Christmas Crafts- Cards

After my Christmas Gift Box Craft, I had some extra materials and some 5x7 precut greeting cards so I decided to make some Christmas cards for 2 special people in my life that I didn't give Sayada's Trini Greeting cards. They were quite easy to make and the process can be used throughout the year.

Here's a glance at what I made below.

Card (Right): Red Decorative Napkin, Gold Reindeer Gift Paper, Gold Ribbon, Red Foil Poinsettia Sticker
Card (Left): Red Decorative Napkin, Gold Christmas Gift Paper, Gold Glitter, Gold Decorative Studs

I wanted to spice up the envelopes as well so I used one of the red foil stickers that I used on the card to embellish the envelope

Seasons Greetings!

From my home to yours...Merry Christmas!

Christmas Crafts (Tutorial?)

This year I was looking for a new way to wrap some presents, and when my mom bought some gorgeous metallic gift paper, I knew I had to attempt a gift box. The paper was so beautiful. I couldn't resist using it in some craft project. 

The following is a basic overview of how to go about making your own.

So firstly is gathering the materials. I used pretty complementary gift paper, some cloth ribbon from last year's gift wrapping that matched the gift paper, a red decorative napkin, some Elmer's white glue and an old perfume gift box.

Materials: Gift paper, Burgundy Cloth Ribbon, Red Decorative Napkin

Once I sorted out all my materials, I used the cover as a guide and cut the gift paper with enough excess to also cover the sides as well as to fold into the other side of the box. This ensures that the edges of the box had a nice classy finish.

Ideally, you should cut a large piece of your main background paper (in my case, Gift Paper #1) and cover your box first with it and then cut your decorative piece (GP #3) and stick over it. (See next photo below) I personally did not do that because I didn't want to waste the gift paper that would have been hidden by GP #3. 

I was however very careful as to where I added the glue on the box to stick the paper. I only put on the edges of the box, where there would be an overlap of gift paper and in a few choice spots. This is my personal preference when using liquid glue to get a smooth finish on the surface of the box. I find that sometimes the same pattern that you apply the glue in, ends up showing up through the paper when you stick it. 

Next I stuck a piece of the burgundy cloth ribbon to add some texture and contrast to the gold gift papers. Later on, after completing the entire box, I decided to use some gold studs that I had been dying to use for some extra embellishments and to hide some of the glue stains that seeped through the ribbon.

Wrapping the cover and where to place the materials.

For the bottom half of the box, I opted to use the gift paper with the most gold tones in it to cover the bottom part of the box. It was the least fussy of all the gift papers and would not detract from the cover.

I was averaging the size of the gift paper with the box as guide and because I was not measuring it to the exact proportions of the box with my handy ruler (laziness on my part), I ended up with the paper in the inside lip of the box being at different lengths. I was not too worried because I already planned to line the box. 

I used a thick decorative napkin that I cut with 1 cm in excess on all sizes. I ended up folding the excess behind to make the napkin to size and this I thought was a much nicer surface than a cut edge to line the box. (Kind of like why you hem clothes) I also put the glue on the excess that was folded back so that if any glue seeped through, it was not visible.

Underneath of Box and lined inside.

When the entire box was properly covered, I checked to see if I wanted any extra embellishments to enhance it, e.g. glitter, sequins, stamps, etc. In my case, I simply used some gold studs on the burgundy ribbon. My roommate once picked off all the gold studs from a shirt she bought for a presentation to make it more professional. We didn't know what to do with them at the time, but 2 years later, they finally had a use!

After I filled the box with my gifts, I used the remaining Burgundy cloth ribbon to tie a beautiful bow.

Finished box (without the embellishments)

And that's how you make a very pretty gift box!

Merry Christmas everyone. Hope you all get extra creative this year :)

Going Local- Where to go?

