearance at Hobby Lobby after Christmas last year. They also had this pad of vintage-look patterned paper on clearance. I picked them up not really knowing what I would do with them, but the price was right so I added them to my box of Christmas supplies to play with later.

By the way, Hobby Lobby is already putting out their Christmas merchandise and I’m guessing they will have these again this year so hopefully you’ll be able to find them soon. I did find these wood tags that are similar in size – just a little smaller – that have good reviews and would work to make these cute tags as well. There are also tons of patterned papers out there to choose from.

The tags came with a gold cord hanger that I wasn’t crazy about so first I cut that off. Then I flipped my patterned paper over, traced my tag on the back, and cut it out.

Using a foam brush, I applied a thin coat of Mod Podge to my tags and smoothed on the patterned paper, matching up the edges. Then I used a sponge dauber to add some Memento Rich Cocoa ink around the edges of the tag to give it a vintage look.

I stamped “Merry Christmas” (here’s a similar stamp) with ink to match my papers onto white card stock and punched it out with a scalloped oval punch (here’s a similar punch). I lightly sponged Memento Rich Cocoa ink over the entire oval to tone down the white card stock and add a vintage look. Then I inked then edges of the oval with ink to match the sentiment. I added the oval to the tag with foam tape. I used my Crop-A-Dile tool to punch the hole through my patterned paper, lining it up with the hole in the tag.

I stamped “To: and From:” (these are similar) on the back of each gift tag before adding the hanger.

I cut some natural twine and threaded it through the hole on the tag. I threaded both ends through a natural wood bead and tied a knot close to the bead. Then I tied the ends of the twine together in a knot to make a hanger. I have this set of natural wood beads. It’s a great set with over 1100 beads in 6 different sizes for about $12.00 – so many uses in your craft room.

I added gems or pearl embellishments to the bottom corner of each tag to finish them off.

These Vintage-Look Christmas Gift Tags make a great package tie-on and can be kept and enjoyed for years to come. If you’re not a fan of the vintage look, you can easily make these in bright Christmas colors or cool snowy colors – just change your patterned paper and ink colors and don’t ink the edges with brown ink. I made some bright Christmas tags in this post.

How many gift tags will you be making?

Happy Crafting!

Anita

Posted in Christmas, Decor, Stamping, Vintage | Tagged Christmas, Gifts, ornaments, Stamping, Vintage | 2 Comments

Crochet Gingerbread Tote Bag

Posted on July 13, 2021 by Anita

Hi friends,

More Christmas in July! 😊🎄

Have you seen the adorable Crochet Christmas tote bags from Repeat Crafter Me? The patterns were released last Summer and I finally got around to making the Gingerbread Tote Bag. The totes stitch up super fast by holding 2 strands of worsted weight yarn together and they are so cute!

This cute tote bag would make such a fun gift bag this Christmas! You can start now and make several to have on hand when it’s time to start wrapping gifts. 🎄

I stitched up my Gingerbread Tote using I Love This Yarn in Light Taupe. The white yarn is Yarn Bee Soft & Sleek and the red is Red Heart Super Saver – I had both of those yarns left over from other projects and they worked great with the taupe yarn. I used a J/6mm hook to crochet my tote.

My tote ended up a little smaller than the pattern says – it is about 10.5 by 14 inches including the handles. It is still a great size to fill with goodies or to use as a gift bag.

Last year I made the Jack-O-Lantern Tote Bag (details are in this post) and the Snowman Tote Bag (you can find the details in this post).

I used my Jack-O-Lantern Tote Bag as part of my Halloween decor by simply hanging it from a doorknob. I filled 2 of the Snowman Tote Bags last year with lots of fun goodies – just like filling a Christmas stocking – as Christmas gifts for 2 special little girls. I also made a few of the Snowman Tote Bags for my Mom to give as gifts – they were a big hit with her friends. 🙂

Fill the Gingerbread Tote Bag with a homemade cookie or cake mix, spatula, wooden spoon, and hot pad for a fun friend or neighbor Christmas gift! 🎄

Happy Stitching!

Anita

Posted in Christmas, Crochet, Gifts | Tagged Christmas, Crochet | Leave a comment

Polka Dot Christmas Stocking Ornaments

Posted on July 9, 2021 by Anita

Hi friends,

Christmas in July continues with these adorable Polka Dot Christmas Stocking Ornaments. 🎄

I picked up these cute wood stocking ornaments at Dollar Tree last year. They came in a package of 5 – so just 20 cents each! Such a deal!

