Keeping Christmas {Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas}

Hello and welcome to the March installment of the Keeping Christmas Blog Hop! I'm so glad you've stopped by today! I've got a fun project to share with you today, but before I get started, don't forget to head to the other designer's blogs that are on the hop for even more Christmas inspiration! Honestly, I don't know what I would do at Christmas time if I didn't give myself this head start! 

Kelly Lunceford (you are here)

Anita Madden 

Broni Holcombe 

Claire Broadwater

Julee Tilman

Kim Heggins

Lori Tecler

Nance Salkeld

Nina Forsyth 

Vicki Finger

Nancy Guse

Today I'm sharing 3 gift box/ bags that were inspired by some wrapping paper that I bought last year. It ended up by being one of my favorites to use and I was really inspired by it. I should have taken a picture {maybe I will add it here later}. It has a black backround with red cardinals and lots of holiday foliage. It is just very woodsy, yet striking and elegant. Anyway, as I was getting things prepped and wrapped for Christmas last year, I made a list of projects I really wanted to do but didn't get a chance to, and this is one of them.

 When I made THIS project, I promised a tutorial, so here it is! LOL! I didn't realize it would take me this long!  These bag/ boxes are created by using the Stitched Gift Bag Die but die cut out of paper rather than felt and I just use the front and back pieces and the handle portion. They are so cute and are perfect little packages for all kinds of gifts!

This photo gives you a little bit better view of the size and shape of the finished piece. Since I don't own any cardinal Christmas sets that I wanted to use, I chose to use the Songbirds Stamp set which gave my project the look I was going for.

To begin my project, I cut a front and back from 3 different colors of cardstock: True Black, Pure Poppy, and Simply Chartreuse. I also die cut the handle portion as well, but didn't show it in the photos. This really gives the handles some stability since they are made from paper. Also, there is a bottom and a top to the handles, so make sure you line up the holes before you glue it in place. {Ask me how I know this} 

I made the boxes that are sandwiched between the front and back pieces out of the same cardstock. Start with a piece of 6 1/2 by 11 inch cardstock. The sides and bottom measure 1 1/2 and the front and back measure 3 3/4 inches. This will leave you with just enough of a tab to secure it, which you can see on the left hand side. I use Scor Tape to secure my boxes like this.

I die cut all of the pieces that I would need to decorate the boxes using the Songbirds Dies . The red and black boxes have Simply Chartreuse foliage and the Simply Chartreuse box has Spring Moss foliage. I added some ink blending to the tips of each leaf for some contrast. It really helps make the images pop a bit more!

The green and red boxes have red birds and the red box has black birds for contrast and cohesiveness.

I just love how folksy these turned out!

Once I had them all decorated, I glued the front and back panels onto the box portion. Make sure you don't put the glue near the holes so that it seeps out or that you can see it! {Ask me how I know this} I had three birds left over so I ended up making a trio of tags that I can either use with these or add to my gifts when it is wrapping time.

I added some gold nuvo drops on the red box here and there to mimic berries.

I added red Nuvo drops on the green and black boxes.

These were so much fun to make and now I'm kicking myself that I only made 3. Since the songbirds set has so many different sentiments and song images, I might make a few more of these that aren't Christmas themed as well! Thanks for fluttering by!