Essential Holiday Project - Advent Calendar

Hello everyone!
I know I'm a few days late in posting this advent calendar but as I like to say (often!) "better late than never!!" So, here are two examples of an advent calendar using our white giftware boxes, giftwrap, ribbon and cardstock. The really great thing about making these advent calendars is that you can customize them for anyone - pink for little girls, blue for boys, hockey theme for big boys or even glittery and blingy for big girls! This first version was created by our Office Manager, Shannon, for her 3 year old niece-

Shannon used our 3" x 3" x 3" white giftware boxes, 25 of them in total, assembled them in five rows of 5 boxes and attached them together with tape. She printed the numbers on white cardstock and then matted them onto pink and lime green cardstock.

The pink and lime green satin bows co-ordinated perfectly with the foil giftwrap Shannon used to wrap around the outside of the boxes.

When assembling the giftboxes, make sure that all the box "tops" are facing the front so you can open them! Shannon chose to have her box tops opening down. This giftbox is an ideal size for any little treasures you may want to give.


Here's a view of the back - these are actually the "bottoms" of the giftboxes, placed on their sides.

This is the second advent calendar sample - this is one that I made for my 3 year old son, Matthew, after I was inspired by the one that Shannon made! I went with the red and blue colour theme for him, his favourite colours!



The only thing a bit different from the sample that Shannon made was that I chose to have my "tops" open upward instead of down like hers. It wasn't so much of a choice as it was a boo-boo that I realized after I glued the first boxes together!! It still worked out in the end.

The advent calendar was fun, quick and easy to make - my version probably took about 2 hours max. to complete and that was mostly due to cutting out the numbers and mats. Matthew has really enjoyed opening his up over the last few days - the little Matchbox firetruck from this morning has been the big hit so far!

Take care and see you soon!
Anna

Gift Basket Tutorial - by Antonella

You are going to love our "basket bags".
What is a basket bag - you ask? Keep reading...

With the holidays fast approaching I thought I would post a

step by step tutorial on how to assemble your gift baskets.

The basket bag way...

Step 1. Assemble your supplies:

You will need the following items:

Basket or Tray
Tissue paper and shred
Basket Bag
Ribbon
Tinsel cord
Ornament or other accent
Scissors and tape
Basket Contents

Crumple a few sheets of tissue paper and place it in your basket.

Sprinkle a handful of shred on top of the tissue paper.

The tissue paper will help keep the contents of the basket from shifting.

Arrange your items into the tray.

Nestle them into the tissue securely so they don't shift when it comes time
to transport your gift.

Now all you have to do is simply place the basket

into the basket bag. Yes, it's that simple.

Tuck the corners of the bag under the basket and tape securely.

Pull the basket bag up so it's snug around the tray and not sagging anywhere.

Tie with tinsel cord. Pull hard - it should be tied tightly.

You should not have any space in between the cinched top of the basket

bag and the tallest item in your basket. If you do the bag will begin to sag.

We prefer to use tinsel cord to tie the bags simply because

it's strong and we know it won't break.

Pre-tie your bows as shown in Anna's bow tutorial.

Tie the bows onto the basket bag using the tinsel cord then tie on your accent.

Trim any extra cord.

That's it - you're all done.

Happy Wrapping!