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Christmas Gift Wrap Ideas – Brown Paper Bag and Ribbon

  December 9, 2013 - 5:20 PM | , , ,
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Christmas Gift Wrap Ideas - Brown Paper Bag and Ribbon, paper bag, ribbon, easy, decoration, wrapping

We are back with another easy Christmas gift wrap idea today.  Last time we wrapped an awkward shaped gift in a brown paper bag, and this time it is no different, except the decoration!  Once again we are using a brown paper bag wrapper, and this time, we have decorated it with ribbon scraps to make it look a little bit Christmassy.  You can vary the width of the ribbon, and stitch a bow or an extra piece of ribbon in the middle like we did, to make it look even more interesting.  This Christmas gift wrap idea is as easy as 1, 2, 3!

Christmas Gift Wrap Ideas - Brown Paper Bag and Ribbon, paper bag, ribbon, easy, decoration, wrapping

All you need is:

  • Brown paper bag
  • At least one piece of ribbon the width of your bag
  • Matching thread
  • Sewing machine
  • Scissors (to cut thread)
  • Gift
  1. Place the gift in the paper bag and fold down the edge.
  2. Position the ribbon (and bow or extra ribbon) on the folded part of the paper bag.
  3. Sew the ribbon onto the paper bag, sewing through all layers of the bag.  You can use a decorative, zigzag or straight stitch.

If you don’t have a sewing machine you can tape the ribbon to the brown paper bag with double sided tape or craft glue, and tape or glue the bag shut.

The gift will be sealed in the paper bag and is ready to put under the Christmas tree or given to a friend or family member.

Christmas Gift Wrap Ideas - Brown Paper Bag and Ribbon, paper bag, ribbon, easy, decoration, wrapping

We have more Christmas gift wrap ideas coming soon on our website!

Christmas Stocking Stuffer Ideas

  December 6, 2013 - 10:00 AM | , , ,
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Christmas Stocking Stuffer Ideas - Imagine. Make. Believe, stocking filler, stocking, stuffer, fillers gifts, trinkets, goodies, ideas

Christmas Stocking Stuffer Ideas - Imagine. Make. Believe, stocking filler, stocking, stuffer, fillers gifts, trinkets, goodies, ideas

Christmas stockings!  It’s that time of year that we start thinking about Christmas stockings.  Do you put yours out on Christmas Eve, or do you hang them up for the whole Christmas season?  We are privileged to have some beautiful Christmas stockings made by the grandparents of the Imagine. Make. Believe children, so we usually hang ours up at the beginning of December, when we put up the Christmas tree and other decorations, so that we can enjoy them for a whole month.  Val Laird  and her secretly crafty husband (he’s done some amazing cross-stitches in the last decade or two), and Janelle have all contributed to these stockings in different ways, which makes them all the more special.

Christmas Stocking Felt Shapes, felt, Christmas trees, bells, stars

Christmas Stocking, felt, Jesus, Mary, Joseph, star

Christmas Stocking, felt, angel, cross-stitch, beads

Christmas Stocking, felt, dove, cross-stitch, tassle

Depending on the stocking, the cross-stitch and applique patterns were either designed by someone else (unfortunately we don’t remember the designer’s details as these were made years ago), or were patterns that inspired us to create what we have above.  We did blank out the beautifully embroidered names too, for privacy reasons.

So the next question is… what gifts do you put in your Christmas stockings?  If you are stuck for suggestions, we have one for you!  It’s our Imagine. Make. Believe children’s digital activity magazine and it is a great stocking stuffer idea.  Imagine. Make. Believe - Issue 1 - Royalty and Castles $5

A subscription for one year costs only AU$16!  That is four 70 page issues and there is no postage to pay!  When you purchase, we can either:

  1. Email you a gift subscription voucher/card, (offer valid any time) or
  2. Post you a gift subscription voucher/card, as well as a bonus Imagine. Make. Believe 2014 postcard calendar for free.  If you purchase a Christmas card with the subscription, we will post it to you for free too.  (This is a limited offer only available until the 12th December 2013 for the first 40 customers).  Please note:  in the instructions to the seller, please type in Postcard Offer so that we know you want this option, and supply us with your postal address.

Well that takes care of one idea, but that is not going to fill up the stocking! You may like to browse our online store for some more stocking stuffer ideas that make great gifts for children, or have a look at our Christmas stocking stuffer ideas list below!  We have 60 Christmas stocking gift suggestions, that include ideas for children and adults.

