Priscilla's Papercrafts: A Card and a Treat

When I was a kid, my mom used to get us Christmas Crackers at the holidays. You know, those toilet-paper tubes, wrapped in paper and cinched and tied on both ends, and filled with something noisy and a paper hat? Yeah, those...well Stampin' UP! has brought out a new die, and oh my, the new Cracker & Treat Box dies make a really cute treat holder!

As is often the case, I decided against purchasing this die when the new catalog went live. I didn't "need" it. And then I saw a cute sample on Marisa Alvarez' blog, Kitchen Table Stamper, and decided I really DID "need" it. And I'm so glad I got it!

Although my sample is not near as cute as Marisa's, I still love it, and know I will only get more creative with time. So take a look at my first attempt:

Isn't that sweet? And it's filled with Hershey kisses, so, yeah, it really IS sweet!

This is a little 5-sided cylinder, with the cinched sides that I tied with a ribbon. It comes with 7 different tags (or windows if you choose) and stars and hearts for decorating. I chose to make it easy, using a pretty plaid from the Tea Boutique Designer Paper pack and some retired Blushing Bride ribbon. And see that little butterfly? I think it's actually a little flower, and it's from the Sentiment Silhouette dies--I cut it with Blushing Bride and Polished Pink.

Anyway, when you cut the box with the dies, you get a bunch of diamonds left over (from where the ends are cinched). And if you know me, I hate to waste anything, so...

How about a coordinating card?

I ran a piece of Basic White cardstock through my Stampin' Cut & Emboss machine with one of the Stitched with Whimsy dies to create that cute whimsical border. Then I just placed the diamonds in a flower shape, using a glue dot to anchor each piece. The stem/leaves were created with a swipe of my Soft Succulent Stampin' Write Marker.

Need a great group of greetings? Check out Go To Greetings, on page 26 of the catalog. It's a set of 13 stamps - there are 4 phrases (Thank You, Happy Birthday, Thinking of You and Just a Note) in three different sizes and fonts...such a perfect set to reach for when you need a greeting on your card. Oh, and there is also "hello" - one single stamp, to round out the most-often used sentiments. I used the small Thank You for my treat box, and the mid-size Just a Note for my card.