Step Into Christmas....

Hello friends...

Well, here we are ~ the most wonderful time of the year has arrived and hope you're all ready for Christmas! I know I've got a few last minute things to do, to be honest I could do with another two weeks to get everything just how I'd like it but the food has been bought, the presents are wrapped and under the tree, the table is planned and the tree is sparkling ~ so, what's not done won't have to be mentioned!

But as always, the start of a brand new week means the start of a brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and this week the challenge will run for 2 WEEKS! The theme is all about Party and we hope you will find some time to join us and play along....

I know we're all really busy at this time of the year but with the theme in mind ~ I decided to create some last minute table setting ideas that will be perfect to add to any festive table and you don't have to create all these pieces, just choose the one you love the most. These projects aren't too time consuming, some of you might have some bits and pieces left over from your Christmas crafting that card be used up on these and of course, you don't have to use them just for Christmas, by changing the colour scheme and the decorative elements, they could be made for a new year table or maybe a birthday party. So,if you do have a couple of spare hours, I hope I can inspire you to give them a go...

So, let's get started and here's what I've made!

THE PRESENT BOX

To begin with I'll start with this little box ~ this is made using the smallest of the Tim Holtz Vignette Boxes, with the addition of the matching size of Vignette Panel. I started by covering the raw edges of the box and the panel with some of Tim's Design Tape, the holly leaf design and just ran the tape along the edges to give a nice neat finish.

I then covered the outside of the box with some paper from the Christmas Paper Stash, attaching each panel of paper with Matte Collage Medium. I also covered the vignette panel, top and bottom with matching paper.

Once the medium was dry, I ran the Gathered Twigs crayon along the edge and blended out the colour with my fingertip.

Cut a strip of seam binding or maybe you might have some leftover Crinkle Ribbon in your stash and dye the ribbon using a combination of Candied Apple and Frayed Burlap Distress Spray Stain. Scrunch the ribbon into a ball and allow to dry before wrapping it around the lid to form a cross, just as if you're wrapping a present and tie the ends of the ribbon into a bow. With the remaining ribbon, wrap around the box, securing the ends inside.

To hide where the ribbon is attached, cover with some more of the paper from the paper stash.

For the decoration I used a small woodland tree, spritzed with Peeled Paint Distress Spray. Once the spray was dry, I used my finger to smear Collage Medium over the ends of the tree and then sprinkled with Rock Candy Distress Glitter. Once again, set aside to dry before adding small gold Metallic Droplets, attached with some Matte Collage Medium.

Place the sparkly tree in the centre of the bow, attaching it with hot glue.

For the foliage, I used a combination of Tim Holtz dies ~ Festive Foliage, Garden Greens and the holly leaves from Deck The Halls. All the foliage is cut from green card, I used inks to colour my card but of course you can use green kraft card from the Classic Kraft Stash.

After smearing each of the pieces of foliage with collage medium, dip into Rock Candy Distress Glitter and allow to dry before arranging all the foliage in a spray, around the base of the tree.

Finally, I added some Nuvo Crystal Drops to give the appearance of berries on the Mistletoe leaves.

THE TREAT JAR TABLE FAVOR

The treat jar is really simple and all that you need for this is one of Tim's Mason Jars, ribbon and some idea-ology ~ plus the all important chocolates to pop inside.

For the lid of the jar, I used Candied Apple and Black Soot Distress Paints. I painted a base of Candied Apple directly onto the lid and also painted the Mini Hardware Knob. I allowed for the paint to dry and then applied the Black Soot paint, dry brushing the paint over the top of the painted lid and knob. Once the paint was dry, I then just used some sandpaper to sand areas of the lid, taking it back to original metal to create that vintage feel. I then punched a hole into the top of the lid and attached my knob.

I hand dyed a strip of seam binding ribbon with Peeled Paint Spray Stain and tie around the neck of the jar, forming a big fluffy bow. I then attached a spoon to my bow, taken from the Silverware idea-ology set and a small metal holly wreath embellishment from the Yuletide Adornments ~ i painted my holly wreath with Distress Paints but you can leave it plain if you prefer. To complete the jar, I attached a die cut holly leaf complete with a small gold Metallic Droplet. All that's left is to fill up the jar with chocolate and it's ready to place on my table.

PLACE NAME HOLDER

Finally I made my name card holder...

The base of this name holder is actually made from cinnamon sticks, yep that's right and I just stuck five sticks together to form a base. I smeared some gesso onto the ends of the sticks and once they were dry, glittered them with Rock Candy Distress Glitter. I then wrapped them up with some more of the red ribbon.

For the name plate, I used Tim's Stitched Rectangle Die and cut a piece of heavystock mixed media card, which I then inked with Antique Linen Distress Ink. I matted the card onto kraft card to give a border before drawing a thin black line to form an inner border.

For the name, I used the Alphanumeric Label Die to die cut each of the letters from gold metallic kraft stash and after attaching the lettering onto my name plate, I added an arrangement of die cut holly leaves, glittered with Rock Candy Distress Glitter. For the berries I added some Autumn Red Nuvo Crystal Drops before attaching the name plate to a memo pin.

For the finishing touch, I added an Adornment Star to the top of the pin, painted with Candied Apple Distress Paint and glittered with Rock Candy Distress Glitter. Attach the pin into the bow and add to your table setting.

So, I hope you've loved the ideas and the pieces I've made and it's given you some ideas of your own which as always, I would love to see if you do make anything using the inspiration I've given! Just tag me or message me and I'll pop over to take a look!

Don't forget, if you would like to see more inspiration from my talented teamies over on the challenge blog and every week, one lucky random participant has the chance to win a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp and you can join in up to 5 times, which means you could have 5 chances to win. You have until Monday 6th January, 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in and good luck....

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by today and hope to see you again soon!

Merry Christmas everyone and hope you have a wonderful festive holiday and a happy and healthy 2020!! 🎄❤️🎄

Love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz/Sizzix: Deck The Halls, Large Funky Festive, Stitched Rectangle, Mini Holiday Greens, Alphanumeric Label
Distress Paint: Candied Apple, Black Soot
Distress Spray Ink: Candied Apple, Frayed Burlap, Peeled Paint
Distress Inks: Antique Linen

Idea-ology: Silverware, Memo Pin, Mini Hardware Knob, vignette Panel, Vignette Box, Metallic Droplets, Christmas Paper Stash, Mini Woodland Tree, Mini Mason Jars, Star Adornments, Christmas Design Tape, Yuletide Adornments

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Rock Candy Glitter
Surfaces: Mixed Media Heavystock, Metallic Kraft Stash, Classic Kraft Stash
Tonic Nuvo Drops: Autumn Red, Seashell
Glass Media Mat

Heat Gun
Big Shot
Ribbon, kraft card and cinnamon sticks from my own stash