Thursday, December 15, 2011

Christmas tags and tea bag luminaries

Well with no car, baking pretty much done, even wrapping, and a bit of time on my hands while hubs worked the last 2 days, I tried to clean up my work table so we may eat on it during the holidays...yeah right.
I was doing some blog hopping the other night and I was on Karen's site, The Graphics Fairy and found some wonderful vintage Santa's. I knew immediately what I wanted to make.
I got out some shipping tags and distressed them in Vintage Photo, Frayed Burlap and Tea Dye. I really wanted a vintage feel to them so I darkened them up pretty good. I even wet some of the tags first, crumpled them then distressed. Dried all in the oven, ironed the crinkled ones smooth and then went about decorating them. I have seen those beautiful accordian rosettes out on the web and thought I would finally get around to making some, I don't have the fancy Tim Holtz die but hey you do with what you have, a little more work but I managed quite well without it besides you can at least say they were made with a little more hands on.
I also managed to make some more of my tissue tape and I was gaffawed at the results. I don't know if gaffaw is actually a word but just the same it sounds good and the results I thought were just what I had imagined even better. I added some extra colour to the tissue tape by just using a blending tool and lightly coloring the already brownish tissue sent to me by my friend Jenxo. I then used various stamps and colours depending on the Santa in the image. I used papers from my holiday stash, My Mind's Eye, Basic Grey and whatever was hanging about. I even added some sparkly snowflake stickers courtesy of the dollar store. A few I added some clear sticker words, or typed some on the puter for the little banners. Just love  those banners too, seeing a lot of those around.
These will be attached to some gift bags or gifts and can be used to hang on a tree later or maybe on a door knob etc. At any rate, I love them. Might have to make a few for myself if time permits.



Next up are luminaries made of tea bags. Jenxo posted last week that she knew another blogger, Kim, who made these so I jumped over to take a peek. I am always intrigued with new ideas.
Having a cat makes one take another think about lighting candles and setting them on tables the Princess might jump up on. We surely don't need the princess running madly with a tail lit on fire. Who needs that, so avoid it before it even happens.
I had some rather older teas in the cupboard that I didn't fancy too much, they are the type of tea bag that are folded in half and then stapled. I removed the staples and then emptied the tea out.
I carefully slit the one side where the seam was ,then opened them up. As you can see here they are quite large. You need 2 tea bags per side a total of 4 tea bags, sew up each short side to make this complete. But, before you do all that, I took a napkin that had these beautiful roses and a rose bug and took away all that white tissue that is attached to the napkin leaving the printed part. I carefully cut away the images, sandwhiched it between the 2 tea bags. For more interest I stamped the top tea bag only with a french script. When the battery operated light flickers, you can see the rose through the script and the soft glow of the light. It doesn't show very well here but in the dimmer light, they are quite attractive. I did some sewing around the top and bottom like a border before sewing the sides together but I actually prefer no sewing of the border. I think it looks better without but that is my preference.
I then used Modge Podge to seal the bags together, I put some wax paper underneath so I could peel the tea bags away when dry.


Kim wrote an article for a magazine but I wasn't able to find it this time of year. I had to sort of figure it out.
Jenxo made some illuminaries just using napkins for her Market show.
I think they are just lovely.
What a great simple gift to make and very kitty friendly.
Thanks for stopping by and hope you are getting ready for Christmas.
We have no snow, just rain and very mild temperatures.
Sure doesn't feel like Christmas is only a little over a week away.
Til next time friends

9 comments:

  1. oh wow Les, i love your vintage tags and you used the same rose napkins as me and dont they look beautiful...i love the stamping too...our kitchen table is the same, i just clean it to work on the next project...by wed it will be clear ..cross my heart ....

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  2. I love your tags Les and the tea bags are awesome.
    Hugs

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  3. Love your vintage Santa tags Les! It is strange for us to have such mild temps and no snow. I have a feeling we're really going to take a hit come January.
    Happy Holidays!

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  4. just simply stunning Les! Love the french scrip and the roses....yeah no kitty on fire. I plan on trying this style of decorating on a mason jar with real lace...when we return with more energy....probably Valentines!
    Christmas hugs to you sweet girlfriend....
    Karla

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  5. Those tags look amazing!! When you say you distressed them with inks, did you just sponge the ink on? I want to make some shipping tags look old for a mini album that I'm working on and your technique would go perfectly! Just need to know how you got the ink on there! lol

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  6. Those tags are just gorgeous and I love the luminaries, they look very rosy. I was very fortunate to win a set of your 12 days of Christmas tags last year, this year they are hanging on an Australian Christmas Tree and they look just great and have received favourable comments. Have a lovely Christmas

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  7. Les, your vintage Santa tags are beautiful... and your luminaries are just gorgeous... love the cut outs with the script stamp... they looks so very pretty...

    Jenny x

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  8. such beauty! rich, gorgeous colors. merry Christmas! xo

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  9. Lesley the tags and this beautiful lantern are all so gorgeous. what a clever idea and doesnt it look special !!
    Thanks for your warm wishes at Dezinaworld. I am hoping Dad keeps on improving so i can post more often again at the blog
    happy Christmas my friend
    June x

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