Dollar Tree usually starts filling their shelves with Christmas craft goodies around September. You’ll need to grab what you want quickly as they always sell out so fast! I have a plastic bin where I store my Christmas crafting supplies that I haven’t used so that 6 months later when I want to start crafting again I won’t forget what I bought. 😉

To make these cute Polka Dot Christmas Stocking Ornaments you’ll need red, green, and white acrylic paint (this is a great set to have on hand) and a foam brush or paint brush. You’ll also need a foam spouncer to add the polka dots.

Paint the bottom of the stocking either red or green. I used a foam brush and painted both sides with 2 coats, letting it dry between coats. Then paint the cuff on both sides with 2 coats of white paint.

After the paint is dry, use your foam spouncer to apply white paint to randomly make the polka dots. I did this on both sides of my ornaments so it won’t matter which way they hang.

I finished my ornaments by using a foam brush to apply a thin coat of Matte Mod Podge on each side to seal them and add just a touch of shine. Make sure to let the first side dry completely before turning them over to do the other side.

The ornaments came with twine that you can use for hanging or you can use red and white baker’s twine like I did.

I think they turned out so fun and whimsical! They will look so cute on your tree or make a great package tie on. 🎁 You can also personalize them by putting a name on the cuff.

Happy Crafting! 🎄

Anita

Posted in Christmas, Decor | Tagged Christmas, Decor, ornaments | Leave a comment

Crochet Gnome Towel Toppers

Posted on July 6, 2021 by Anita

Hi friends,

It’s time for Christmas in July! 🎄Last year I had so much fun giving you inspiration to get started on your Christmas makes that I thought I would do it again this year! We all know how fast time flies and if you want to make things for the season the time to start is now. 🙂

I wanted to make this adorable Crochet Gnome Towel Topper last year, but time got away from me. So this year, I decided it would be my first Christmas make. He is super quick and easy to stitch up – the free pattern can be found here at Nana’s Crafty Home. She also has a link to a paid printable PDF if that is something you would like to have.

I used Yarn Bee Soft & Sleek yarn in Red, Kale, White, and Blush to stitch up my Gnomes. I used a J/6mm hook. The pattern recommends an H/5mm hook but I found I needed to go larger to accommodate the plastic ring inside the Gnome. We all crochet a little differently, so just adjust hook size as you need to on any project you are working on. 🙂

These are the 3-inch plastic rings that I used to hang the towels from. You’ll need some flour sack towels to make his beard and 3/4-inch white buttons.

Once your Gnome is stitched up, you simply slip the towel through the ring inside and button him over your cabinet or oven handle for a cute – and useful – Christmas decoration. It’s so easy to take the towel out for washing without having to take your Gnome off the handle!

Of course these would be so cute any time of the year – just make them in colors to match your kitchen!

Happy Stitching!

Anita

Posted in Christmas, Crochet, Gifts | Tagged Christmas, Crochet, Gifts | 2 Comments

Patriotic Sugar Cookie Bars

Posted on July 2, 2021 by Anita

Hi friends,

Are you bringing dessert to the 4th of July picnic this weekend? Looking for a quick but fun and festive recipe? These Patriotic Sugar Cookie Bars might be just what you are looking for! 🇺🇸

I found the recipe here at Upstate Ramblings. The dough mixes up in just a few minutes and then you bake the whole batch of cookies at once in a 9 x 13 inch baking pan – I love that! After the cookies cool completely, you will frost them with yummy cream cheese icing and add plenty of fun patriotic sprinkles. Cut them into squares and enjoy!

Here’s the dough ready to go into the oven… It’s a thick sticky dough so I lightly sprayed my clean hands with cooking spray to spread it out and pat it in the pan that I lined with parchment paper.

And fresh out of the oven… It smells so yummy!

After they are cooled, frosted, and sprinkled…

The cream cheese in the dough and the icing adds a whole new level of flavor to these tasty sugar cookie bars. I stored my cookie bars in the refrigerator just to be safe due to the cream cheese icing. Simply take them out an hour or so before you want to serve them – or you can serve them cold right from the fridge, too!

These tasty Patriotic Sugar Cookie Bars are sure to be a hit – especially with the kids! 🙂

Happy Baking

Anita

Posted in Recipes, Summer | Tagged Recipe, Summer | 3 Comments

Hello Sunshine Girl

Posted on June 29, 2021 by Anita

Hi friends,

Oh my goodness! Unity Stamp Company has the best rubber stamps! This Hello Sunshine Girl is just perfect! I love her vintage vibe and she is so fun to color. 🙂 She also comes with 3 different sentiments.

