Stocking Stuffers - Christmas in July Blog Hop

Welcome to Mark’s Finest Papers, a Heinrich Company’s Christmas in July blog hop!  We are so glad that you joined us.  We hope that you will enjoy the tutorial each day and the projects on each of the blogs.  The blog hop will run 23-29 July, with a new tutorial and project each day of the hop.  Please note, if you are not a member of Speedy TV you will need to join the site before you can view the tutorials.  Joining is quick, easy and FREE, just click the tutorial link below and it will take you right to the home page where you can join.  The sign up button is on the right hand side of the page.

    Monday July 23rd —Christmas Cards in a Gift Box

    Tuesday July 24th —Stocking Stuffers

    Wednesday July 25th—Gift Bag

    Thursday July 26th—Gift Card Holder

    Friday July 27th —Ornament with Shrinky Dink

    Saturday July 28th —Glass Block

    Sunday July 29th —Decorated Tissue Box

Below are the designers participating in the hop. Some may have a tutorial or project each day, and some may not.

SPEEDYTV TUTORIALS

Debbie

Lois

Patty

Bonnie

Sue W

Kathy

Tangii

Jane C

Thrifty Stamper

Kate Z

Pat G

Kelli Jo

I love making my own stocking stuffers since it not only saves money, but also adds a personal touch to the gifts inside the stocking instead of just shoving candy inside.

One of the stocking gifts I'll be giving this year is bookmarks.  My daughter, and a couple of in-laws, are avid readers so bookmarks are always a great gift to receive, especially if you know someone who's still in school; including college.  They're always needed it seems.  I found some plastic bookmark holders online a couple of years ago for next to nothing and bought 100 of them, with the white glossy inserts, to personalize and use for years to come. 

After stamping my images from Christmas Cardinals in memento tuxedo black ink, and letting the ink dry, I colored the cardinals with prismacolor markers before over stamping the music sheet from Christmas Music in Tim Holtz brushed corduroy ink and then adding the sayings.  My final touches before sliding the bookmark into the sleeves, were googlie eyes to the cardinals, and some vanilla ribbon tied to the top.

Here's a close up of one of the bookmarks.  They;re really simple to make and if you're not good at cutting your own, you can buy them pre-cut easily at any local supply store.

Another gift I'll be putting into the stockings this year is "dressed up" packs of pocket tissues.  They are an easy gift that everyone seems to need around the holidays since the cold and flu season is also during that time.


After I stamped my images on snow storm heavy card stock and colored with prismacolor markers, I layered the main image using scraps of red and green card stock before adding gold brads in the corners.  Then I stamped the music sheet from Christmas Music stamp set using Tim Holtz fired brick distress ink before wrapping the tissue pack and tying it off with a strip of sheer green/gold trimmed organdy ribbon and popping the main image up using pop up glue dots. Once everything was adhered, I added some Ranger Glossy Accents to the cardinal eyes and holly berries. Here is a close up of one of the completed packets:

Thanks for stopping by today.  Have a great day and don't forget to stop by the rest of the designers blogs to leave them some love.

Stamps:  MFP Christmas Cardinals, Christmas Music
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz Fired Brick, Brushed Corduroy
Card Stock: MFP Snow Storm Heavy, Stampin Up! Real Red, Glorious Green, Bookmarks
Accessories: Prismacolor Markers, Brads, Bookmark Holders, Ribbon, Pop Up Glue Dots, Googlie Eyes, Ranger Glossy Accents