Teachers Day Gifts - Decoupaged Key Holders

Decoupaged Key Holders

       Hi friends, every year my daughter and I make Teacher's day gifts for my daughter's teachers. Over the  years we have gifted handmade photo-frames, pen-stands, tea light holders, note pad holders, post it note holders etc. 

This year I was short on time and ideas seemed to elude me! And we had to make 14 gifts so we chose a simple project - decoupaged Key Holders.

Decoupaged Key Holders

They were simple but turned out beautiful . It was time consuming but relaxing too to churn out these cute House shaped key holders!! And 2 pairs of hands are definitely faster as my kiddo helped in all the  painting and coating!

Teachers Day Gifts

The beautiful houses got several layers of Mod Podge and 2 final coats of a sealer so that they can even be wiped with a wet cloth

Decoupaged Key Holders

 I first debated making handmade flowers to add to the  design but finally decided that  " less is more"   is better for a functional project!

Teachers Day Gifts

 My daughter gifted them to her Teachers and yes I think the  teacher's loved them!

Teachers Day Gifts

Triple Craft Punch Review and Project Ideas

Triple Craft Punch Projects

           Hi friends, when I first started crafting I fell in love with Craft Punches and so  I was especially  thrilled when Shalini  launched Craft Punches under her brand Dress My Craft ! 

In this post I will demo the Dress My Craft Triple Punches and show you how versatile they are with a couple of projects.

Special Features of the Triple Punches 

• Size : They are pretty large and sturdy Punches and can punch  paper widths of upto 2.5 inches .No limit to the length of paper you can punch!
• Mechanism :All 3 Triple Punches act by the  "Lever mechanism" which is personally my most favorite punch mechanism as not only is it easier to punch paper using lever punches but it also gives cleaner cuts
• Can hold in hand and punch! Because of the levering mechanism you can hold the punch and punch with your hand instead of having to always set it on a surface to punch.This is an advantage when you want to use the negatives of the punch-outs as shown in my video.
• Layering Punches- The base of the 3 punches have markings of 1.5, 2 and 2.5 inches on wedges to fit papers of these 3 widths-  this makes layering of your punched out tags and banners super easy. 
• Wedged Paper feeder-The wedges on the paper feeder base are an especially useful feature as if you cut your paper to size and feed it into a wedge say 1.5 or 2 or 2.5 inches...you can easily align the edges of your paper so that you dont get a wonky or crooked tag/banner.

• Another advantage of the  wedges is it allows you to easily align paper widths such as 1 ¾  or 2 ¼  to make layering quicker and easier.
• Nonskid Base : The base has built in nonskid discs which is especially handy when you are working with big punches such as these.

Craft Punch Base

• Heavy duty Punch : The punches can easily punch papers of 300g and it even smoothly punched ivory sheets!
• Punches thin paper too- now you may be wondering why am I listing this as an advantage of these Dress My Craft punches...well surprisingly some heavy duty punches  give jagged edges with thin paper as they are meant to be used with card-stock! 
• Cut pieces are useful too! I  am sure there are many of you who like  to waste as little paper as is practically possible when you craft. I love it when I can creatively use the negatives and little bits which are left  with the main punched design . When you scroll down you'll see how easy it is to create chevrons and beautiful patterns with the negative bits of the triple punch designs!

Ok now let me show you some project ideas to show the versatility of the Triple punch designs

Sharing some quick and easy to make Handmade Gift Ideas

1. Layered Bookmarks
2. Mini Album/Box Closure Mechanism
3. Business/ID Card Holder Box
4. Accordion Box
5. Organiser/Gift Basket

Bookmarks

When I got the triple punches a few days back I was frantically making notepad holders as Teacher's Day gifts and these layering punches were quite  handy to quickly make some gorgeous matching bookmarks for my daughter's teachers. 

I used the Rounded Tag Punch to create the layered bookmarks. It is very easy to create layers quickly using the wedges and markings.

Notepad Holder and Bookmark

Crafty Tip

If you are using the increments of 0.5 inches width strips....increase your paper strips by 1/4th inch only to get the perfect margin.I played around with the measurements of the strips to get borders of different widths.

Craft Punch Bookmarks

One big time saver with this tag punch is the hole which also punches perfectly with the rounded top shape. You just have to add an eyelet and a thread to finish the  bookmarks!Love how the punches work beautifully with different papers.
 

 Box / Mini Album Closure

The shape of the Rounded Tag is just perfect to make a stylish closure mechanism!

I created a acetate window box from this project : Foamiran Flowers Hanging Decoration and made a secure closure using the Rounded Tag punch.

 You just have to add an eyelet and thread a ribbon/twine to create the closure.