I stamped her with Memento Rich Cocoa ink on white card stock and colored her with Copic markers. I die cut the image using the Petite Scallop Mini Slim Stacklets dies from Taylored Expressions. I die cut a larger scalloped rectangle using the same die set from patterned paper and layered the image to it. These beautiful patterned papers are from the Kindness is Magic paper pack from Unity Stamp Company. I stamped the sentiment with Memento Rich Cocoa ink on white card stock, trimmed it, and layered it to yellow card stock.

To make the card, I attached a piece of patterned paper to the front of a white card. I attached the stamped image to the card using foam tape and added the sentiment strip over the image, using foam tape only on the edges so it lays flat along the top of the stamped image. I finished the card by adding 2 enamel dots.

Isn’t she just the sweetest?!?!?

This is my favorite adhesive for card making (you can find the refills here.) And I love this glue for adding small embellishments. I always add a dot of glue even if the embellishment has adhesive on it, just to be sure it won’t fall off the card.

What colors will your Hello Sunshine Girl wear? 🙂

Happy Stamping!

Anita

Posted in Cards, Stamping | Tagged Cards, Stamping | Leave a comment

Crochet Ridged Baby Blanket

Posted on June 25, 2021 by Anita

Hi friends,

It seems like I almost always have a crochet baby blanket on my hook – or at least I’m thinking about the next one I will be making. 🙂 There are literally thousands of patterns out there to choose from, and I’ve made a lot of them! Today I want to share a pattern I created. I hope you like it!

The Crochet Ridged Baby Blanket is a simple repeat of double crochet with front post double crochet and back post double crochet stitches to create the “ridges”. I made this blanket using Yarn Bee Soft & Sleek yarn in Earthblossom and an H/5mm hook.

I decide to let the yarn just make whatever pattern it was going to make as I went along. Even though my skeins were all the same dye lot, you can see in the picture below that they didn’t all stitch up the same. But I kinda like the way it turned out! 🙂

Here’s a closer look at the border which is rounds of single crochet in the back loop only. You can find my free pattern below. I’ve also included a link to a free PDF if you’d like to easily print it.

Crochet Ridged Baby Blanket

Yarn Bee Soft & Sleek in Earthblossom – 5 (4 oz) skeins

H/5mm hook

Stitches used US terms:

Chain – ch

Single Crochet – sc

Foundation Double Crochet – fdc

Double Crochet – dc

Front Post Double Crochet – fpdc

Back Post Double Crochet – bpdc

Slip Stitch – ss

Back Loop Only – blo

Note: ch 2 at beginning of row counts as 1st dc stitch.

Row 1: Work 89 fdc. Turn. (89 stitches)

Row 2: ch 2 (counts as 1st stitch). Skip 1st dc, dc in each stitch across. Turn. (89 stitches)

Row 3: ch 2 (counts as 1st stitch). Skip 1st dc, dc in next 3 stitches. fpdc in next stitch. *dc in next 4 stitches, fpdc in next stitch* Repeat from * to * across to last 4 stitches. dc in last 4 stitches. Turn. (89 stitches)

Row 4: ch 2 (counts as 1st stitch). Skip 1st dc, dc in next 3 stitches. bpdc in next stitch. *dc in next 4 stitches, bpdc in next stitch* Repeat from * to * to last 4 stitches. dc in last 4 stitches. Turn. (89 stitches)

Rows 5-64: Repeat Rows 3 and 4, ending with a repeat of Row 4.

Row 65: ch 2 (counts as first stitch). dc in each stitch across. (89 stitches)

Do not turn after last row.

Border:

Begin working in Rounds. Do not turn at the end of each round.

Round 1: ch 1. sc crochet evenly around, working 3 sc in each corner. Join with ss to first sc.

Do not turn.

Rounds 2-4: ch 1. sc in blo of each stitch around, working 3 sc in each corner. Join with ss to first sc.

Fasten off and weave in ends.

Finished size is about 28 by 35 inches.

Here’s the link to the free PDF…

Crochet Ridged Baby Blanket Download

I think this pattern would work up beautifully in a solid color. Or maybe a solid color with a different color border.

What are your favorite colors for baby blankets?

Happy Stitching!

