Tag Archives: Weihnachten

How to make a cute recycled gingerbread house tag – tutorial

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gingerbread house gift tag tutorial by ursula markgraf

To be completely honest, I have a bit of a divided opinion on wrapping gifts. Of course, I do love beautifully wrapped gifts. But I also always am super conscious about the fact that I’m using up resources just to wrap a gift up pretty, that is going to be unwrapped within seconds and then the wrapping is most likely going to be thrown out.

(I personally actually often use wrapping paper or tiny decorations from wrapped gifts in my art journaling and mixed media stash. But of course, I can’t use everything … and not everyone does that, either.)

So, I’m always happy when I find a way to make gift wrapping a bit more ressource- and environment- conscious. Recycling is one of the ways that you can do that. And as I had quite a few cardboard boxes standing around from past orders, I was thinking … why not make some cute recycled gingerbread house gift tags for Christmas?

I enjoyed this so much. It’s a low-key and super relaxing activity. No measuring. No being exact and precise. Just some loose drawing. You can do it while listening to an audiobook or just while relaxing after a stressful day. Light a few candles, brew a nice tea, and just sit down and doodle.

What you need:

– cardboard
– scissors
– white acrylic pen (I love POSCA-pens!)
– hole punch
– some sort of ribbon

gingerbread-house-tag-ursula-markgraf

Steps:

1. Cut the cardboard into a house shape. This doesn’t have to be perfect. I did not measure anything and it’s not exact at all. I think if the house is a bit wonky, that makes it even more adorable! To make the house look more like actual gingerbread, make sure that the edges are all rounded.

2. With the white acrylic pen add “sugar icing”. You can draw anything you like. Just doodle! Windows, door, hearts, fun lines, and flourishes… Lots of dots! Here’s a little video, if you need some inspiration:

3. Add a hole with the hole punch and add some cute ribbon!

That’s it! You’re done. Quick and easy!

Do you have some ideas for other easy-to-make gift tags? Leave them in the comments!

In a rush and don’t have time to create your own Christmas gift tags? Then check out the printable reindeer gift tags in my etsy-shop.

 

Tealights with a secret message – tutorial

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Tealights with a secret message - tutorial by Ursula Markgraf

Today I have a little tutorial for your for a very sweet gift idea. It’s not my typical “thing” as it doesn’t involve any paints or such … but it’s quick and easy, you can send it via mail and even kids can help. So I just thought I had to share.

As you can see in the photo above I made a little tealight Advent calendar with this idea and mailed it out. But you can also easily create candles with your wishes for a new year for New Years Eve or candles with secret messages, wishes or even gifts for birthdays or just because … I love that the tealights look like ordinary tealights … until you light them and they burn for a while and reveal the secret message.

You have to let the tealights burn for quite some time until all the wax has melted. Then the white wax becomes translucent and you can see the secret message underneath. (Just a little warning – it takes quite some time until all the wax melts. It’s not done in 30 minutes!)

You need:

-tealights
-paper and a dark pen
-scissors
-optional a Candle-Liner

How it’s done:

First you cut out the message. You can print out the pdf below if you like and write your message into the circles. But of course you can also simply draw some circles (a bit smaller than your tealights) on some paper and write down your message on those.

Hint:
I wouldn’t recommend writing your message in the middle of the circles as that’s where the flame of your tealight will be and that might make it hard to read. Also, you should use a darker color to write down your message so it will be easy to read it through the liquid wax. A light pencil does not work too well.;-)

Once you cut out the message, take the candle out of the metal tealight capsule. Put your paper into the capsule and put the candle back on top. Done!

Hint:
With some tealights you can very easily take the candle out of the metal capsule. With some it takes a bit more persuading. If possible already check when buying them whether you can disassemble them easily. I had some that were quite persistent not to be parted …. so I actually needed some metal pliers to persuade the candle to come out of the metal …

If you wanna make an Advent calendar then you need to make 24 (or 25) tealights with secret messages. Once you’re finished you can write the numbers on top of the tealights with a Candle-Liner. I had a glittery one, which I really liked. But you can of course also use any other color. I think red would also be very pretty for example.

If you just wanna give them as a gift, obviously you can make any number you want. And you can either draw little symbols or such on top – or just leave them as they are. I would however recommend to add some sort of instruction to them when giving them as a gift as they really look just like ordinary tealights and really takes some time until they reveal their hidden secret. And it would be rather sad if the person you gave them to missed their secret message just because they didn’t expect it … and didn’t look.

