What better way to celebrate summertime than with flamingos and tropical leaves?
Join Angela as she shares two ways to use the new Essentials by Ellen Flock Star Die and Monstera Stencil to add a touch of summer whimsy to your homemade gift packaging! Check out her ideas below for making a lasting impression with your handmade crafts.
Hey there, friends! Have you checked out the latest Essentials by Ellen release yet? It’s giving allll the tropical vibes, and as a lover of Monstera leaves and anything pink, I can’t stop playing with these new products! Today I’ve got 2 handmade tags and gift box to show you – each with a little flamingo flare.
Project 1: Gift Box with Flamingo Topper
For this project, I broke out my tried-and-true Two-in-One Box die set to make the box, but first created my own patterned cardstock by combining one of the solid blob shapes from the Organic Elements stamp set with some of the tropical leaves in the new Tropical Foliage stamp set. Color palette-wise, the greens were Catherine Pooler’s Deck the Halls, Eucalyptus and Matcha ink pads, and for a muted yellow, I chose Whipped Honey. Of course, you can create whatever print you like, and the images in the Tropical Foliage stamp set are perfectly sized for doing this!
Once my self-patterned cardstock was created and I’d cut out 2 pieces, I assembled the box with some double-sided sticky tape and moved on to the fun part – the flamingo topper! The Flock Star die set allows you to die cut a full flamingo with layers for wings and its beak, but I wanted to make mine look as though it was sitting on top of the gift box. To do this, I first die cut the body from Concord & 9th Ballet Slipper cardstock, then used one Essential Circle die to cut out 8 circles from various shades of pink and orange cardstock. Assembly was super simple, and I used the same technique as I did to make this paper flower bouquet:
- Use an Essentials Rectangle for Stitching Die to die cut a dotted line up the center of each circle.
- Fold the circles in half along their dotted lines, then open them back up and stack them flat on top of each other, lining up the dotted lines.
- Thread a needle with embroidery floss.
- Start at one end, threading the needle through the bottom hole. Stitch all the way to the last hole, then back down to the bottom. Tie off the embroidery floss and cut to trim.
- Fan out the semi-circles as shown in the photo.
From here, I cut off enough of the flamingo’s body so that the top arc lined up with the arcs of the circles when I placed it in between the folds. A little double-sided tape on either side of the body allowed me to secure it, and I used a little more on the bottom to attach some die cut tropical leaves, then stick the whole thing to the gift box. To finish, I added a little bow made with gold cord.
Project 2: Layered Flamingo Gift Tag
I always love the soft look that vellum creates, and in this tag I’ve used it to make the flamingo scene stand out more against the printed background. (TIP: You can use this tip on cards too! If you’ve created a background that looks a little too bold behind whatever you want the focal point to be, try layering a piece of vellum underneath. You can even adhere it with a piece of foam tape, hiding the adhesive behind your focal point. This will create a little extra distance between the vellum and the background, which further softens the color.)
I had some leftover scraps after cutting the pieces for the gift box, so I repurposed those and cut out the first layer of my tag with one of the Farmhouse Tag dies. For the second layer, I did the same with a plain piece of vellum, then cut the reinforcement from some leftover gold cardstock. For my focal point, I had some Tropical Foliage die cuts leftover from when I did some mass-stamping using the jig method, so I layered a few with a flamingo from the Inner Flamingo stamp and die combo. A little bit of gold cord fastened the layers together, and I can’t wait to tie this tag on a gift for a friend next week!
Project 3: Flamingo-Shaped Tag
For the final tag, I used the Flockstar dies and the coordinating stamp set to create a shaped tag. As you can see, the flamingo’s legs are verrrry thin, so I’d suggest layering several die cuts together to give it a more chipboard-like feel and some sturdiness.
When it comes to being able to tie the tag on to a gift, I needed to create a loop. Again, I went back to the Farmhouse Tags die set and grabbed the little reinforcement die, which I cut and wedged in between the layers of the flamingo’s body as I adhered them together. As for the wings and sentiment, I love the Flockstar stamp set because the sentiments fit perfectly on and under the wings, and you can create movement by securing them with mini brads as I’ve done here. I decided to hide the brad with a 2nd feather layer, adhered with a piece of foam tape. That said, you can also color your brads with alcohol ink markers if you want to coordinate them with your cardstock.
I hope these projects have inspired you to create some of your own handmade packaging – and to stretch the products from the latest Essentials by Ellen release beyond just cards. I’m excited to see what you make, so be sure to tag @ellenhutsonllc, as well as me, @mycraftyperspective, on Instagram. Until next time, happy crafting!
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1 Comment
What a fun collection of projects 😍