Christmas Stocking Stuffer Ideas - Imagine. Make. Believe, stocking filler, stocking, stuffer, fillers gifts, trinkets, goodies, ideas

What’s your favourite idea?  We think the mouse trap is bit funny, but it just might come in handy for someone!  Do you have any great Christmas stocking stuffer ideas?  Let us know in the comments below!

Free Play with Paper – Nativity Scene Printables

  November 29, 2013 - 10:00 PM | , , ,
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Free Play with Paper - Christmas Nativity Scene, Imagine. Make. Believe, Christmas, Mary, Joseph, baby, Jesus, animals, shepherds, Magi, wisemen, star, stable, hay, manger, free, printable, paper, standups, cutouts, children, play, paper

Free Play with Paper, free, printable, paper, standups, cutouts, children, play, paper

Do you love playing with paper?  We do!  We are always amazed at what you can do with one piece of paper.  It is such a versatile material!

Today we introduce you to our new Free Play with Paper series!  Free Play with Paper are free printables that you can print off and the children can cut out, glue together, and play with.  They include stand up people and animals, buildings, and other props, and can provide hours of free play, as well as help children make up their own stories.

From each issue of our Imagine. Make. Believe magazine, we will have a set of Free Play with Paper printables.  They will be available in a coloured version, as well as black and white, perfect to colour in!  Keep an eye out for our Royal Set, available soon.

Do you love nativity scenes? We love the Christmas story – the birth of Jesus, and all the miracles that surrounded his arrival into the world, and so we love nativity scenes too, as they remind us of this precious story.  If you don’t know the story, head over to this link for the historical account.

Free Play with Paper - Christmas Nativity Scene Printables, Imagine. Make. Believe, Christmas, Mary, Joseph, baby, Jesus, animals, shepherds, Magi, wisemen, star, stable, hay, manger, free, printable, paper, standups, cutouts, children, play, paper

JJ, our 11 year old team member, and Janelle have been hard working behind the scenes to bring you a very cute set of nativity scene printables!  

All you need is a printer connected to your computer, scissors and glue (we used a glue stick), and if you choose the black and white version, coloured pencils, felt tip pens or crayons.

With our nativity scene printables, we have tried to include all aspects of the Christmas story, with the Magi (wise-men), the star, the shepherds and the angels that appeared to them, the animals, the manger (feed trough), Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus and a background scene.  That means your children can act out the whole Christmas story with all the paper pieces, but they can also use them with our other Free Play with Paper sets once they are available.

To get started, click on one of our nativity scene printable buttons below.

Free Play with Paper - Christmas Nativity Scene, Imagine. Make. Believe, Christmas, Mary, Joseph, baby, Jesus, animals, shepherds, Magi, wisemen, star, stable, hay, manger, free, printable, paper, standups, cutouts, children, play, paper                        Free Play with Paper - Christmas Nativity Scene, Imagine. Make. Believe, Christmas, Mary, Joseph, baby, Jesus, animals, shepherds, Magi, wisemen, star, stable, hay, manger, free, printable, paper, standups, cutouts, children, play, paper

We would love to hear what you think of our nativity scene printables, and it would be great if you could send us a photo if your children do anything super creative with them!

Christmas Gift Wrap Ideas – Brown Paper Bag and Buttons

  November 26, 2013 - 10:00 AM | , , ,
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Christmas Gift Wrap Ideas - Brown Paper Bag and Buttons, paper bag, buttons, fabric, easy, decoration, wrapping

For some reason, we have three children doing ‘Secret Santa’ (a secret gift swapping event) at school this year, which is unusual for us.  Instead of going out and buying some trinket, the kids decided to give away one of their Puffy Cupcake Pincushions (pattern available soon) that they made during the last school holidays.   

Puffy Cupcake Pincushions - kid's sewing, children, felt, buttons, cupcake, pincushion

Normally, we would wrap Christmas presents in Christmas paper, however there are a couple of problems with this.  The first is that we have been living out of boxes for the past nine months, and the Christmas paper is in one of the bottom boxes.  There wasn’t much energy or time this week to go and fish for the paper, and we could go and buy some instead, but we would rather use what we already have, or make do with something else that could be used instead.  The second issue is that these cupcakes are hard to wrap!  

Janelle loves coming up with creative solutions to interesting problems, so she got thinking about Christmas gift wrap ideas.  Within seconds she thought that a brown paper bag would be a perfect solution for the wrapping paper problem, because it is quick (already in the cupboard and easy to access), cheap ($2 -$3 for a packet of 100) and easy (no need to wrap an awkward shaped item – just pop it in the bag)!  There is one problem though!!  