What do you think of this idea?

Write me a comment and let me know who’d you like to give a tealight with a secret message to?

Or tell me what little gifts that are easy and quit to make you like to give?

P.S. Here’s the pdf – just right-click and choose “save as”. Have fun creating!

Blanc circles PDF

Meditating reindeer Christmas cards are here!

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Finally they’re here. The new Christmas cards! And this time with a meditating reindeer.

After all, Christmas is not only stressful for us, but for reindeers, too. That’s why they do some yoga and meditation to be able to have a wonderful and relaxed Christmas time.

And if you do feel stressed, too, then just try it! Do a bit of yoga or meditation!
If it helps angels and reindeers, it’s gotta work for you, too. :-)
And afterwards you can finish wrapping the gifts … relaxed …

I’m especially excited that I was able to get the new cards printed on the lovely mother of pearl cardstock I love so much. It has such a gorgeous shine to it!

Unfortunately my photography skills aren’t good enough to show that shine off. :-( But if you have ordered Christmas cards from me before you might be familiar with it’s wonderful look and feel.
(Not all of my Christmas cards are printed on it. Some had to be printed on linen-cardstock as the mother-of-pearl cardstock wasn’t available when I got cards printed last time. So I’m super excited that it is again available now.)

And in case you’re curious how this Christmas cards actually developed … here are some snapshots. :-)

From the first sketch to the “salted reindeer” and to coloring … I had so much fun creating this. I hope you’ll have just as much fun writing and sending them off.

They are available in my etsy-Shop – of course with matching envelopes – either as single cards or in a more afordable set.

And of course the “old” Christmas card designs and Christmas postcards are also available. And if you’re rather stressed about the idea of having to write Christmas cards, why not read my five tipps to make it a calming ritual.

I’m wishing you a wonderful and relaxed first of Advent!

And if you have ideas or suggestionsn for me what kind of Christmas card motives I should create next year – just let me know in the comments! :-)

How to make your own crocheted gingerbread house tags (free pattern)

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How to make your own crocheted gingerbread house tags (free pattern)

When I was at my first market selling buttons EVER people were very interested in my decoration. (It really got me to the point where I was wondering if I am selling the right thing. *lol*)

One of my decorational pieces were these little gingerbread house tags. As a little pre-Christmas gift just for you I decided to put up the instructions so if you are interested in making your own – well, now you can ;-)

This is actually the first post of a little mini-blogpost series “Crafty Christmas”. So if you like it be sure to stop by tomorrow to get more Christmassy DIY inspiration. 

This project is perfect for beginners,too. Very easy!

Crocheted Gingerbread House Tag

supplies:

-yarn in dark brown and white
-crochet hook matching your yarn

 

Now, let’s do it! :-)

Chain 10 and chain 1 more for turning:

1. row: single crochet into second stitch from hook until the end (10 stitches), chain 1 for turning:

2.-8. row: single crochet each stitch (10 stitches), chain 1 for turning. When you are done it should look like this:

9. row: Start decreasing for the roof. Crochet first two stitches together, single crochet into each stitch until you reach the last two, crochet last two stitches together, chain 1 for turning (8 stitches).

10. row: Repeat 9th row (6 stitches).

11. row: Repeat 9th row (4 stitches).

12. row: Repeat 9th row (2 stiches).

13. row: Crochet last 2 stitches together. Pull yarn through and finish off. Your house tag is done and should look like this:

With some white yarn single crochet around the “roof”. When you are at the top chain 25 and slip stitch to the “base”. This way you form a loop which you can use to hang your cute tag. Finish the “roof”.

Now, very important step – you need to block your cute tags in order for them to look pretty.  Spray them with some starch, let dry and … embellish and use them to decorate!

I used some of my tiny handmade gingerbread buttons (CLICK to see them) for embellishment. But of course you can use something else just as well.  See:

Done! Was that easy?

Please – pretty please with cherry on top – leave me a comment how you liked the pattern! It is my first pattern that I am sharing so I am super excited! :-)

Wanna see how I made the teeny tiny crocheted hearts? No problem – here is the free tutorial. :-) And if you like what I share please sign up for my free newsletter below or here.

If you enjoy being creative – why not try out making mixed media art? Check out my free mixed media workshop to make uplifting affirmation cards:

free-affirmation-card-workshop-ursula-markgraf