1-29-11: Stevie's Birthday - Presents

To make the little Huckleberry photo frame flair I cut a Polaroid I had taken with my SX-70 to fit in the sticker frame (which was from a scrapbooking sticker pack I've had for years). The wood grain gift tag is contact paper applied to a manila folder scrap.

For this present I tucked a paper frame (SX-70 image size) I made with a Polaroid of our dog Buddy under the plaid ribbon. The paper for the frame is a hi-lo mix of thrifted manila folder and fancy handmade paper from the art supply store. I also used vintage photo corners, rubber stamp letters and a color photocopy of an antique label.

This really was a fragile glass gift - I have a huge packet of those vintage mailing stickers which are not only practical but look good too! The guinea pig gift tag was from the same educational set as the clowns for the banner. I stamped him with my typewriter letter, isn't he the cutest? I love his widdle feet and kooky hair.

The portraits of our dogs Buddy & Huckleberry were wrapped in the guinea pig tag package. Aren't they handsome in their little yellow bows? Did you know you can order prints from Snapfish and pick them up at your local Walgreen's usually within an hour? It is genius! The document frames are from K-Mart - $15.99 each.

A wind-up birthday robot from my parents to Stevie. Clearly it is going to steal our prescription medications for fuel! Beep-beep-boop!

Shattered Sausages, Shattered Dreams

I just received my long awaited package from The Vermont Country Store (beloved by blue hairs) only to be faced with a broken glass bottle of German sausages inside, a size 32b bra (NOT my size, nor anything I ordered) and no wooly-booly long underwear bottoms! A certain company better be pulling out all the stops to win me back. Did I mention the glass shard stuck in my finger and the sausage juice ALL over everything? The beagles are pleased as punch about the smells and leakage, however I am less than amused. Those delectable sausages were meant as a birhtday gift for Stevie. Stevie cannot eat spoiled, glass-riddled sausages, although he might try! I sent an e-mail to their customer service - I'll keep you posted. Will they land on my "do not shop" list or redeem themselves?

Bottle Wrap in a Snap!

Here's a swift, economical and festive way to wrap a gift bottle! 

Supplies:

4 - 6 sheets tissue paper

1 piece of wrapping or other decorative paper

Scissors or X-acto knife

Glue stick or double sided tape

Ribbon or twine

Decorative scissors or pinking shears (optional)

1. Lay tissue paper flat and place bottle in center. Fold tissue paper up and around stem of bottle and secure with ribbon or twine. Make bow if desired.

3. Measure piece of decorative paper to fit around the middle of the bottle. Wrap decorative paper around middle of bottle and secure with glue stick or double-sided tape.

4. Using fingertips, gently separate layers of tissue at top. End result should look like a flower.

Optional: For a fancier package - BEFORE you separate tissue layers, trim tissue paper at top with pinking shears or decorative scissors. (I used pinking shears in the photos above)

5. Attach gift tag of your choice and give!

Hint: for a neater package fold all raw (cut) ends of the decorative paper under and secure with glue stick before applying.