First Two Holiday Reader Kits

As I said in this post, I'm making kits for Christmas gifts this year. Here is one for my uncle Herb. For once, I genuinely enjoyed doing a dude project, using semi-Christmas-y images of pine cones and boughs from Fantastic Foliage, an old StampinUp set that I will never let go. First, let's see the card, which has an insert (undecorated so I can write a personal message) to hold a Barnes & Noble gift card.





The slits for the card were made with an SU punch, and I glued the vintage cream piece inside the card after punching and rounding the corners. The only reason why I rounded the corners was that the corners of the gift card will be rounded.

Obviously, for the main border, I randomly stamped the images in avocado and close to cocoa, off-stamping to create a bit of depth, and going over the finished pieces with the SU bitty background (is that the name?) stamp with creamy caramel. Then I inked the edges in creamy caramel using a sponge. I continued this technique for two toppers and two bookmarks.



I added the sentiment in chocolate chip after I made these because I felt that they really needed a focal point with all that randomness. Hence, the different placement on the two bookmarks since a dark pinecone blocked the choice spot on one of them. The snack mix is a commercial Tex Mex mix I bought at Kroger. Herb likes hot and spicy food, and it's fun to munch while reading.

My aunt Sylvia loves all things Celtic, so I made her kit with a Celtic theme. Her card includes edging with a gold pen, gold-embossed sentiment, and the same insert as Herb's card for a gift card.

Her kit is a bit more diverse, because I included a drink (Russian Tea mix in individual servings) and Avery-address-label-wrapped Hershey's Nuggets. (Herb's favorite drink is beer, which won't fit in any of the bags I have, so he will have to supply it himself, LOL!)



Notice her bookmarks. I stamped Sylvia's name in a stylized way that evokes the odd letter arrangements in the Book of Kells. The toppers are very simple, with a single stamped image cut out and glued flat onto the toppers.

It bothers me that the Avery labels are white and the toppers are vintage cream, so here's a...

Simplicity Tip: If you're planning a kit using wrapped nuggets, remember to use white as your neutral.

Here's my Russian Tea recipe, from the Kitchen of my friend Claire Leivestad.

2 cups sugar
1 tsp cloves
2+ tsp cinnamon
1 1/4 cups instant tea (no sugar or lemon)
2 cups Tang
1 1/4 cups powdered lemonade

Mix all ingredients together until well blended. Mix about 4 tsp in a cup of hot water. Enjoy!

Note: I make mine with decaf tea so people can enjoy it anytime.


Supplies for Pine Set
stamps: SU Fantastic Foliage, background; PTI sentiments
ink: artichoke, creamy caramel, close to cocoa, chocolate chip
paper: artichoke, chocolate chip, PTI vintage cream
accessories: sponge, staples, cello bags, pre-made tassles

Supplies for Celtic Set
stamps: unknown
ink: VersaColor burgundy and evergreen; Colorbox gold pigment ink
paper: bravo burgundy, vintage cream
accessories: gold embossing powder, staples, gold pen, pre-made tassles, cello bags, small zip bags (for the tea)