Whimsical Woodland 3D Embossing Folder Archives

Last Minute Gifts with the December Pals’ Blog Hop

Dec 14, 2022 | Pals Blog Hop | 10 comments

I have been having an absolute blast with this Kindest Gnomes bundle! When I saw this gnome garland at Dollar Tree, I knew exactly what I was going to do. So, with the help of three strands of garland and a small wreath frame ($5.00 plus tax), I knew exactly what I needed to create: a gnome wreath with two $10 gift cards from Amazon. Who doesn’t love Amazon?!?!

Making the Wreath:

Even if you’ve never made a wreath before, this one will come together in a snap. Truly. It’s easy. Trust me, please.
Here’s a picture of a small wreath, just for reference:
There were only two strands of the gnomes garland left, so I also picked up a red and silver garland. I used that one first, kind of like the base. I tied a very small knot with the end of the garland onto one of the middle circle bar. Then, I just wove the red/silver garland around the two middle circle bars.
Next, I tied the white gnome garland to an outside crossbar and the garland around the whole frame to start on the candy cane-ish look I wanted to achieve.
Then, I repeated the process with the red gnome garland, making sure I kept the candy cane look going.
I did just tie off all the ends of the garland. That’s it. The wreath was done. Now for the fun part – adding gnomes!

The Whimsical Woodland Tags:

I started with three pieces of white cardstock measuring 5-1/2 by 8-1/2 inches. Then, I ran it through my SU! Cut and Emboss machine using the Whimsical Woodland 3D embossing folder.
HINT: I found that if I placed the white cardstock into the folder so that I had about 4-1/4 inches inside, I could just emboss half, take out the cardstock and flip it around and emboss the other end.
After embossing, I cut down the white cardstock to the size I’d need for these gnomes. Your size tags will depend on which gnome you use.

The Kindest Gnomes:

I chose to make the whole gnome from die cuts so I didn’t have to color more than the nose and hands (this is a last minute gift after all). Also, I could more easily control the colors of the gnome’s clothes.
It’s just me, but I like these gnomes to have arms. First, I cropped all the bottoms and hat pieces I needed using the Real Red and Garden Green 6 x 6 inch DSP, Then, I trimmed the “arms” using the same DSP to 1/2 inch by 1-1/2 inches. Next time, I will use 5/8 inch though.
I used white cardstock for the beards and the button nose pieces, which I also used for the hands. Bless SU! for including two of these dies in the gnomes die set.
I used Gray Granite ink and a blending brush to color the beards. I really tapped off almost all the ink from the brush before I used it to color the beard.
The nose and hand pieces were quickly colored using the SU 1000 natural tone blend.
I used a fine end of a black marker to outline the hats and to highlight the ties in the feet.
I glued the gnomes together and then added dimensionals to the back of them.
Then, I adhered each of them to a tag.
Next, I created a smaller tag for the greeting at the bottom using the Framed and Festive sentiment stamp set. Since I didn’t plan ahead, I needed to use my Stamparatus to stamp the sentiment in Mossy Meadow.
HINT: I’ve found it much easier to keep my cardstock in place on the Stamparatus grid paper by using removable tape on the back in addition to the magnets on the front.

Assembly:

After punching a small hole at the top of the tag, I used some Real Red mini-ruffled ribbon to attach each tag to the wreath.
I did the same with the sentiment tag at the bottom.
The final touch was to tie two $10 Amazon gift cards to the wreath using metallic red pipe cleaners. I didn’t need to buy any pipe cleaners (I’m a teacher – I have them coming out of my ears in my classroom storage), but you can get these at Dollar Tree as well.
With that, my Last Minute White Elephant gift is done! Now I just have to find a box so I can wrap it up.

Back to the Pals’ Blog Hop:

More inspiration awaits, so use the lineup below to visit the rest of the Design Team. The Pals are excited to show you what they’ve created! Then, please mark your calendars for our next blog hop on January 11 when our theme will be Sale-A-Bration Time. The design team will showcase projects made from Sale-A-Bration items. (I already have the SAB Adorable Owls stamp set and can’t wait to use it!)

Until then, have fun in your craft space.