Holiday Gift Tags - Free Printable

I created a series of gift tags to match my new vintage inspired Christmas decorations. I needed new tags to match our decorations this year. Yes, my gift wrapping has to match the tree! I painted these earlier this year and decided they were perfect for my gifts.

Loving this color palette for the holiday season! Download the printable here.

The start of my vintage ornament collection and a few bottle brush trees. We picked all these up at our local antique mall. They are so sweet and paired with lots of snowflakes and white putz houses. Those will be my hunt for next year, vintage putz houses. My current collection are new ones.

Christmas Gift Tag Printables

Merry Christmas! Decided it was time to make a new set of gift tags for the season for my last minute gift wrapping.

They were all inspired by holiday beads that I create.

I'm offering these as a free printable for your personal use. 

Download them here. 

Easter Printables

Over on the Sketchables this week we are sharing Easter Printables.

First I created a memory card game with an Easter Egg Hunt theme.  I miss hunting for Easter Eggs - my teenagers are long passed that tradition and we don't have many small ones in our family - everyone is growing up. I still dye eggs, sometimes the teens join me.  Teens are funny, they don't want to be treated like kids but there is something comforting about holding on to those childhood traditions.  

And since I had all these fun icons from the card game I decided to design some cute little cupcake toppers too. Hmm, vanilla bean cupcakes.  My only regret - no jelly beans to include in this photo.

Download the printable Egg Hunt Memory Game here and the cupcake toppers here.

Illustrated Pet Ornaments

My painting and drawing skills have been set loose on the world of Pet Holiday Ornaments.  I'm crazy about Christmas, love animals and get to combine my illustration skills in the mix - sounds like a recipe for happiness to me!  These have been translated into polymer clay and hand painted.

You can find these in my Etsy shop and I do have options to customize the color of the breeds and to add a name of your beloved furry friend!

Here are some sketches that show the process:

3 Simple Projects for Eco-Friendly Celebration Banners

Whether it's a spring soiree, birthday party or Easter celebration, a fabric or paper banner can add a festive touch and keep things green for the special day. 

Here are my top three Banner Tutorial picks:

Sew a pennant banner using fabric scraps.  Make something special that you can pull out year after year with this simple sewing project.

Create an adorable no-sew fabric banner with small scraps.  In a hurry?  Whip up this no-sew banner with some fusible tape and an iron.  This is a great project to use up tiny scraps of fabric and one the kids could help create.

Sew a paper bunting using up scrap paper or pages from old books. Recycle prints, old maps, music sheets and scrapbook paper into an fun banner that would look so cute in a bedroom or studio all year round!

Upcycle Valetine Cards

What to do with all those store bought Valentine cards your kids will bring home?  Here are two fun crafts to upcycle them. 

Movie Reel Bookmarks

You'll need black construction paper, valentine cards, a glue stick, mini-hole punch and a thin ribbon.

Cut the construction paper 4 1/2" long by 1 1/2" tall. Cut 4 cards 1" long by 3/4" tall. Glue the cards onto the construction paper evenly spaced out. Use the hole punch to create the reel marks along both sides of the construction paper and create a hole for the ribbon.  To finish tie on a ribbon.

Silly Tales Story Books

Create little mini books with Valentine cards following the directions above.  After you are done, sit down with your kids and make up the silliest story possible about the pictures.  Write down the story for them on the back of the card or leave them blank and tell new stories with them when you need to pass the time.  These would be a fun way to pass the time waiting in line, at a restaurant or during long car rides. 

Humble Holidays

I had to take a break to finish my jewelry book along with making more time for my family.  I know as working moms we wish we could do it all, but sometimes things have to put aside while we take care of people.  People first, things second. 

Tomorrow I will share a set of free gift tags for folks to download on the Sketchables.  In fact, there will be a whole week of free gift tags from our group!  Can't wait to see them.

I thought I'd share some gift ideas with you from my Etsy shop.  I have this whole earthy, woodland vibe going on this year:

I have a few hand-pulled prints, these are originals that are hand-colored, signed and dated.

An etched copper ornament made with a print I designed.  This is my last one.

I have a series of beads that are created much like my prints, using little molds based on drawings that I made.  This is an evergreen design with beads on a gunmetal brass chain.

Ah, who doesn't like cute?  This is a sweet little stocking stuffer or would make a good gift for those hard to please teens.  I know a few on my list are getting these.

We all love books, right?  I created a series of Book Club Pendants using tiny handmade ceramic beads from another artist.  They are paired with charms and other beads.  This one is Wind in the Willows. 

And finally earrings - we all love them and work so nicely as gifts because one size fits all!   I have these modern candy cane designs paired with sterling silver wire.

Okay, now the skinny - use discount code Humblearts for 20% off your purchase.  I also have free gift wrapping and free 1st class shipping.  Sale will end Saturday, December 11th. 

Humblebeads Etsy Shop

Valentines

I have a great fondness for illustrations with a Valentine theme. Both in my own artwork and seeing it commercially as the holiday rolls around. Maybe the chocolate has some influence on my love of the holiday or it could be that after the grey of January the bright pop of pink, purple, red and white are just what the doctor ordered. Although I just spent a week in the Caribbean and my head is still swimming from the most amazing vivid blues, greens, butter yellow and all sorts of tropical hues. I know, it's a tough life.

