April 2015 Paper Pumpkin: Alternate projects

I know I'm a little slow in assembling my Paper Pumpkin kit from April, but better later than never. I actually started the kit a few months ago, and as I was putting together the kraft pockets, I thought they would be perfect for Christmas. So I set the kit aside, mulled over my idea, and finally finished it this weekend.

I ended up with sixteen total items: eight gift card holders for Christmas and eight all-occasion treat holders. Here are the gift card holders:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Kit: April 2015 Paper Pumpkin (Love You a Lot)
Stamps: Chalk It up to Love (August 2015 Paper Pumpkin)
Paper: Whisper White (regular and thick), kraft card stock; Holiday Thyme Designer Series Paper (DSP)
Ink: Old Olive, True Thyme, Cranberry Crisp
Accessories: Punches: Snowflake, Banner, Mitten, 1/16" hole; sweater trim: Gumball Green, white, Cherry Cobbler; linen thread; Frosted Sequins; Mono Multi liquid glue; Fine-Tip Glue Pen

Every year around Christmas I give a little gift to our mail carrier, UPS driver, etc., that includes a card, gift card to a local restaurant or coffee shop, and some treats (candy, tea bags, cocoa, etc.). I knew these pockets would be perfect holders for the gift cards, and I even made small coordinating cards (2-3/4" x 4-3/4") to tuck in the pockets, too. So when the time comes I'll just add the gift cards, sign the cards, and package the holders in cellophane bags with a few treats.

I assembled the pockets as described in the kit instructions and then pulled out some of my retired stamping supplies to decorate them. I combined multiple prints from the Holiday Thyme DSP on each pocket/card and embellished them with mittens and a snowflake punched out of kraft card stock. (One of these days I'll actually use up my pack of Holiday Thyme DSP, which I've had for years now.) I used the stamp set from another Paper Pumpkin kit (August 2015, Chalk It up to Love) for the "For you" sentiment.

Since I only used the pockets (and some Dimensionals) from the kit for the gift card holders, I still had plenty of supplies left. I wanted to make something other than cards, so I did a quick Google search and found some adorable treat holders made by Angela Pyjas, another Stampin' Up! demonstrator. I used one of Angela's examples as an inspiration and created eight all-occasion treat holders:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Kit: April 2015 Paper Pumpkin (Love You a Lot)
Stamps: From the Garden, Seriously Amazing (August 2014 Paper Pumpkin)
Accessories: Corner rounder, 1/8" hole punch, 1/8" Scor Tape (Scor-Pal), extra Glue Dots

Aren't they fun? To make each treat holder, I scored one end of a card base at 1" and then trimmed off 1/2" to have a smaller flap. You could leave the whole flap if you want more space to stamp or decorate. I stamped the sentiment in Island Indigo and the flowers in Crushed Curry, creased the flap, rounded all four corners of the card, and adhered the sides of the card together with 1/8" Scor Tape placed right along the edges. I added the band around the holder, securing it with Glue Dots, and made the paper bow according to the kit instructions. I also put a couple of Glue Dots under each flap to keep them down, so I ended up needing a few more than what's included in the kit. I cut both pieces of baker's twine into eight equal pieces, punched a 1/8" hole at the top of each holder and tied two pieces of baker's twine through each hole.

Then it's just a matter of filling the treat holders. I used two candy sticks, a little bag of chocolate-covered sunflower seeds, two suckers and a chocolate bear. I had fun picking brightly colored items to coordinate with the holders. If you're looking for some non-candy ideas, you could use a couple of pencils, a lip gloss, roll-on perfume stick, a cereal or granola bar, or anything with a long skinnier shape.

I thought I'd used all the kit supplies, but when I was cleaning up my craft table I realized that I hadn't used the pieces of white card stock that were meant to be layered on the cards. I guess I'll tuck those away for another day. Thanks for stopping by!