The Christmas Gift: Revealed!!!

Hello to everyone not reading my blog! I assumed that since no one really reads this thing, it wouldn't be too terrible if I missed a week. (Sorry, it's been crazy around here!)

I had a blast making 2 sets of 20 hand-made, custom cards, perfect for many occasions, for Christmas gifts! I made a set for my sister, and another set for my cousin and his wife. It was a great gift because it was budget-friendly, and it was something really unique that will save the recipients some time and  money in the upcoming year! I always hate when I'm getting ready to go to a birthday party and I realize I don't have a card. Now, my sister and cousins won't have to worry about that... there are plenty of cards in their arsenal for the upcoming year.

Here are some shots:

Here's the set of 20 I made for my sister

Here's the set of 20 for my cousin and his wife



Close-up of 2 birthday cards




Some more birthday cards. The insides have little rhymes and sentiments,
but I'm not sharing those online, since I'm submitting them for a greeting-card company job!




A "Just Because" card and a "Love" card





More birthday!

 


Baby cards for variety!




All wrapped up and ready to go!
I put pretty gel pens in the front because
the ink looks nicer with the hand-made cards
than ink from just a regular old pen.























I thought that the Thirty-One Littles Carry-All Caddy would be the perfect choice for the "gift-wrap." They are $12, but they are so wonderful. I rave about these on my "Products I Love" page, but seriously... how cute is this! And then the cards can be stored in the large open area, with some pens, scissors, tape, whatever, in the front mesh pocket! Really, you can store any stationery in the caddy, so when the cards are gone, it'll still be useful!

Overall, the cards were pretty inexpensive and easy. It was difficult to be creative after making so many. I bought the cards for about $4 for a pack of 25. I used scrapbook paper from a 12x12 Variety Pack that I've had for years for the backgrounds. You can buy new packs for $9.99-$19.99 these days, or you can get individual sheets. I used scraps from large pieces as well as from my Scrap Packs for the accents, and stickers to finish it off!!! I used acid-free photo glue to hold everything together, as well.

These could definitely be more expensive to make if you use the delux stickers. I looked everywhere for big packs of birthday/Valentine's/Christmas stickers and got the most bang for my buck.

Let me know if you have any questions! I'd love to hear your comments!