One of my favorite books as a kid was this crafty little number from Mr. de Paola.  I picked it out at a RIF event, oh how I loved getting a free book each year!  It had crafts, recipes, party ideas and jokes.  The charming illustrations captured my attention and made this a year round favorite for me.  Craft books were some of my most treasured possessions as a kid.  That's a trait that has carried on and now I'm writing them!

My plan is to send out a new postcard to my mailing list in time for Valentine's Day.  I better get with the program, time is running out!

Creative Gift Ideas for Kids

I'm going through my holiday shopping list and thought I'd share some of my favorite gift ideas for kids. No batteries required!


1. Art supplies - it wouldn't be a holiday around here with out them. I usually include a how-to book for inspiration or a new sketchbook. Colored pencils, fancy sketching pencils, watercolors and oil pastels are favorites here.

2. Craft supplies - these are always put together as a kit. I don't like to give kits that have set projects, I like supplies that offer open-ended creativity. This year it's a sewing kit for my youngest. I'll include fabric, thread and notions. Other kit ideas include polymer clay & sculpting tools. Beads with an inexpensive tool set and stringing materials. Foam, pipe cleaners, craft sticks and other general supplies offer a world of imagination when packaged together.

3. Books, big surprise! But I like to include them with new pajamas or a little fleece throw, it's good to encourage cuddling. My sister gave blankets to all the kids last year - they were a huge hit! I stole her idea for my husband's side of the family this year.

4. Scarves - again with the cuddle factor. A scarf is like a little hug each day during the winter months. I like to use big knitting needles and 2-3 yarns for a nice fluffy scarf. I'm not a fast knitter. I whip one up in 2-3 evenings while watching TV.

5. Stuff animals - made by you! There are tons of free patterns online if you can sew. One year my girls designed the animals and we made them for their cousins. They were so cute and funky. Check out Whip Up for patterns.

6. Board & card games -  I love board games from my own childhood and rediscovering them with my children. My top pick this year is Yahtzee. Great for kids who are learning multiplication, but still fun for the whole family. We like Uno and Boggle too. Anything that brings the family together gets a thumbs up from me.

Deck the Halls

We went Christmas tree hunting yesterday and it turned out to be an actual hunt!  There was a tree shortage in San Antonio.  We heard from one salesperson that it was due to trees arriving from the east and being delayed by the weather. Who would have guessed!

One of my favorite things to do after the tree is up and the family is asleep, is to turn on some holiday music,  fix myself a cup of tea and sit in peace while enjoying the lights.  I think it reminds me of being  little and staring at the tree from my bedroom door.  I'd stare at the tree until the lights blurred and sugar plums danced in my head.

Content, filled with wonder and a belief in the impossible - the very magic of childhood is wrapped in the season.

Gather ye craft supplies

Between now and December 25th I will do a impossible amount of crafting and creating, decorating and gift-making.  I can't help myself.  I'm a complete Christmas nut.  In fact we'll be getting our tree this weekend and then all tinsel breaks loose. 

First, we are incapable of having the same theme each year.  For the last few our tree has evolved into this cute red/white snowflake, nature kind of theme.  This year I'm adding another layer with birds, lots of birds in all shapes and sorts.  Including: needle felting, polymer clay and etched metal.  I'm telling you, I'm hopeless when it comes to restraint and the holidays.

And then there are the gifts.  There is jewelry to be made.  Needle felted hamsters because my youngest wanted a Zhu Zhu and I couldn't get over how un-cute they are.  There will be knitting neckwarmers.  Sewing a few little bags and trying my hand at pajama pants.  I've sewn doll pj's, we'll see how I do with life-size. And then there is my ambition to make a needle-felted Mr. Fox, we'll see if I have time.  And to top it all off, I will make a doll or two with paper clay for someone sweet on my list. 

Are you a crafty holiday elf?  I know I'm not alone in my yuletide mania!  Let the creating begin...

Snowflake Ornaments

I love when my two worlds meet somewhere in the middle! 

This is an ornament that I created last week using a snowflake rubber stamp that I carved.  The metal is stamped and the ink acts as a resist, it's then set in an acid bath until the metal is 'eaten' away.  After it's washed, the image is antiqued with a blackening solution.  Then, ta-da! It's an etched metal ornament.

I'm not a fan of chemicals, but it's an easy enough process and I love the results.  Now to make those snowflake rubber stamps do double duty and create some gift cards!  Oh how I love printmaking!

You can find these ornaments and all sorts of beady goodness in my Etsy shop.

Holiday Mania

There's a 12" paper mache turkey on my dining room table and two christmas wish lists posted on the fridge.  Ah, the holidays with kids!  They are just taking a cue from our local stores that have Christmas  displayed before back-to-school.

I'm feeling a little surge of the holiday rush myself, working on plans to survive shows, online sales, family and travel.  And in the midst of that dealing with my own Christmas nuttiness.  I can never do things small, it's all handmade, over-the-top ornaments, gifts and celebrations.  I say bring it on - the busier I am, the more I seem to accomplish. 

I'm determined to design an advent calendar this year.  Better add that to my master to-do list, I only have 3 weeks left!