Santa Baby... times two!

I'm pretty sure I've already mentioned how much I love Prima's "Santa Baby" collection, but it bears repeating. And not just because it has a vintage vibe and loads of pink. Though obviously both of those factors are 100% fine with me, lol. Here are a couple of gift bags I made with a selection of the papers... a few bits and bobs of my own and one or two patterns from this summer's "Havana" collection, mixed in:

My biggest problem was deciding which papers to use first, so I sort of just bypassed that whole question by using almost all of them! Since I was making bags for two friends I would be seeing together, I wanted to make two designs that were similar, but unique. So I leaned towards the pink on the first, and picked up the soft turquoise accent color (and some of the metallic gold) for the second bag.

I handcut some very loose, funky ruffles, distressed and curled the edges a bit, added a little machine stitching, then layered them onto the fronts of two plain white bags from the big box store. I worked from the middle of the bag, upwards. I used thin strips of foam tape towards the center of the bags for extra dimension, and Sookwang's extra strong Scor-Tape to anchor the edges firmly in the folds at the side of the bags.

I can never quite resist adding in a little vintage paper... especially sheet music... especially at the holidays! And yes, I have a hardcore love of paper doilies, what can I say? The burlap flowers and gorgeous pink holly leaves at the top are older Prima products, but honestly, it's like they were made especially to coordinate with the tiny flowers from the Santa Baby line. Of course, if you've got bags as fancy as this, they really ought to have matching cards, right?

More doilies, holding sentiments built from my own diecut letters. These are made from vintage sheet music mounted on thin chipboard, to make them extra sturdy. I like to use a mix of sheet music colors and styles to compliment the fun, funky font and add even more vintage charm.

A mix of trimmings, flowers and foliage also bumps up the texture factor. Because seeing as how these will be tucked into the gift bags, there is no need to think about mailability! ;)

Of course the very best place for presents of any kind is underneath the tree, right?! 

I hope this Saturday before the Saturday before Christmas will find you finishing up lots of "to do list" items, but also making time for some holiday fun --and treats-- for yourself! ♥♥♥