ID Card/Business Card Holder

These cute Mini Flip top boxes are designed to hold ID/Business Cards. They are made from  10 ¼  x 4 inch pieces of card-stock using the rounded tag punch.

Accordion Boxes

  This box looks similar to the boxes shown above but is much easier to make and is quite roomier too.

 It is an accordion box which is ½  inch thick and measures 3 ¾ x 2 ½ inches  .You can make it in different lengths to hold tags, I love you notes, small photographs etc.

I designed them to hold Membership cards/ID cards/Visiting Cards.

Because of the magnetic closure it is not advisable to use it with Credit Cards.

 The base is made from a single strip of cardtock measuring 2 ½  x 10 ¼  inches

 And the accordions on the sides help it to expand. And they also help partition the inside of the holder to keep the cards separately for easy access.

Chevron Pattern
Here are the backsides of the boxes showing how you can use the negatives of the punch-outs to create chevron patterns. They would look beautiful in cards too.

Here is a short  video Tutorial to make the ID card holders

 Organizer Baskets/ Gift Basket

Because the Tag Punch can punch through really thick paper...it is fabulous to make Mini Organisers or Gift baskets. These cute Organisers  have wooden dowel sticks threaded through eyelets in the tags and you can carry them around by holding the rods.

 You can make them as long as you want. These are 4 inches long and 2 inches wide and are perfect to hold tiny bottles of nail polish [above]  or crafting supplies such as Alcohol Inks [below]!

I hope you liked the project ideas and before I bid adieu don't forget to check out this post on the  Use and Care of your CraftPunches 

Supplies from Crafters Corner

Punches :-Banner Punch ,Rounded Tag Punch ,Rectangular Tag Punch 

Papers : Dress My Craft Floral Symphony, Dress My Craft Hydrangea Lawns, Dress My Craft Pastel Pink Textured Cardstock, K and Company Tim Coffey Cottage Garden Specialty Paper, Acetate

Dies : Gina Marie Picket Fence,Elizabeth Craft Designs 728 Bunch of Flowers,Magnolia Doohickeys Vintage Box Lacing Coffee , Crealies Set of 3 no. 41, Bows ,Crealies Duo Dies no. 41, Bows

Teachers Day Gifts

Teachers Day Gifts 

 Hi friends, in India we celebrate Teachers Day on September 5th and every year I make it a point to make Teachers' Day gifts for my daughter's teachers. This year my daughter and I  made shaker Notepad Holders and matching Bookmarks.

Shaker Notepad Holders

Teachers Day Gifts

The Notepad Holders  have shaker elements in the cup and in the dome too and when you open the magnetic flap of the cup  it is sheer fun to hear the shaker elements jingle around!

Teachers Day Gifts

We made an assorted variety including a Chocolate Milkshake, Strawberry Sundae,Cappuccino,Raspberry Shake, Lemonade and hehe some exotic floral flavours too!

Teachers Day Gifts

My daughter has 11 teachers this year so we made a total of 11 Shaker Notepad Holders!

Teachers Day Gifts

This project is a fusion between two projects  whose Tutorials I had shared earlier : DIY Notepad Holder Tutorial  and Magnetic Shaker Bookmark.

Tag Punch Bookmarks
Today I got some super cool new punches  which were recently launched by Shalini under her brand Dress My Craft and I just couldn't resist playing with them!

Tag Punch Bookmarks

One of the punches is a Triple Tag Puch.It is a pretty huge and sturdy Punch with a lever mechanism and is a Layering Punch!

Tag Punch

It has slots to hold paper widths of 2.5, 2 and 1.5 inches so this makes layering a breeze!

Tag Punch Bookmarks

For example if you punch a strip of pattern paper  measuring 2  x 6 inches and and strip of card stock of 2.5 x 6 and 1/4 inch you get a perfect 1/4inch border when you layer them!

The Tag punch made layering a breeze and as it even punched the holes , I just had to set in the eyelets and loop a thread through  it make the bookmarks!

Teachers Day Gifts 

Here is an open notepad holder with it's matching bookmark

Teachers Day Gifts

I played around with the borders  by  experimenting  with the measurements!

Teachers Day Gifts 

I have a couple of tag dies in my stash but  using the Tag Punch was liberating as there was no restriction on the length and  using a punch is in many ways faster than die cutting!

Teachers Day Gifts 

I was able to punch through ivory sheets and even 300g cardstock easily to create the bookmark bases!

Teachers Day Gifts 

The inside of the notepad holders is also decorated with matching papers. I recycled my daughter's old notebooks to create the little notepads.

Teachers Day Gifts 

It was fun creating matching stationary!

Teachers Day Gifts 

The set below created with Lemon Craft paper is one of my favourites!

