Nina's Southern Accents: October 2017

Hi Everyone!
Thanks for joining me on this awesome blog hop! If you are hopping along with us, you arrived from the lovely Tanya Rees. She always has some beautiful projects to inspire you! Didn't you just love the advent calendar?
I love to give handmade gifts, and I want to share a favorite of mine, and a cute idea to package it as well, to go along with our re-purposing Glass Jars theme. I really needed this to make me think about how to use some things in my stash. Don't tell anybody, but I may be one glass jar away from being on an episode of Hoarders!
I have been making this drink mix for years. In fact, I found the recipe in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine in 2000! And yes, I still have the magazine! It is called Mocha au Lait, and it is sooooo good, especially for coffee lovers like myself. Here is the recipe:

Mocha Au Lait

1 1/2 cups nonfat dry milk powder

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup instant coffee crystals

2/3 cup miniature semisweet chocolate pieces

In a medium mixing bowl, mix all ingredients well. Store in a sealed container. Makes about 3 cups.

Instructions for gift tag:
Pour 2/3 cup boiling water in a blender container. Add 1/4 cup of the mix. Cover tightly. Blend until well combined and frothy. (Or beat with wire whisk or electric mixer.) Pour into a mug and enjoy!

Speaking of coffee, I am using a Starbucks frappuccino bottle to put the mix in for a gift. I don't drink them very much (I know! Shocker!) But I have coworkers that do, and they bring them to me. I have done so many things with them.....they look like an old-fashioned milk bottle. And they are FREE!
To remove the sticky residue from the label, I use a product called Goo Gone, and then to remove the date stamp, I use just plain fingernail polish remover. I wash them in the dishwasher to sanitize them.

Mitten Tag

Now for the fun part....decorating! I spray painted the lid with some red spray paint I had. To make the tag, I used the Smitten Mittens Bundle (Item #146070) found on page 38 of the Stampin' Up! 2017 Holiday Catalog. To make the tag, first fold a 2 3/4" x 6 1/2" piece of Real Red CS in half. Die cut with the mitten outline, with the edge of the cutting blade slightly off of the folded edge. Stamp the snowflake in Smoky Slate onto Whisper White CS, then die cut. Die cut the outline cuff die with the matching embossing die to give the texture. Then, emboss the top mitten with the Cable Knit embossing folder. Adhere the snowflake and cuff to the mitten. Emboss the sentiment on the inside of the mitten with white embossing powder. Adhere the mix instructions to the back.

"To and From" Tag

I made the smaller tag for the "To" and "From" (that quirky font is so cute!) using the sweet little tag die from the Swirly Snowflakes Thinlet dies. I stamped the snowflake and words in Real Red ink. I just attached both tags to the bottle with the Mini Tinsel Trim. I cut a square out of a Gusseted treat bag to separate the lid and bottle. (Even though I only used spray paint on the outside of the lid, I didn't want to take any chances of it affecting the mix and not being food safe.)

One of my favorite things about Stampin' Up! is being able to package gifts in such a beautiful way with a personal touch.

I hope my project inspired your gift giving, and gives you some repurposing ideas of your own! Let me know if you made the mix and how you like it! Click the Next button to see what beautiful ideas Tracy Bish has for you!

If you don't currently have a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, and live in the US, I would love to earn your business! Below are the products I used in this project, click on them and it will take you to my online store where you can order any of them and also view the catalog. Thanks again for stopping by! Tell me what are your favorite gifts to give (or receive) in the comments below. Subscribe to my blog, and I will send you a PDF for the tag instructions for the mix.

Nina

Product List

Smitten Mittens Photopolymer Bundle

[146070]

$46.75

Swirly Snowflakes Thinlits Dies

[144678]

$30.00

Cable Knit Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

[143537]

$10.00

Real Red 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[102482]

$8.00

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[100730]

$9.00

Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad

[131179]

$6.50

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$8.50

White Stampin' Emboss Powder

[109132]

$5.00

Mini Tinsel Trim Combo Pack

[144636]

$9.00

Gusseted Cellophane Bags

[141704]

$4.50

Hi Everyone!
Thanks for stopping by! This blogging deal is not easy, hats off to those of you who crank one out every day. I am having a tough time with one a week! But I enjoy sharing my love of cardmaking and papercrafting with you, so I am just going to be like the Tortoise in the story of the Tortoise and the Hare, he eventually wins the race, right?
So I want to share this cute project that I made using some Christmas products from Stampin' Up! Although, as you can see, this has nothing to do with Christmas.

It's a tag for a baby gift! I wanted to show the versatility of the Stampin' Up! products. This project uses several things from the 2017 Annual Catalog, but there is one thing from the new 2017 Holiday Catalog. I asked my Facebook page members and members of my South Georgia Stampers group to name at least 4 products used in this. Not one person named the one from the Holiday Catalog. Want to know what it is? It's the little tag at the top, it is in the Tags and Trimmings Bundle.
Here is a video showing how I put this together:

So I hope this inspires you to take a look at your stamp sets and dies that maybe you think are for just holidays, and see what else they can be used for! I would love to hear your ideas... Post them in the comments!

And if you are interested in ordering any of the products used, click on the links below to go to my online store.

And don't miss any of the specials going on this month! DSP is on sale all month long, buy 3 get 1 free, and you can get 15% off select products for World Card Making Day, which is October 7, but the sale is October 1-10! Visit my online store to see details, https://www.stampinup.com/ecweb/default.aspx?dbwsdemoid=2171641