2011 Holiday Tags

Remember yesterday when I divulged a few of my winter vices?
{Tardigan, anyone?}
Today I bring you the sweetest one.

Marshmallows.
As in, the one dessert I can burn cook myself in front of a roaring fire.
It's like all my favorite things rolled up into one...

Light? Check.
Heat? Check.
Dessert? Check.

I kid you not when the temperature dips down to, oh, about 70 degrees round these parts, that's my cue to start up the fire every evening.

The things I do to survive winter :)

But this year's marshmallow roasting will be much more enjoyable thanks to these little guys.

Marshmallows on a stick may not be a new idea, but when I came across these telescoping marshmallow sticks I couldn't help myself.  And where did I get these sweet little inventions?  Say it with me... Target. The Dollar Spot, no less, and yes... my store still had a boatload of them this week.  Each one was a $1 investment toward not having to wear an oven mitt while roasting my marshmallows anymore.  Total steal, in my opinion :)

Such a steal, in fact, that I determined they would make sweet (and super affordable) gifts for my 7 year old to give to some of his friends during the holidays.  Except I thought his fellow 7 year olds would find the sticks that much cooler if they came with a sweet friend on top, not to mention a cutie pie name tag.

2011 Holiday Tags to the rescue...

Papertrey Ink is debuting 2011 Holiday Tags on October 15 so the design team and I are bringing you our own little takes on the images.  I actually do make a slew of tags at Christmas time... I'd say maybe 60-75 tags total.  So when I put these together I kept them very true to something that I could actually get put together during the busyness of the holidays.

The little snowmen are so fun and whimsical that I wanted to keep the tags colorful to add to the fun feel.  I stamped the Let it Snow tag several times in each color, then used a simple circle punch to quickly punch out all of the images.  I cut the little sentiment flag out of half of the colors and then layered them onto different colored tags to mix things up. 

I layered each image onto kraft tags I cut out with the new Tag Sale #5 die.  The set includes a few to/from sentiments so I added that to the tag as well... I know Eli will want to fill that part out himself as well as add a little drawing to the back of the tag. 

Now... are you ready for the sweet little snowmen themselves??

You know I'm always on the lookout for sweet treats I can make with the kiddos and let me tell you... this one fits the bill to a T.  This treat will work just as perfectly on a sucker stick, so no worries if you can't find the roasting sticks.  Simply slide 3 regular sized marshamllows onto the stick (not the mini size), then dip the entire thing in white almond bark.  I like to use the kind from the grocery baking aisle, but you can also use the candy melts from your local craft store.

I melted the almond bark in a glass measuring cup, dipped the marshmallow in, then used a spatula to pull some of the bark up and drip it over the rest of the marshmallow pop.  Tap, tap, tap the stick to drain some of the excess off, then set it in to a jar to dry standing up.  At this point, I quickly added a little nose formed from a bit of an Orange Tootsie Roll (tip... snag a few of those from your kid's Halloween bucket). 

I thought the snowmen would like a little scarf to keep them warm, so I wrapped a little gingham ribbon around each one and added a tiny glue dot right where the ribbon overlaps itself.

Sweet, right?

Ah, but the 2011 Holiday Tags is no one trick pony... I love using these tag sets on cards.  They really make for a quick and easy project...

For this card, I stamped the tree trio image in Pure Poppy on Raspberry Fizz... one of my favorite color on color combinations.  So bright and fun. {Sidenote... I used my brand-spankin-new Pure Poppy ink pad here... woohoo!  Love it!}  I thought I'd play off the trees in the image and so I added a white panel that I embossed with the Woodgrain impression plate.  A hole punch to the side made the perfect home for my tree trio image to live in.

I couldn't put away the Bells & Boughs set from last month's release, so I added a Simply Chartreuse bow to the edge.  Totally loving how the colors pop against each other...

I finished off the greeting with a sentiment from the new Wonderful Words: Holiday set.  It has lots of little phrases that coordinate really well with loads of other holiday sets. A few rhinestone accents tie everything together.

Perhaps a competitor for the 2011 Witty Family Christmas card...? 
What do you think?

For more 2011 Holiday Tag fun, be sure to check out the rest of the Papertrey Ink team...
Nichole Heady
Betsy Veldman
Erin Lincoln
Maile Belles
Lisa Johnson
Dawn McVey
Heather Nichols
Melissa Phillilps
Michelle Wooderson
Danielle Flanders

I know you're going to love what they have for you!
Thanks for stopping by, folks!


{Happy Holidays} card
Stamps - 2011 Holiday Tags, Bells & Boughs
Cardstock - White, Simply Chartreuse, Raspberry Fizz
Ink - Pure Poppy, Ripe Avocado, VersaMark
Die - Bells & Boughs
Impression Plate - Woodgrain
Other - Rhinestones, circle punch

{Let it Snow-man} tags
Stamps - 2011 Holiday Tags
Cardstock - Kraft, White
Ink - Pure Poppy, New Leaf, Dark Chocolate; Pumpkin Pie & Bliss Blue (SU)
Die - Tag Sale #5
Ribbon - Spring Rain gingham, Pure Poppy, New Leaf, Orange Zest