Keeping Christmas {There's no place like HOME for the Holidays!

Oh, there's no place like HOME for the holidays! I don't think that phrase has hit me quite like it does now, am I right? Welcome to this month's installment of the Keeping Christmas Blog Hop! I missed out on last month, which was a first for me, but I'm back this month with lots to share and see! As you can see, I went with a "Home for the Holidays" theme because I felt it was very fitting for the times. Before I dive into the details of my projects, here is the list of the other designers who are participating in today's hop!

Kelly Lunceford (Creator)

 Vicki Finger (off this month)

 Claire Broadwater

 Lori Tecler

 Nance Salkeld

 Nina Forsyth

 Nancy Guse

 Marybeth Lopez

 Nancy Penir

 Carol Hintermeier

Today's projects consist of a set of tags and 6 gift pouches! I absolutely love making these little pouches and have made several variations for different holidays as well. I've been loving this paper pack that my sister gave me. I used it for THESE projects and for THESE. As soon as I saw the particular paper sheet that says "Home Merry Home", I knew the direction I wanted to head for this month's projects.

When I was finished with the 6 pouches, I wasn't quite ready to be done, so I made 3 coordinating tags! These will be perfect for gifts or to package up treats and sweets! I had a comment on THIS post from a sweet reader asking about the caramels that I make. I happened to make some the other day for a friend's birthday, but I usually ONLY make them for Christmas. The recipe I use is from the recipe book called Christmas Recipes from the Lion  House and I wrap them in these cello candy wraps. Gone are the days of me cutting up wonky pieces of waxed paper to get them wrapped! LOL! I buy these by the hundreds from a local kitchen supply store. 

These caramels also gave me the chance for you to see the pouches with a little something inside. I normally have candy canes on hand for photography purposes, but I couldn't find one for today's post. I decided to tuck a few inside so you could see it opened up a bit. When I get these ready for gift giving, I like to put the little tubes of hand lotion and lip gloss from Bath and Body Works, a Truffle bar, a candy cane and maybe some loose little candies as well. Because I do the machine stitching around the edges, it makes these super sturdy and I am able to stuff quite a bit inside!

I cut up one sheet of 12 by 12 pattern paper. This particular sheet of paper is one with lots of different pattern strips so there were three pieces with the "Home Merry Home" printed on them, so I made three like the ones shown above. I also have three others which I will show later on!  To begin, I cut the paper 4 inches by 6 inches which gave me the 6 panels. I cut 6 pieces of Kraft cardstock measuring 4 by 6 1/2 inches. This gave me a little bit of extra space for me to add the diagonal striped paper at the top. I just added a strip so that it would peek out without wasting an entire sheet of paper.  I sewed around the sides and bottom using my sewing machine. Once that was done, I was able to have fun with the embellshments.

I used some oldies, but goodies on today's projects! To begin, I die cut 9 of the snowflakes and added some Vintage Photo distress ink to the edges using the Taylored Expressions Blending Brushes. Next, I added some Martha Stewart Tinsel Glitter to the edges. I set those aside and got to work on the stamped labels that are on the snowflakes. I die cut them with the Mat Stack I die and then stamped them using the Mat Stack I stamp set using black ink. I created the wreath by wrapping a Canadian Pine stem around a Nuvo drops bottle and then glued it with a hot glue gun. I added it to the center of the Mat Stack die using additional hot glue.

I die cut the houses and stamped them using my Mini MISTI. They are from the "Love Lives Here" stamp set that has been discontinued, but the "All Hearts come home for Christmas" is from the Love Lives Here: Holiday stamp set and is the perfect accent for these pouches. I added a bow of ribbon and a silver snowflake embellishment to finish these off! I left one without a bow so you can decide if you like it better with or without the bow. There used to be a day where not having a bow wouldn't have been an option for me! LOL!

This next set of pouches uses the portion of the pattern paper that didn't have anything that I wanted to show necessarily, such as a focal phrase or image, so I took the opportunity to add some longer embellishments.  These are sewn just like the others and the snowflakes and mat stack piece are created exactly the same. For these, I die cut the Ribbon Slider Tag Pattern Paper, which is on sale for $2 by the way, with the coordinating Ribbon Slider dies. I also die cut another one out of Kraft cardstock so that I could layer them for a sturdier piece. There is also a coordinating Ribbon Slider Sentiments stamp set so you can stamp as many as you'd like!

I normally wouldn't tie the bows so early in the year, but I wanted you to be able to get an idea of how they will look when they're ready to go. I did leave the ribbon a bit long, since I may need some additional length once they are stuffed with all of their goodies!

I hot glued a holly sprig embellishment right below the bow. It is not attached to the bow at all, but rather the pattern paper so that I can still get it untied to fill it up when the time comes! These have always been favorites of mine and I have been able to find them at Hobby Lobby every year. These are leftover from last season, but hopefully they'll have more this year, too!

I don't think any of us really has any idea what the holidays will look like this year, but whatever they bring, I know that I will still have my family and friends! A little pouch like this is perfect thing to drop off on a doorstep!

I happened to turn the TV on while I was editing these photos and Dr. Phil happened to be on and he was discussing that "home" isn't the same for everyone during these trying times. I've been so grateful for my safe and comfortable home, with my children and husband around me as we weather this together. He was talking particularly about the foster care system and how people aren't wanting to take in extra kids right now and if they do happen to have these kids, they are needing activities and things to keep them occupied. Dr. Phil said that we could contact our local Child Abuse center or hotline to find out how we can help these sweet kids! It brought me to tears thinking about it all!

My last project for today is a trio of tags (only two pictured here) using most of the same elements as the pouches. The Basic Book Mark 3 die was the perfect choice for these tags. It is large enough to hold the embellishments, AND the stamped sentiment.

One of our favorite traditions is making Christmas cookies and these button embellishments are the perfect addition. I bought them during last year's holiday season, but I never got a chance to use them! I'm particularly grateful to have them since Hobby Lobby is closed and there's no chance to get any right now! Being a crafty hoarder has been a blessing during all of this!😂😂😂

I added all of the wreaths and embellishments using hot glue for a nice sturdy tag. These would be so cute to package up holiday cookies and treats! I hope you've enjoyed today's hop! Thanks for fluttering by!

P.S. Here are a few things I am thankful for today: My home, my family and friends, my beautiful blossoming trees that smell and look heavenly, uplifting music to keep my spirits up, my Savior Jesus Christ, the smell of cut grass, Christmas, spring flowers, laughter, technology, good books, good movies! What's making you grateful today?