Teachers Day Gifts 

What do you say friends...hope you like this handmade gift idea
This is also my DT post for the Cuttlebugmania  Challenge where the theme is "Anything But a Card" using your diecutting machine. It is a fum and easy Challenge ...I hope you will join in!

Supplies : Dies :  Crealies Cardzz No 05, Cardzz No 5A, Duo Dies 41, Set of 3 41, Magnolia Doohickeys Vintage Box Lacing Coffee [border of the bookmarks]
Papers : Dress My Craft Hydrangea Lawns, DCWV Snack Stack , Lemoncraft Fresh Summer
Shaker Elements : Sequins, Micro Pearls, Flower Pearls all from Dress My Craft 
Punch : Dress My Craft Tag Punch
from Crafters Corner

Teacher's Day Gifts with Crealies

Bird House Tea Light Holders

          Hi friends, Teacher's Day is celebrated on September 5th in India and my daughter and I love to use this chance to give small tokens of appreciation to her teachers . Over the years we have  made Photo-frames, Pen Stands, Post it Note Holders, Paper Purses and Mini Albums[Here are the projects: Teacher's Day Gifts]

Paper-craft Bird Houses

           This year I was struggling for ideas and thought only a card will have to do when a wonderful parcel containing fantastic dies from Crealies arrived all the way from Netherlands !

Crealies Dies from Netherlands

My regular readers will know I love working with dies and when Annelies from Crealies  contacted me some weeks earlier asking me if I would like to work with her dies I literally jumped at the chance as I loved her die designs!!
The gorgeous Create a Box Bird house set gave me the idea to make Tea Light Holders!

Teacher's Day Gifts- Paper House Tea Light Holders

I had to make 9 Tea Light Holders as my daughter has 9 teachers this year and as all are ladies I went with a feminine Shabby Chic theme!

Paper House Tea light Holder

I wanted the frame work to be sturdy and so used the base die to cut thick kraft card stock.

Crealies Create a Box -Birdhouse Die Set

I loved that the die set was cleverly designed and contained extra dies to cut all the decorative panels !

Paper House

I used pretty papers from Papericious which I distressed with Abandoned Coral Distress Inks to line the panels of the Bird house.

Crealies Decorette XL-Quatrefoil Die

So in love with Quatrefoil die...such an intricate design and it cut so beautifully! I loved it so much that I used it to decorate the walls and cut small strips to form decorative borders!

Paper House

The original design is meant to open at the base of the house but I modified it to have a side door and attached a brass "door knob"

Adding Door Knobs

Also attached magnets on the door and back of the house so that the door would be securely closed.

Adding Magnetic Closure

The ruffled pink polka dotted ribbon and lattice roof [made using a Wild Rose Studio Floral Frame die] helped complete the "Shabby Chic" look!

Teacher's Day Gifts

Teacher's Day Gifts

Here is how the tea light fits inside the "Bird House"!!

Tea Light Holder

The birds in the die set are mirror images which is  super cool as you can easily make birds facing either direction !

Crealies Double Fun- Birds Die Set

Paper Craft Bird House

Love how the bird dies embossed even without using an extra embossing pad!

Bird House Teacher's Day Gift

Teacher's Day Gift

Feathers are quite the fashion in the crafting world but I have never had a die to make such delicate beautiful feathers so this  Crealies die was especially delightful!

Crealies Double Fun-Feathers Die Set

I used the die to cut feathers from matching pattern paper.

Paper Feathers

And tweaked the die cut to keep the central feather element!

Paper Feathers

This Tea Light holder all lighted up looked so pretty in our garden!

Tea Light Holder

It was so much fun designing the 9 bird houses differently while still keeping to a theme!

Teacher's Day Gifts- Tea Light Holders

My daughter has some very special teachers and I  really hope they liked our presents!

Teacher's Day Gifts

I hope you liked our Teacher's Day gift idea !

Also please do check out the Crealies website too....they have some amazing die designs and especially the unique and fantastic Crealies Create a Card dies !

Supplies : Dies : Crealies Create a Box -13 Birdhouse,Crealies Double Fun-33 Birds,Crealies Double Fun[34]-Feathers,Crealies Decorette XL-02 Quatrefoil, Marianne Craftables CR1307 Tiny's  Forget me not,Cheery Lynn  Flourish 13,Dienamics [MFT] Stitched Circle Scallop Frame,Wild Rose Studio Floral Frame, Tiny Butterfly from Winnie and Walter  Essentials Audrey Cutaways , Partial Bow from Memory Box Precious Hearts
Papers : Papericious Its Peach Time

Edited : This project was featured as the Gold Star at the Pixie's Snippets Playground  and was also featured runner-up at Cuttlebug Mania Anything goes themed Challenge