Friday, November 6, 2009

Christmas Ornament Gift Set

Here is a very simple gift set of ornaments and a card made primarily with punches. I love the ease with which this whole project went together. (Please note: the colors here are bashful blue and white...the blue just looks darker in the photos.)



The simple layering of the circles and snowflakes is kicked up a notch by the Swarovski crystals in the center of each flake. These are beautiful, flat-back crystals...so much clearer and nicer than the self-adhesive cheap ones from Hobby Lobby. (Though I did use the cheap ones on the bag toppers since they'll likely end up in the trash!)

I made five each of two sizes of these ornaments using the following punches:



The snowflake punches are by Martha Stewart. Assembly is easy. One trick for getting the floss loops attached neatly is to put a short strip from a tape runner on the back of the blue circle, stick the ends of the floss down to make the loop, then glue the blue piece to the white scalloped circle. I only glued the center of the flakes to the blue circles, leaving the ends of the flakes loose for a bit of dimension.

Here's a close-up of the large ornament. I hope you can see how clear and pretty the crystal is!



The toppers were super easy, using PTI's Snowflake Serenade and Signature Christmas. I added a strip of grosgrain to the card, and popped up the scalloped focal point.

What a great gift idea for a lovely--and inexpensive--gift! You could scale it down or up, depending on the size of your punches, change up the colors, use specialty papers (glittery or shimmer papers, for instance). Easy, flexible, and quick. You gotta love it!

Supplies
stamps: Snowflake Serenade, Signature Christmas
ink: bashful blue, Palette Noir
paper: bashful blue, PTI white
accessories: Swarovski crystals, assorted punches, ribbon, dimensionals

14 comments:

  1. wow, those are amazing and yet simple and quick to create!! I love the blue and white!!! "I am not going to buy those snowflake punches...I am not going to buy those snowflake punches....I am not going to buy those snowflake punches...." Sheesh Susan, now I have to resist the temptation!!! LOL

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  2. LOVE LOVE LOVE these!!!! i started making my christmas cards as tags to hang on the tree several years ago. i realized that most people throw away all their christmas cards after the holiday. now folks save them and put them on the tree year after year. it's fun and my family and friends look forward to a new ornament each year. thanks for the inspiration! marty ferraro

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  3. This is "Punch Perfect"! I love how you've included the photo of the punches and the details of making the ornaments. Thank you!

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  4. Gorgeous! Love the colors. Beautiful snowflakes. Wonderful layout.

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  5. Susan, love this idea! Would work great with a classroom of kids to make them for presents. Thanks for the idea!!

    Lauralee
    talascam@rogers.com

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  6. Oh I have just bought the bigger snowflake punch on ebay .... you have given me even more reasons to have it .... (since when did I need justification!!!!)
    Love what you have done here, as usual such a simple idea but so effective.
    TFS. :-)

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  7. Your snowflake set is so beautiful!! I love the pretty blue, and your snowflakes are so lovely with the crystals!!

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  8. I'm a big fan of punches myself so I love to see projects that use so many of them but still have the CAS look. Great job.

    I know what you mean about bashful blue photographing darker. Happens to me too.

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  9. "Ease with which the project went together" just cracks me up!!!!!! Just centering the snowflake is daunting, to say nothing of centering the circle inside the scallops. Hey, maybe THAT'S why I NEVER do circles. Centering a panel on a four-corner rectangle at least can be helped by using a T-square, but there's no such help with a circle.......unless I buy a compass and pencil, and attach a string. Oh my this is sounding like lots of work! "Quick and simple to create" Donelda? Are you SURE you need those punches?

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  10. What a great gift a small bag of these would be, I should go see what I can do with my punches....

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Thank you so much for taking time to comment!