Hello there! This month for our Papertrey design team group post, Nichole asked us to create a card to share with you using her new Tree Trimming Trio stamp set, as well as a homemade gift idea that you could use this Christmas season.
For my project, I decided to share what we've lovingly come to refer to as 'Brooke's banana bread'! It's actually a Martha Stewart recipe and I got my first taste of this 'best EVER' treat, when my sweet friend Brooke picked up Mish, Pine and I at the airport when we went to CHA in Florida this summer. Brooke had 3 of these mini loaves waiting in her car -- one for each of us, fresh out of her oven. How sweet is that?!! (no pun intended! Hee!) Anyway, after we tasted the banana bread, we couldn't get over how MOIST it was......it was seriously the best banana bread I've ever had.....in my whole life......seriously.....I'm not kidding about this. :) So, I have decided to make some of these for my loved ones this Christmas and I thought I'd show you a quick and easy way to dress these little yummies up to make them just as pretty as they are tasty!
To start out, I used a 2" strip of patterned paper. (Watch Nichole's blog this week for more info about this one!! Wink!) I baked my bread in standard mini loaf tins....I've seen them at several stores like Target and Walmart lately. Since Papertrey's patterned paper packs come 8"x8", they're just perfect for these tins! I layed my strip of paper over the top of the bread, making sure it was centered and even on both sides. Next, I gently folded the paper over the sides of the tin just a bit, then removed the paper and used those slight fold lines to go ahead and fold them the rest of the way with my fingers.
You don't have to worry about the paper not wrapping around on the bottom of the tin -- no one's gonna be looking at the bottom! ;) AND, you don't have to fuss with adhering the paper to your tin/plastic wrap, because when you wrap a piece of ribbon around the paper and tin to tie a bow, the ribbon holds the paper in place! Sooo quick and easy!
I know some of you ask from time to time about adhering embellies to your projects. I thought I'd just show you that I threaded this button with some twine, and then used a glue dot to adhere the button to this prima flower. You don't have to tie off the twine or anything, because the glue dot holds the ends of the twine in place.
Next, I flip the flower over and put another glue dot on the back.
I tied my large tag on the bow with some more button twine.
Then, I just stick the flower right on the center of the bow! It's seriously no fuss and makes quick work of decking these loaves out.
Wouldn't you love to receive a tasty treat like this??? Oooh, I just love the color coordination of the tag, bread wrapper & card! I cut out these tags using my Cricut Expression and the Tags, Bags, Boxes & More cartridge, and then I just got busy stamping them up and blinging them out!
If you want to take it one step further, you can even flip the tag over and stamp a bit on the back side to finish it off. I stamped the 'fresh baked' image & the little tree from the Holiday Treats stamp set and then I used the 'to:' and 'from:' sentiments from the 2008 Holiday Tag Collection set. I love how polished this makes the tag look and again, it was super simple!
Here's a close-up of the card. I covered the little ornaments with epoxy circle stickers (watch Nichole's blog for info about these too!).
For all of my tags and the card, I went pink, pink, pink! The trees are all stamped in hibiscus burst, raspberry fizz & scarlet jewel and if you'll notice, I used those same ribbons and buttons when decorating everything up. Even the little stars are stamped in a soft pink -- sweet blush. I loved making these super girly. It just goes to show you that trees don't HAVE to be green! Hee.
I hope you've enjoyed this post! Are you ready to get a jumpstart on your holiday gift giving? Obviously you can't make these breads way in advance, but you could go ahead and start planning your gifts and making your cards and tags so that when Christmas rolls around, you'll be a step ahead of the game!
All of the other girls on the design team, as well as Nichole, have card and gift ideas for you, so be sure to pay them all a visit! And, Melissa and Beth will be sharing more peeks at their new sets.
Mish Wooderson
Heather Nichols
Lisa Johnson
Debbie Olson
Melissa Phillips
Betsy Veldman
Niki Estes
Geny Cassady
Becky Oehlers
Lauren Meader
As for me, don't forget to scroll on down, as I have TWO posts today! You don't want to miss the Signature Christmas peeks today -- I'm in LOVE with these projects! I'll be back tomorrow with yet another look at the many cards you can use Signature Christmas on! I'll see you then, Dearies!
{Bread Wraps, Tags & Card supplies}
Paper: hibiscus burst, scarlet jewel, vintage cream, holiday cheer patterned paper
Stamps: Tree Trimming Trio, Holiday Treats, 2008 Holiday Tag Collection
Ink: hibiscus burst, raspberry fizz, scarlet jewel, dark chocolate
Other: hibiscus burst, raspberry fizz & scarlet jewel classic grosgrain ribbons, hibiscus burst, raspberry fizz & scarlet jewel vintage buttons, rustic cream button twine, EK Success epoxy circle stickers, Cricut Expression; Tags, Bags, Boxes & More cartridge, Kaiser Scrapbook rhinestones, Prima flowers
