mr wormy apple gift tag tutorial

Cute gift tags are fun. Y'all know I love making gift tags that double as cards (like this and this). I'm all about two birds with one stone. This is my latest iteration for kids' gifts, and includes a bonus -- a cute, poseable toy worm to play with after the party is over. Here's a how-to for you.

You'll need:

• This template
• Letter sized 8.5 x 11 in. red card stock
• scraps of green, black and white card stock
• paper glue and fabric glue (like Fabri-Tac®)
• a toothpick
• a standard 1/4 in. hole punch and a 1/8 in. hole punch
• scissors
• bone folder or butter knife for scoring
• two pipe cleaners, one green and one yellow
• one small green pom and one red mini-pom
• two 1/4 in. googly eyes
• piece o' tape
• gel pen
• string for tying tag (I like pretty baker's twine)

1) Print the template at actual size (no scaling) on your red card stock. You'll have enough to make two tags. Cut out one rectangle and set the other aside for later. Cut out the leaf template and set aside.

2) Use your bone folder or butter knife to score the fold on the apple card. Fold the rectangle in half and cut the apple shape out, being sure to leave the connected parts uncut so your card will open and close. Then flip it inside out so any stray toner marks will be on the inside.

3) Use the leaf template to trace a leaf on green card stock. Use the bone folder to score a line down the middle. Cut out the leaf and erase any stray pencil marks. Fold it along the score.

4) Use the standard 1/4 in. hole punch to make a nice worm hole in the top apple layer only, as shown.

5) Cut out a small rectangle from black card stock to use as a stem. Glue the stem at a jaunty angle to the back of the apple.

6) Dot a small amount of glue to the bottom corner edge of the leaf and place it as shown.

 7) Use the standard 1/4 in. hold punch to make one circle of white for a nice shiny highlight. Use the toothpick to dot on some paper glue and stick it toward the top right as shown.

8) Now for Mr Wormy. Cut a 5 inch piece from both pipe cleaners. Set the extra pieces aside to make another Mr Wormy later. Twist the pipe cleaners together to create a stripey body. On the tail end, fold over the very ends and crimp firmly so they will stay wound together and there will be no sharp wires poking out.

9) Add a nice dot of fabric glue to the green pom and stick the sharp ends of the worm neck inside the pom through the glue. Hold in place for a minute so it will set.

10) Use a toothpick to add dots of fabric glue to the other side of the pom so you can attach the red mini-pom nose and the two googly eyes. I like to say googly eyes. Googly eyes!

11)  Now's the time to write a name on the outside of the card and a greeting on the inside. I like to use a white gel pen. It looks nice.

12) Punch a 1/8 in. hole in the top of the stem for the baker's twine or string.

13) Feed the tail end of Mr Wormy through the worm hole until you have just the right amount showing outside the card. Have fun bending his head into a charming angle. Tape the end of the worm to the inside of the card so he stays in place until the gift giving is over.

That's it! All that's left is to tie your awesome, handmade, googly-eyed Mr Wormy gift tag to your present and congratulate yourself on saving a trip to the card store. (high five self)

fall card for Robyn

Just as I'm ready to wear tights and make soup in Georgia, Robyn is sporting lawn tank tops and making cold salads in Rio. I thought I'd send a little northern hemisphere back with her on her birthday card to remind her that somewhere there are leaves turning and days shortening and friends missing her.

coupla cards

If you have some time, paper scaps, fabric scraps and glue you have all you need to whip out some cards and save yourself some cash. It's a great excuse to be a hoarder. Top card is for my soon-to-be niece's wedding shower, bottom card is for my Mom's birthday. Guess where she's going?

fall scrap card for Leigh

Here's a scrap card how-to if you get inspired to make some of your own. I know it's not officially autumn yet, but I can pretend. Isn't September such a pretty word? *dreamy sighhhh* Fall is my favorite. With the buckets upon buckets of summer rain that were poured over Georgia (thank you, Father) I'm crossing my fingers for some eye popping tree leaves.

