Candy Cane Cutie Kits

Edited for questions: Susan asked *Can you share your recipe for the chocolate covered popcorn? Just melted white chocolate?*......Susan Dear, the recipe is in my blog post. :)

Happy day to you! Today I have a fun kit called Candy Cane Cutie to show you. It's a simple little kit that is perfect if you like to get the kids involved in all the crafty fun!
In the kit, you'll get the supplies to make four embellished candy cane gift toppers (minus the candy canes). You can tie the candy canes to gift sacks, wrapped packages....or attach to treat sacks like I've done today. I packaged up some of my much loved White Chocolate Covered Popcorn in a Large Cello Gusset Bag, tied it up with some candy cane striped ribbon and then attached the embellished candy cane to the bag with a pop dot. Simple goody sacks like this are so much fun to hand out. They're inexpensive and you haven't spent a lot of time on them. I love to pack treats like this for ballgames to hand out to some of the girls' friends. Treats like this are also perfect to take along on those long holiday shopping trips that seem to last forever! Many times you're too rushed to sit down and eat a big meal....but little snacks like this are a real *pick me upper*. The kiddos will love getting their own treat sack too! My mom and I thoroughly enjoyed this little bag last night at the ballgame. :)
In the Candy Cane Cute Kits, you'll receive the supplies to make four completed goody bags along with lots of leftover tags to embellish as you wish. If you need even more tags, I have them listed separately in the shop here. These are going to be my go to tags this year for gift packaging. So simple and everything will coordinate.
To assemble the sacks, simply fill a sack with a treat or gift and tie up with a torn strip of candy cane striped fabric. For the candy cane toppers, adhere a round sticker to any color tag you wish. Thread the baker's twine with pom pom accent through the tag and tie around a candy cane that you provide. Adhere to the goody sack with a simple pop dot. Presto....easy peasy gift!
I've had the kit in the shop for a day or so but there are a few kits left. I'll be making lots more of these for the girls to assemble on those long winter days....perfect for teachers and their friends. Hope you enjoy!

I know, I know.....*where's the recipe*? :) It's super easy: Pop popcorn and remove all kernels. Spread out on waxed paper. Melt white chocolate in microwave bowl and add desired food coloring. Drizzle over popcorn. Add holiday sprinkles and sugars. Let dry. Place in treat sacks. Tip: Try not to eat it all before it gets in the treat sacks!

Introducing Rustic Clothespins

Hello friends. Today I have something very fun to show you. I'm introducing my Rustic Clothespins in the color Rusty Pumpkin, the first of many colors to come to my Etsy shop.

My Rustic Clothespins are hand stained with 100% organic material. It makes me feel so good to know that I'm using a product that is safe for the environment. And as you know, I love clothespins. I think they are the niftiest little invention. Of course I love them for hanging clothes out on my new clothesline (did I tell you I got one?)....but I also love clothespins in my paper crafting world. I use clothespins to hold together notes, bills, cards to be mailed, school papers, design team work, etc. I love that clothespins have been around for such a long time and we still find new uses for them.

My hand stained Rustic Clothespins will be sold in sets of 5 for $4.00, a great price to help you make gifts for under $5 bucks. Unlike painted clothespins, the stain I use allows the real wood texture and grain and shiny metal of the clothespins to show through. Very rustic looking indeed. I'll be adding more colors to my Etsy shop in the near future.
I started with my Rusty Pumpkin Rustic Clothespins because I wanted to be able to use this color for Fall and Halloween projects. How about I show you a little project that will be perfect for gift giving...perfect for teachers and girls would love this. I'm going to be creating some embellished clothespins so let's get started.

I started by choosing some fun October Afternoon papers that all had some color of orange on them. Love the mixy matchy look but that they're all tied together still. I also picked out some Papertrey Vintage Buttons in Terracotta Tile and Aqua Mist along with some Chocolate Baker's Twine and of course my Rusty Pumpkin Rustic Clothespins.
Next up, I cut one each of the patterned papers to measure 5/16" x 2-1/4". I also matched up buttons for each clothespin.
I like to use 1/4" Scor-Tape to adhere the paper to the clothespins.

It's not necessary to keep the papers adhered, but a little brushing of Mod Podge will really keep the papers in tact.

Next up, tie the Vintage Buttons with Chocolate Baker's Twine. A little tip is to tie buttons without cutting the twine off the spool. You'll waste a lot less twine and the long length gives you extra room to work with.
Next, adhere the buttons to the clothespins. Any craft glue will do, just allow some drying time before packaging up the clothespins.
Now it's time for things to get really fancy. Cut a scrap of the October Afternoon paper to fit one of my Medium Manila Parcel Tags.
Clip on the embellished clothespins. This creates a wonderful base for the clothespin so that they don't slide all around in your package.
Next up, it's time for my favorite part.....the final gift packaging. Cut another piece of patterned paper to measure 4-3/4" x 4-3/4" square. Slide this into one of my new Large Cello Gusset Bags, now available in my Etsy shop.
Fold the bag over and tape to the back with clear tape. Tie on the prettiest ribbon you can find. I'm using Papertrey's Swiss Dot Satin Ribbon in Terracotta Tile. Add the finishing touch by adding a Tiny Tag stamped with a sentiment from Friendship Jar Fall Fillers. The tiny sentiments from this set all fit perfectly on my Tiny Tags. I just did up a new batch of Tiny Tags so there's lots in the shop now.
And there ya have it, folks. A beautiful package that's almost too pretty to open. My mother would never open this gift, she'd just admire it with the packaging left on. Don't do that though....embrace the gift. Open it. Use it, cuz these embellished clothespins are just too cute not to use. I hope you're inspired today to get crafty. :)