Brown paper bags are not very pretty or Christmassy!  So the first paper bag was decorated with Christmas stickers!  The gift wrapping for a teenage girl, however, needed something a bit more age appropriate.  One glance around the room and Janelle’s eyes saw the containers full of buttons!  One thing led to another, and in no time at all, the teenage boy had a pretty Christmas package ready for the teenage girl, for the Secret Santa swap!

Christmas Gift Wrap Ideas - Brown Paper Bag and Buttons, paper bag, buttons, fabric, easy, decoration, wrapping

 All you need is:

  • Brown paper bag
  • One or two buttons
  • Small circle of fabric
  • Matching thread (knot the ends together)
  • Needle
  • Scissors (to cut thread)
  • Gift
Running Stitch Circle

Fabric Circle – Running Stitch Position

  1. Place the gift in the paper bag and fold down the edge.
  2. Gather the fabric circle with a running stitch as shown in the diagram.
  3. Position the gathered fabric circle on the paper bag (make sure the gift is inside).
  4. Place buttons on top of fabric and stitch through all layers of bag, buttons and fabric.

See our basic How To? posts for sewing on buttons, starting a thread, knotting a thread, running stitch, etc.

You will now have a sealed gift, with a pretty handmade decoration.

Christmas Gift Wrap Ideas - Brown Paper Bag and Buttons, paper bag, buttons, fabric, easy, decoration, wrapping
More Christmas gift wrap ideas on our website… coming soon!

Christmas Advent Calendar Gift Ideas

  November 15, 2013 - 10:00 AM | , , ,
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Christmas Advent Calendar Gift Ideas - Imagine. Make. Believe, advent, calendar, gifts, trinkets, goodies, ideas

Christmas Advent Calendar Gift Ideas - Imagine. Make. Believe, advent, calendar, gifts, trinkets, goodies, ideasWe love advent calendars here at Imagine. Make. Believe.  Janelle would love to have advent calendars all year round and could easily own 20 if she didn’t hold herself back!  She does love things with lots of little boxes, containers, drawers, doors or windows, and so advent calendars are a bit like heaven!  Of course, the children love them too, because they like the little gifts, trinkets or other goodies that they find hidden away.

So, have you got your Christmas advent calendar ready?  If not, go to our Eggstraordinary Advent Calendar post, where you will find our free tutorial to make an advent calendar from egg cartons and milk bottle lids, and if you don’t want to make it yourself, let the children spend the weekend creating!  We have one each that the children made, and they love filling up their advent calendars with trinkets that their friends or siblings can collect.

Imagine Make Believe Creative Simple Cheap Fun Children Kids Advent Calendar Free Tutorial Project Christmas Craft Egg Carton Milk Bottle Lids Recycle craft, advent calendar, free, project, tutorial, instructions, Christmas, easy, children, kids, holiday

Once you have your advent calendar, you will want at least 24 gifts to pop in the hiding spots. There are all sorts of options, but they usually need to be small, especially if you have a small space like our Eggstraordinary Advent Calendars.

Need some suggestions?  Here is a list of our Christmas advent calendar gift ideas, perfect for those little hidey holes!

Christmas Advent Calendar Gift Ideas - Imagine. Make. Believe, advent, calendar, gifts, trinkets, goodies, ideas

Do you have any small advent calendar gift ideas?  Let us know in the comments below!

Free Fun Friday – Royal Colouring Picture

  November 8, 2013 - 10:00 AM | , , , ,
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Royal Picture - Imagine. Make. Believe, magazine, children, activity, colouring, coloring, theme, carriage, castle, prince, princess

Royal Colouring Picture, children, royal magazine, colouring sheet, royal, carriage, castle, prince, princess, free This week’s Free Fun Friday is a tiny sneak peek into the first issue of our Imagine. Make. Believe digital children’s activity magazine!  In each magazine we include a colouring template, that can be used for colouring in, but it can also be used to decorate with collage, make a card, use in games, and decorate presents, gift bags and envelopes, among other things.

Also in our magazine we have some very cool themed drawings and pictures that help build the theme of each magazine, and give inspiration to the children beyond the activities that we have provided.  It helps stimulate their imagination!

We have included most of the drawings from our Royalty and Castles Issue of the Imagine. Make. Believe magazine, into our new Royalty and Castles Colouring Book that is now available in our shop.

