Matchbook teabag holders ... and we love DS!

At Stampin' Up! we have a wonderful group of customer service agents, Demonstrator Support (DS). They answer our questions, fix our mistakes, listen to feedback, and resolve many problems, all with a friendly, helpful attitude. To show how much we love DS, we are celebrating Demonstrator Support Appreciation Week from April 13 - 17. It's a chance for us to call, e-mail, post, and Tweet (#weloveDS #stampinup) our thanks to this group of awesome men and women.

I missed DS Appreciation Week last year, so I wanted to make sure I participated this year. Many demonstrators send packages with candy and other sweet treats, so I wanted to send something a little different -- and something that was relatively flat and easy to pack in a box. I decided to make these cute matchbook-style holders with teabags inside.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! except "Other"):
Stamps: Tea Shoppe, Patterned Occasions
Paper: Bashful Blue, Pale Plum, Barely Banana, Blushing Bride, Certainly Celery, Apricot Appeal, Bordering Blue, Peach Parfait, Basic Gray, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White card stock
Ink: Bashful Blue, Pale Plum, Barely Banana, Blushing Bride, Certainly Celery, Apricot Appeal, Bordering Blue, Peach Parfait, Basic Gray, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Postage Stamp punch, 1-3/8" square punch, Chocolate Chip taffeta ribbon, Basic Gray taffeta ribbon, Simply Scored tool, Mono Multi liquid glue, Dimensionals, Glue Dots
Other: Stapler, individually wrapped teabags

I used eight different colors of card stock for the holders -- eight matchbooks in seven of the colors and four in the eighth -- with accents of Chocolate Chip and Basic Gray. All of the main colors except Blushing Bride are retired, and I had fun digging into my stash of older card stock.

These were actually fairly easy to put together; I made sixty of them over the course of one afternoon/evening and the following morning, and that was with a boo-boo. (I had cut out all of the pieces of card stock and scored half of them when I realized that I was scoring them in the wrong spot. Grr. So I re-cut those pieces and started over.) The most time-intensive parts were stamping the focal image (I used markers to make the image two different colors) and tying the ribbons. 

Here is a quick tutorial for the matchbook teabag holders:

1. Cut your card stock to 2-3/4" x 8-1/2". You can make four matchbooks with one sheet of 8-1/2" x 11" card stock.
2. Score the card stock at 3-1/2" and 7-1/2". Fold on the score lines so the small flap is over the large one.
3. Place a staple in the middle of the small flap to keep it closed. Be careful not to staple through the large flap as well.
4. Stamp and/or embellish the front cover (large flap) of the matchbook. You could also stamp or write a message inside the cover.
5. Cut a 10" piece of ribbon. Wrap the ribbon around the small flap to hide the staple, tie a knot, and trim the ends. If desired, secure the knot to the matchbook with a Glue Dot.
6. Open the matchbook and slide a teabag under the small flap. If desired, use a Glue Dot to secure the teabag. (I chose to do this since I was shipping the holders, but if you are hand-delivering them or tucking one into a gift bag, you probably wouldn't need the extra adhesive.)
7. Tuck the large flap back under the small flap and present to the recipient.

You could easily adjust these matchbook holders for other treats (e.g., Ghirardelli chocolate squares, instant cocoa packets, a gift card, etc.). Just determine the width of your matchbook holder and where the score lines should be, remembering that the top flap needs to be long enough to tuck under the bottom flap.

I hope the DS agents enjoy all the treats, cards, and messages they receive this week and know how much they are appreciated. We love DS!

Thanks for stopping by!