Christmas Gifting

"Oh unto us a child is born. Unto us, a son is given...we shall call him, wonderful, consular, Almighty God the everlasting Father the Prince of Peace...."

With Christmas now being only one day away I have finally gotten my act together and made a few gifts.

As you might know by now, the fact that I don't have a job and also the fact that I'm just a thrifty person means that I didn't have the money nor the will to go out and buy a lot of gifts for Christmas.

So I just made some instead. ;)

First project? Homemade Christmas cards, complete with handmade envelopes! Last year, stuck at college after Christmas, thank-you letters still unwritten, I couldn't find time to leave campus and go buy cards.

So I just made some. This year I did the same. I have tons (as you well know) of pictures of my adorable cat, nature, and even some family pics. Perfect for a Christmas card!

With a few minor adjustments in Photoshop, my pics were ready to be on cards.

With that out of the way, next came to the question of envelopes. I didn't want to just stick my newly crafted card into an ordinary run of the mill envelope. It helped that I was going to hand deliver them, not mail them, so I didn't have to worry about having a space on the front to write an address.

As you may know I've recently become somewhat obsessed with Pinterest and treat it as a solution to all my crafting problems. So I spent like an hour on Pinterest, trying to get inspiration on a)how to fold an envelope and b)what material to use.

Eventually, frustrated I gave up on Pinterest. It suddenly occurred to me-- really, how hard would it be to fold an envelope? It certainly seemed quite straight forward. So I grabbed a pretty piece of scrapbook paper and just started folding.

This one actually turned out to be the best one. That's because I folded the bottom giving like two inches to cover the back. On the other ones I didn't fold far enough, leaving a gap at the back.

Anyway I just kept folding. First on the bottom, and then on the sides.

All the tutorials I had seen where quite complicated, with rulers, exact measurements, and small cuts.

Pshhhhh. Who needs exactness? Just approximate. ((rules I live by))

It was pretty straightforward. I did the same for the other card, using another piece of scrap paper.

I just folded the top down, like a present. The result looked exactly like an envelope. If you wanted to mail them, you would just want to tape them shut ((I slipped the end of the flap under the bottom fold, keeping it closed but not enough for mailing)) and find a way to put a legible address on front.

Easy as pie! 3.141592658979323.........

Anywayyyyyy.....in other news I just finished another book I want to briefly write about.

It's historical fiction set during the last days of the Romanov family-- the last tsar of Russia. It's seen through the eyes of a daughter of a mad/saint/guy who is sent to live with the royal family right before they are imprisoned.

It's a beautifully written if not tragically sad novel. Go read it.

Tune in later to see my other homemade Christmas gifts, including but not limited to, homemade Reces peanut butter cups! :)

And Merry Christmas :)