Anita

Posted in Baby, Crochet, Gifts | Tagged Crochet, Gifts | 4 Comments

Easy and Fun Birthday Cards

Posted on June 22, 2021 by Anita

Hi friends,

I recently pulled out a few of my Unity Stamp Company stamp sets to make some easy and fun birthday cards. Our children’s pastor at church sends a card to each of our kids for their birthdays – I love that! – and I have the privilege of making the cards for him. It’s so fun!

This card is made with the Cuddlebug Bunny set. Isn’t she adorable?!? I stamped her with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink on white card stock and colored her with Copic markers. Then I die cut my image with the Pinkfresh Studio Diagonal Stitched Square die. The sentiment is stamped with red ink on white card stock and punched with an oval punch (similar to this). I inked the edges of the oval with red ink. I attached a piece of patterned paper to a white card and then attached both the bunny image and the sentiment to the card using foam tape, overlapping the corner of the bunny image with the sentiment.

I made this next card in 2 different color combos. The set is called So Glad You Were Born. It’s a fun set with lots of birthday sentiments to choose from. I stamped the birthday cake image with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink on white card stock and colored them with Copic markers. I stamped the sentiment with black ink above the birthday cake. I used these Stitched Mini Slim Stacklet dies from Taylored Expressions to die cut the image and the mat layered behind the image. I attached a piece of patterned paper (these papers both came from Unity Stamp Company) to a white card. I attached the stamped image to the card with foam tape.

I also made this last card in 2 different color combos. This set is called Sweet Sprinkled Donut. Isn’t it fun!?! I stamped the donut image with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored it with Copic markers. I die cut the image using dies similar to these and inked the edges with ink to match my color scheme. I stamped the sentiment with the matching ink, punched it with an older discontinued Stampin’ Up punch (this is similar), and inked the edges. I attached a piece of patterned paper to a white card and attached the stamped images with foam tape, overlapping the corner of the donut image with the sentiment. I finished the card by adding 3 sequins.

I love these larger stamps from Unity Stamp Company! They make it so easy and fun to make a quick card that still looks great – and you can make several in a short amount of time.

Which one is your favorite? 🙂

Happy Stamping!

Anita

Posted in Cards, Stamping | Tagged Cards, Stamping | Leave a comment

Sheet Pan Oatmeal Butterscotch Bars

Posted on June 18, 2021 by Anita

Hi friends,

Sometimes you just want a cookie! Bar cookies are the best thing ever to quickly satisfy your craving…you just mix up your cookie dough, spread in the pan, and bake. I like that your entire batch of cookies is finished at one time – I usually clean up my mess while the cookies are baking so that when the oven timer goes off the only thing left to clean is the pan the cookies are in. 🙂

I found this yummy recipe for Sheet Pan Oatmeal Butterscotch Bars here at Six Sisters’ Stuff. The recipe is super quick and easy and it makes a ton of cookies – plenty to share! You probably have most everything you need right in your kitchen.

If you haven’t checked out Six Sisters’ Stuff, you should! Tons of tasty recipes and so much more!

Here’s my sheet pan ready to go into the oven…

Browned and cooling…You should smell my kitchen! 😋

I love butterscotch and oatmeal together! These Sheet Pan Oatmeal Butterscotch Bars are so yummy. You can pop them in the microwave for a few seconds a couple of days after you’ve baked them to have warm cookies – just like fresh out of the oven!

I wonder how these would be with chocolate chips? I may have to try that next time…🤔

Happy Baking!

Anita

Posted in Recipes | Tagged Recipe | Leave a comment

Americana USA Wood Blocks

Posted on June 16, 2021 by Anita

Hi friends,

Last year I made these cute Americana Wood Blocks to add to my patriotic decor. I thought it would be fun to add some USA blocks this year. They are super quick and easy to make!

Here’s what you’ll need…

2-inch wood blocks (I used these)
1.75-inch wood letters U, S, A (I found mine at Hobby Lobby)
Red, White, Blue, and Brown acrylic paint (this is a great set if you need some)
E6000 clear adhesive
chip brushes to paint your blocks and letters

Apply 2 coats of paint to your blocks – one block each of red, white, and blue – letting the paint dry between coats. Paint your “U” white, your “S” blue, and your “A” red. Once the paint is dry, dry brush your blocks and letters with brown paint to give them a vintage look.

Using E600 clear adhesive or another strong glue, glue your letters to the blocks – the “U” to the red block, the “S” to the white block, and the “A” to the blue block.

Next I glued my blocks together, slightly offsetting them. This step is totally optional – you may not want to glue them together. 🙂 You can either stack them like I did or put them side by side.