Bring on the pumpkin spiced everything.

In related news, I updated the blog's masthead with pretty pretty fall colors and a cinnamon stick. If you are reading via RSS, pop over to the mothership to see it. 

Happy birthday, big sis. I looooooove youuuuu. Wanna trade birthdays? But not ages. Haha. (Ducking)

simple grad card

Doesn't take long to make. I used one pop dot under the mortarboard, and the tassel is made from embroidery floss.

this time in purple, pink, orange and red

 

The not-as-difficult-the-second-time-round MS flower card for my sweet MIL, Paula. You didn't think I forgot her, did you? I'm so blessed to have two lovely moms in my life! However, unlike my own mom, Michael's mom is computer savvy and connected to the interwebs, so I had to keep a lid on hers until now.

I sometimes wonder how much money I've saved Michael by making all our cards instead of buying them? Mmmmmprobably not as much money as I've spent on paper, felt and shoes, so let's change the subject. 

Finished the card a bit differently this time by punching holes for a string tie, and so managed again to avoid making an envelope. (Patting self on shoulder.) Worked great!

I'm also thanking myself for buying that gift tag punch. Goodness, it's handy. I have two:

New one is the straightforward one and the fancypants scrolly punch I've had for a while. Different brands, same factory looks like. No more buying gift tags. Unless I want to.

Next post: Paula's needle book.

made it: MS pop up flower card

The moment I saw this MS Mother's Day card project I fell in love. What's not to love? It's a gorgeous and clever design. Flowers are pretty. But pop up flowers? Shazam.

I finally got around to making one late last night, and it was a squidge harder than I thought it would be. Maybe it would be best not to attempt this after 11pm. But when it came together, it made me so happy. It's fascinating to watch the flowers pull in and collapse and then open again. I opened and closed the card a lot. Well, it was pretty late when I finished.

I watched this video about one thousand times to try and decipher the way you adhere the finished flowers together. I really like her voice! In the end, the written tutorial was the most helpful for that, so I recommend you use both their video and the written tutorial. Just keep in mind each flower will be tacked in three places, except for the middle flower which is tacked on every petal.

Helpful notes for you:

• Do not use heavy paper for the flowers. I didn't have any regular 20 lb stock in pretty colors, so I ended up using a smooth construction paper, which is slightly heavier than 20 lb. It worked OK, but a lightweight paper would work the best, since you will be cutting through 8 layers of paper to cut each flower. Origami or printer paper would be the right weight.
• Instead of double sided tape, I used small dots of my favorite paper glue Fabri-Tac because I didn't have any double sided tape, and it worked like a charm. (I know, technically that's a fabric glue, but I just love it for tacking paper because it dries almost instantly and doesn't pucker paper. However, I would never use it to spread over a large area.)
• If you want to add some vavoom to the center of the flowers like me, use a soft colored pencil and add the centers while the flower is still flat.
• I added another layer to the outside of the card by adhering a darker ever-so-slightly-larger-than 10 x 6 inch piece on the outside. It gives the card more stiffness and adds some color.
• Be aware the finished size of the project is 5 x 6 inches, which does not fit a standard envelope. You can always whip up one of your own, because you are crafty like that.
• I added a faux tag in the back because I didn't want to write on the pretty pretty inside:

And I sent it with love along with her flowery needle book. Mother's Day just seems to call for flowers. (Don't worry, my mom doesn't have a computer so this post won't ruin her surprise. Yes, that's right. No computer. No smart phone. And she still manages to have a full and meaningful life.)

Happy Mother's Day to all my fellow moms out there who love, teach and nurture their children and grandchildren 24 hours a day, every day of the year. No better job in the universe.

Need other ideas?
Make a Momma Bird Card
More Scrap Cards. You Make One!
Make a Flower Card for Mom

make a quick princess card/gift tag (or a bear, or a puppy, etc...)