I have been a bad blogger! No, I did not abandon the blog. I've simply been busy studying for my final exams. I originally thought ahead and I had tons of posts in drafts/ started to write new posts as certain art events I enjoyed came up, but I just could not find the time to finish them. Thankfully Monday was my last exam. I am ecstatic about that because I can finally finish some of those posts AND I can now enjoy the Christmas season as well as my holidays before I have to return to school.

Now, sometime ago I saw the following photo circulating on Facebook about buying local.

The message resonates with me because there are so many talented individuals who create and sell amazing products in T&T. Why should we purchase products from international companies when we have people producing the same equivalent? We should be supporting our own economy and by extension the environment. (Save the environment by reducing shipping? )

Personally I know that it is difficult to sometimes to buy local, when stores are rarely stocked with local things, you have no clue as to where you can purchase the things you want or you are not a fan of the quality.
Most artists/ artisans do not operate out of a physical store. The exorbitant rental fees to have a store at the mall are enough of a deterrent. The few that do end up finding places to sell their work, end up charging highly priced goods that the average person i.e. me- student on a budget cannot afford.

So where do you go? Over the last few years, I've heard about monthly markets and to be quite honest I never paid much attention to them because I never expected much. When I was younger, I went to plant shows and expos with my parents so I thought they were all the same run of the mill kind of thing- Plants, bottled jam, pepper sauce, fudge and red mango (that I could buy at the parlor nearby to my home) in unattractive packaging. 

It was not until last year when I saw a local artist whose artwork I enjoyed, advertised an event called Bits and Pieces that I began to feel more receptive to the idea. Then earlier this year I was able to  attend the Mango Festival at the UWI Field Station.

It of course featured Mangoes and Mango byproducts, but it also featured the crafts of local small businesses. I was able to sample delicacies, admire beautifully made products as well as be thoroughly entertained by the live renditions of folk songs.

 Here are some photos of my purchases that day.

Juices and Chutney's from Mangos.
I bought a bottle for Mango smoothies and baking

Mango Spa Products

Rodco Home Essentials- An amazing company that makes amazing body products from natural sources. The classiest
by far of all that I saw that day. 

Isis Designs- Gorgeous hand crafted jewellry that caters to you. If anything goes wrong you can always contact the designer to repair it!

Marisha Williams Designs for lovely natural cards made of quality materials and Event Essentials- I loved their recycle paper, which was perfect for my crafting needs and were unique as they had designs stamped into them.
Extra points to both for being eco-friendly. 

What I loved about the Mango Festival was that I was able to meet the owners themselves. For instance, the kind owner of Rodco Home Products. I was able to speak with her about her company and what she offered, including beautifully packaged body washes, creams, body butters and soaps all made at her home. I always wondered about the process and after speaking with her I was told that I could perhaps in the future organise a tour. Something I would not mind paying for.

Some "markets"/ events to consider if you're looking to go local in the future:
1. The Ultimate Epicurean and Boutique Market

2. Bits and Pieces-A yearly event for Christmas shopping

3. Upmarket-A monthly food market also including local artists, etc

4. The Monthly Arts Market- Lookout for their Three Day Shopping Extravaganza starting from Friday 21st to Sunday 23rd Dec.

5. dr!nk's December Art Sale at Dr!nk's Wine Bar- The premise for the artists is that if you have art to sell, you simply bring it in and sell your work. Also it's at a Wine Bar so you can expect good drinks and music as you peruse the art that you want to buy in a casual setting.

The lovely thing about all of these markets is that you find gems of items amongst the plethora of art, craft, jewellery and gourmet food items, AND you also learn about different services offered that you may need to use for your next gift-giving event. The admission is usually free to these markets and that's great as it helps make the events more accessible to the public. It's a plus for the small business owner as for a small fee they can set up their own booth and market their wares to the public while making a profit. It's a win-win situation for all those involved.

Anyway I urge everyone, if you have the option to buy a local product please do! Our local communities need our support to continue the amazing work that they are doing. As this is a topic dear to me, perhaps in my next post I'll write more about local gift options for Christmas.

Remember....Go Local!