Christmas is coming and one of my favorite things about Christmas is spending time with the people you love.  And I love to give those people gifts.  However, I'm not a big fan of spending a lot of money on things people might not ever use, so I'm often looking for fun handmade Christmas presents.  Today I thought we'd talk about presents we can make with our scrapbooking supplies!

First up, let me show you the gifts that my son and I made for the teachers and staff at his school.  I'm so excited with how they turned out!

Credits: Merry and Bright by geniaBeana Scraps, font is Segoe Print

I carefully took the cup and rolled it on it's side around a sheet of colored paper and tried to draw a line along the edge.  Then I cut it out and scanned it and used that as the template.  It looked like this:

When I decorated it I got this:

Then I printed and cut them out and rolled them into the cups.  I used a piece of 2 sided tape at each end to keep it secure.  Then we filled baggies with the drink mix and tied them closed.

In case you are interested, here is the drink mix recipe:

1 (18oz) jar orange breakfast beverage crystals

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup red cinnamon candies

1/3 cup instant tea mix

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground cloves

Combine all ingredients; store in an airtight container.  To serve, stir 1 1/2 tablespoons of mix into 1 cup hot water.

So what else can you make for Christmas with scrapbooking supplies?

Check out my Scrapbooking Christmas gifts Pinterest board!

OK, so this isn't directly related to scrapbooking, but I was totally blown away by it and had to share, so here we go.  I was using SumbleUpon.com to read random things around the web and came across this site that featured some fantastic chalk art.  Here are a few, but you will want to click here to see some more.

Now let that get your creative juices flowing the next time you need to find your artistic mojo!

So did you notice that last week, November 11 was 11/11/11?  I was talking about it with my six year old son and he was fascinated.  So while I hadn't originally planned anything special for the day, we decided to set out to take 11 pictures of the things we did that day.  It turned out to be a fun "Day in the Life" project.  I blogged about it on my personal blog if you would like to read the details of the day.  And then I scrapped a page about it that I think turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself.

Credits: Letting Go by Amy Stoffel, Freebie Template from Digital Scrapbooking Classes Facebook page, fonts are Cinda by Darcy Baldwin and Massey

Now if you faithfully read those credits you will see that I created a template from this layout for you all.  It is on our facebook page under the Fan Freebie tab.  If you want it, just head over and download it now!  Of course, you don't have to use it to scrap 11/11/11.  You could do 11 things you love at 11 years old.  Or you could do 11 places we visited on our vacation.  Or really anything you want to of course.  :)

Enjoy and keep scrapping memories!!

So I was browsing an online gallery today looking for some inspiration to feature on the blog today and I came across there three layouts.  They were right next to each other and all by different artists but they caught my eye because they all shared a design element.  Do you see it?

Credits: Layout by ellasspace; Romantumn Kitty Designs

Credits: Layout by Bush Girl; Scraplift of: Lisa Hoffer, oscraps gallery, “Turning Point”; All Elements: Paislee Press & One Little Bird Collaboration, oscraps.com, Dialogue; Font: DJB Another Mandy by Darcy Baldwin & Diesel

Credits: Layout by tettletop20, Cutesy Christmas - Meghan Mullens; DJB Joan Euro - Darcy Baldwin; Round the Corners - Janet Phillips

Each scrapper used paper to edge just one or two sides of the background.  Often times we see background papers stacked with each layer getting a little smaller to sort of border the whole page.  But this time these layouts only have bordering on one or two edges.  It really changes the way my eye looks at the page.  In the first two, my eye starts in the middle and then moves to the side.  In the third I find that my eye starts on one side and moves across.  Have you ever thought about what your eyes do when they look at a layout you love?  The way you set up your page can help to bring people's attention to different parts of your layout.  One of my favorite things about these layouts is that I love variety and these side strips are different enough from my normal that they really got me looking!  Thanks for the inspiration ladies!

Have you ever created a layout and just not been inspired by the final product?  There are lots of things you can do at the end to make the layout look more complete, but the one I want to share with you today is to tilt something or even everything on the layout.  Check out this layout I made:

Credits: Owls in the Hoot Collab by Find Your Bliss Designs and Simply Magic Designs; Fonts are Chris by Darcy Baldwin and Brando

But if I take most of the papers and elements and text on the layout and tilt them, check out what happens:

The layout now really pulls your eye across the page.  The tilt adds a lot of interest and excitement to the layout.

Here are two others I found that really caught my eye:

Credits: Layout by Davita; Template from Queen of Hearts; All papers and most elements from the new Two Scoop from Shawna Clingerman and Heather Roselli Love You Beary Much; Additional credits:vTiny white flowers_Shawna Clingerman, light blue flowers (recolored)_Kristin Cronin-Barrow, white flower_Dani Mogstad, large dark blue flower in b/g (recolored)_Kristin Cronin_Barrow.

Credits: Layout by Ana.Paula; Black vs. Bright Magic GB; Life Tale Sketches 4; by Kitty Designs; The Teenage Dream by Heather Hess

It seems like banners are all the rage these days in scrapbooking and crafty projects.  First let me share with you some great banners people have made to hang in their homes - so crafty and decorative!

Credits: Project by emileem; A BOYS PERFECT BIRTHDAY by Jady Day Studio; BUNTING TEMPLATE V.2 by Simply J Studio; Kroger paper bags; white cardstock; ric-rac

Credits: Project by Brynn Marie; Green paper from Neverland by Jacque Larsen & Gina Miller; Halloween Banner & Back In Black Alpha by Jacque Larsen; Glitter Paint; Grape Vine Wreath; Krylon Fusion in Hammered Finish; Krylon Glitter Blast in Starry Night; Lime Green Bakers Twine; Mini Clothespins

Credits: Project by jpysgrl; Jacque Larsen: Halloween Banner

Credits: Project by Geordie Girl; Papers and flower element - Fall Delight by Flergs and Melissa Bennett at Sweet Shoppe Designs; Paper flowers - Prima; Pompom trim and ribbon - Ribbon Girl; Dies - Papertrey Ink; Acrylic jewels - Paperchase

But it doesn't have to stop there, you can also create banners on your scrapbooking pages:

Credits: Layout by sm_amber; Grateful - Jenn Barrette & Shawna Clingerman; Technobabble Template Pack - Little Green Frog Designs

Credits: Layout by nicleblanc; a Little Fallish by Leora Sanford at Oscraps.com

Credits: Layout by mishou; Amy's freebie template; Graffitti spray by CD Muckosky; Hip to be Square by Heather Hess and Jennifer Barrette

Now, many kits out there already come with banners in them, but there are also some templates you can purchase to help you create custom banners.

Just in case you are still looking for more banner inspiration, check out my Pinterest board with some of my favorites I found.