Quickly made from card stock and construction paper for sweet Princess Jocelyn's 6th birthday. I punched a small hole in the left pigtail and tied the card to the gift bag with some pink baker's twine, so it really functioned as both a card and a tag. I love making oversized gift tags this way. No fussing with an envelope. And this is key: no going to the store to buy a card. 

Here's what you do. It is really easy to put together. You can make your princess any color you like, but for simplicity's sake I'll keep the colors as they are.

(A word about circle punches: Get some. I use my simple circle punches in paper crafts a lot. A LOT. So much easier than trying to cut a small circle. As a matter of fact, I just ordered more circle punches in different sizes. By far and away the most useful punches I own. So versatile.)

1) Bring the short sides of a letter sized piece of pink card stock together and fold it in half.

2) Use a compass with a pencil to draw a circle that overlaps the fold very slightly and takes up most of the depth. Keep the compass set at the same width.

3) Cut out the circle from the folded paper so that you have a circular card. I flip it over so that any stray pencil marks will be on the back.

4) Widen the compass ever so slightly and draw another circle that's just a tiny bit bigger than the pink one on orange card stock.

5) Sketch a side part with bangs on the orange circle and cut that shape out. Flip it so the pencil marks are underneath. Rub a glue stick on the back of the orange hair, but don't put any glue on the lowest part of the bangs just in case you need to sneak an eye under there like I did. Adhere the orange hair to the pink circle with the fold of the card at the top of the head.

6) Using the compass or a handy jar lid, draw two smaller circles on the orange paper and cut them out with normal or scallop scissors for pigtails. Flip the pencil marks to the back. Add glue only to the front lower part of the orange pigtails and stick them to the back of the top layer of the card, on either side of the fold.

 

7) Fold a small piece of yellow card stock in half. Trace a half of a simple tiara shape and cut it out. Add glue to the outside edges of the tiara only so that it has some dimension when you place it on the hair.

8) Time to get out your trusty paper punches: 

Use a 1 inch punch to make two white and two dark pink circles. 

Use a 5/8 inch punch to make two blue circles and 1 pink circle. 

Use a slightly smaller 1/2 inch punch to make two black circles.

9) Glue the pink cheeks even with each other on the lower part of the face, almost touching the edges.

10) Glue on the white circles for eyes, overlapping the cheeks, making sure the eyes are even and an equal distance from the edges.

11) Add the blue circles to the eyes. You can make them crossed like mine or looking in any direction. Experiment with it before you commit.

12) Glue the black circles in the middle of the blue circles.

13) Use a pop dot to adhere the pink circle nose centered between the eyes. The pop dot is great for adding a little shadow under the nose.

14) Fold a small piece of red paper in half and cut a tiny arch on the fold to make lips. Unfold and glue the top part of the lips centered under the nose. Keep the lower part unglued so it can add dimension.

15) Now get out your colored pencils if you want to add some finishing touches: 

orange eyebrow(s)

black lashes

black smile

white highlights in the eyes 

and a tiny white highlight on the lower lip (if she's wearing lip gloss)

16) Punch a 1/8 inch hole in one of the pigtails for tying with string if this will be functioning as a gift tag. Write a birthday message on the inside of the card.

It occurred to me that this same basic design could be used for other kinds of characters:

Add circles inside the pigtails, and now you have fuzzy ears. Add a little shock of hair, a circle for a snout and use a larger nose. Boom. Now you have a cute little bear.

Make the ears longer and fold them over, snip off the edge of a circle to add a tongue, and voila, a little puppy card.

Use black and white, add patches behind the eyes (and perhaps a bow tie) and you have a little panda.

Use brown hair and eyes instead, add the pigtails lower down, and now you have a Leia tag. 

And on and on. You get the idea. There are a lot of possibilities. And so many trips you do not have to make to the store for a card.