use what you've got

i am very excited that there are only 3 more days till christmas and only 2 days till christmas eve. my family has always celebrated christmas eve which works perfectly with toms family because they celebrate on christmas. two days of family togetherness makes me so happy. really, it is the best present...

speaking of presents i am never one to go get christmas wrapping paper. last year i hand stamped brown paper and this year i am keeping it classy and simple.

 i didn't have any string or yarn and the lace i thrifted a while back looks great with the brown paper. also i have a HUGE rosemary bush outside and i cut few a sprigs off to finish off the look and presto, so cute, free & easy!

i also saw this cool idea in sunset magazine and thought it was perfect! i love vintage scarfs and they are always so plentiful at the thrift store so i snagged a few and am using them as wrapping plus they also serve as part of the gift, nifty, no?
---> to wrap, just treat the scarf like wrapping paper, minus the tape. tie both ends in a knot, i doubled mine as the ends were longer then i wanted and you are all set.

this year my family is doing stocking stuffers and since my marmalade didn't make as much as i thought, i used the left over mason jars and cut succulents from my over flowing pot. i am very excited to hand these out.

xo,
cb

last minute diy!

hey everyone! as a last minute christmas wrapper, i always scramble to wrap my presents. so every year we either use brown bags or newspaper and then doodle over the paper to make it look more intentional. this year i had neither brown bag or newspaper so went to the store and bought some...i always like handmade things so i wanted to make my mark...this is what you need...

paint- any kind will do except oil (i'm using speedball block printing ink)
a potato or yam or sweet potato
knife
brown bag or newspaper


first off decide what you want your design to be...remember the simpler the better, nothing too complicated as it might not show when you stamp it...i chose a heart. draw your design with a sharpie

next cut the surrounding meat of the potato, be sure to carve enough of the potato away so that your design is the only raised part of the potato...next try out the stamp to make sure it works...i used a paper plate to put my paint on...at this point you might need to cut away more of the potato if the design doesn't come out clear...

rosie was sooo helpful :)

when all is good roll out your paper...mine was starting to curl so i had to put some objects down to give myself a flat surface...

rosie found what i was doing extremely interesting...silly little kitty!

then start stamping away!

you can't help the large glops of paint that form when you print so be sure to wait for the paint to completely dry before you start using it
 

and here is the final product! so cute! can't wait for my little niece to open her presents! we found some non toxic paint for her to play with but what makes it even better is that the name of the product is called clementine art <3


happy wrapping!