it’s a wonderful life…

especially one with Distress Inks and Cracker Candy… 😉 am I right?

Well, hello there and happy Monday!

I’m back today with a new tutorial for some tiny gift tags. Who loves making Christmas tags? Well…I do! Even on the busiest of years (and you know how busy this year has been) I always try and make at least a few handmade gift tags. It’s a fun way to zone-out during all of the holiday chaos, and play, plus, you’re accomplishing some of the holiday tasks in the process!

This year’s tags were created using Distress Cracked Leather Paper, a bit of texture paste, and the new Gatherings Layering Stencil (THS152) then sprinkled Distress Embossing Glazes…plus, no Christmas tag is complete without festive greens, ribbon and all tied up with string.

Yesterday, as I was preparing to write the tutorial and set up my photos, I realized that the cracker candies that I made this past weekend, matched the tags perfectly and made the perfect prop…it was meant to be! I love it when that happens! So, I decided it might be fun to to include the recipe for them in this post too. These were always a favorite of mine growing up…they are delicious and easy to make in a snap.

So, let’s get to making…

Tag Set 1

I started by spreading on a small amount of texture paste through the stencil with a palette knife, the wet paste was then sprinkled with tiny pinches of Distress Glazes. (Walnut Stain, Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo, Fired Brick and the new Rustic Wilderness) To distribute the powders, I gently tapped the underneath of the paper, removed the tiny remnants that were left behind, then embossed the remaining pattern with my heat tool.

After the glazes were embossed, I spritzed the paper with water and some Walnut Stain and Gathered Twigs spray stain, then dried it with a heat tool.

I dipped a splatter brush into some Picket Fence paint and splattered the background.

Using a small Sizzix tag die and my Sidekick, I cut out several tags. The edges of the tags were rubbed with some of the white paint and set aside to dry.

Tag Set 2

The next set of tags were created using the new Tiny Text Christmas Stamp Set (CMS424). I inked up the entire stamp set with Fired Brick Distress Ink, spritzed the stamp set with a couple light spritzes of water and covered the stamp set with a half sheet of the new Distress Kraft paper. I gently pressed the paper onto the stamp, then lifted it from the stamp set. While the ink was still wet, I randomly sprinkled the background with Fired Brick Embossing Glaze and embossed it with my embossing gun.

And here’s an up close peek at the results… see how the letters run together and look distressed, not so perfect and worn? 🙂 YUM! My favorite… it makes my heart pitter patter!

Then, as I previously had done, I cut the paper into tags using the tag die and sidekick. The smooshed some Walnut Stain Distress Ink onto my craft mat, spritzed it with a bit of water and dunked the tags into the drips. Then dried it with my heat tool. Then paint was added to the edges of the tags.

All the tags were then randomly rubbed with a small amount of collage medium and sprinkled with Clear Rock Candy Glitter and Distress Mica Flakes.

I dug into my previously cut Sizzix paper pieces (I always save every scrap and piece that I’ve cut and keep them in a jar, no scrap goes to waste, a huge time saver!) Some of the pieces were cut from Funky Festive, Large Funky Festive, Nordic and Festive Greens) then the pieces were added to the tags. Some of the tags were also embellished with phrases cut out and stamped from the Tiny Text Set.

Green ribbon and red and white bakers twine was then tied to the tops.

With that, my tags were complete…

…and here’s the recipe for the cracker candy, as promised.

Saltine Toffee/Cracker Candy

Line a baking tray with Parchment Paper, making sure that the paper extends past the crackers. Line Saltine Crackers in your pan (approximatly 35 crackers).

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. While the oven is warming up, add 1 cup of butter and 1 cup of dark brown sugar to a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Let this boil for 3 minutes, stirring every now and then to make sure it doesn’t burn and seeing that the sugar is dissolving. Pour the mixture over the saltines and spread over top of them so that they are completely covered. Bake the crackers for 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with 2 cups of Chocolate Chips. Add the tray of crackers back into the oven for one minute. Remove the crackers from the oven and spread the melted Chocolate Chips to cover the toffee. Sprinkle with chopped pecans and refrigerate until hardened. Once set, break into pieces. This can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two weeks or in the freezer for 2-3 months…YUM!

Recipe for this project…

Cracked Leather Paper, Gatherings Layering Stencil (THS152), Distress Texture Paste, Palette Knife, An Assortment of Distress Glazes, Tiny Text Christmas (CMS424), Distress Kraft Heavystock, An assortment of Sizzix thinlets, Sizzix Side-kick, tag thinlet die, Distress Inks and Sprays, Ribbon, and Bakers Twine.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Creatively yours,

Stacy

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