Colouring Book Cover

JJ is our main illustrator (and yes, he is only 11), with ideas also coming from the rest of the team, but mostly from Annie and Janelle.  We decided to share with you one of the pictures from the magazine that is not included in the colouring book,  but it is such a great combination of ideas, and a combination of drawings.  Here it is in the magazine:

Royal Picture - Imagine. Make. Believe, magazine, children, activity, colouring, coloring, theme, carriage, castle, prince, princess

All you have to do is click the button below to download the royal colouring picture as a pdf file.  Print if off, and it will be ready to colour in!

Royal Colouring Picture, children, royal magazine, colouring sheet, royal, carriage, castle, prince, princess, free

Happy colouring!

Free Fun Friday – Colouring Competition

  September 27, 2013 - 10:00 AM | , , , ,
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Colouring Competition, children, royal magazine, colouring sheet, royal couple, free

Colouring Competition, children, royal magazine, colouring sheet, royal couple, free

We are so very close to launching our first Imagine. Make. Believe digital magazine!  Excitement behind the scenes has been building as we add some finishing touches to it!

To celebrate, we have created a colouring competition that children 12 and under can enter.  We have a few prizes in store for our three winners… will it be you?

The colouring page, features the royal couple from our first magazine issue!  JJ was 10 when he drew these two!

The competition is open to all countries, and details of prizes and the terms and conditions are in the PDF file.  

Click the button below to download the colouring page, grab your pencils or other colouring tools and have fun!

Colouring Competition, children, royal magazine, colouring sheet, royal couple, free

We look forward to seeing everyone’s entries!

Competition closes at 11 pm AEST on Sunday, 20th October 2013.

 

Free Fun Friday – Coin Rubbings

  September 20, 2013 - 10:00 AM | , ,
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Coin Rubbings, pencil rubbing, frottage, tutorial

Coin Rubbings, pencil rubbing, frottage, tutorial

Very soon, our first digital kid’s magazine will be launched.  Here is the front cover!

children, kids, magazine, digital, craft, sewing, royal, stitching, holiday, fun, cheap, simple, pattern, tutorial, project

As you can see, this issue will be all about royalty and castles… and a crow!

That being the case, we thought it would be a bit of fun to do something with coins!  Have you ever done a coin rubbing?

Janelle remembers doing pencil rubbings as a little girl, and when she went to art school many years later, she learnt that pencil rubbings have a special name!  It is a French word called ‘frottage’!

Pencil rubbings are done with a pencil and paper, and an object that has an uneven and textured (not smooth) surface.  

Coin Rubbings, Australian coins, frottage, Australian animals, 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, $1, $2, pencil rubbing

Pencil Rubbings of Australian Coins

Coin rubbings are the done some way, but the object is a coin.  Here’s how to do it:

Difficulty Rating:  1/5 – Easy

Supplies:

  • Paper

Tools:

  • Pencil (not sharp – a blunt one will work better) – coloured pencils can be used, but it is best to use darker colours
  • Coins – other things can be used like leaves, baskets, wood, rocks, buttons, lace, and other things that have a raised, textured (not smooth) surface

Optional:

  • Eraser

Instructions:

  • Place the coin on a hard, flat surface (like a table).
  • Place a sheet of paper over the coin.
  • Using the pencil, gently rub the paper backwards and forwards over the area where the coin is.  It is best that you don’t use the very tip of the pencil.  Instead, tilt or angle the pencil so that more of the pencil lead is touching the paper.  Be careful not to move the coin or the paper so that you get a clear image.
  • If you wish, you can rub out any pencil marks that went outside the coin, with an eraser.

Here is the diagram of what to do:

Coin Rubbings, coins, frottage, pencil rubbing

After that, you can do what you like with the coin rubbing, but we would love to see or hear what you do.  You may have some great way of using the coin rubbing in a craft or other project, so show us by uploading a photo into our Coin Rubbing Gallery, or write a comment below of what you have done.

Even if you haven’t come up with any great ideas, we would still love to see your coin rubbings.  We think it would be pretty fun to have coin rubbings from all around the world, from every country in our gallery!  We have started it off by doing our Australian coins and labelling them so you know what they are, as most of our coins have Australian animals on them.  If you live in Australia though, don’t let that stop you.

  • If your coins are the same as someone else’s, maybe your country has special coins for special occasion years, like we do in Australia, and you could do those.
  • You could rub the side of a coin that someone else hasn’t done.
  • You could do them in a different colour.
  • You could use them as part of a picture.

Whatever the case… we would love to see them and whatever you do with them!

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