pretty gift topper inspiration

Photo credit: Janet Kwan Photography

Just in case you are still finishing up your holiday gift wrapping today here's a little last minute inspiration to make your gift wrapping a little prettier by using a variety of different gift toppers. I love to add gift toppers to my gift wrapping because it's pretty and because it's like you are giving a bonus gift. And who wouldn't like that?!

This heart shaped bottle opener is both practical and beautiful. I stock up on these to use for hostess gifts all year round.

For the bakers and foodies on your list - add a cookie cutter or an edible cookie ornament! My custom owl cookie ornament was made for me by Mary from Emma's Sweets and you can check out her cookie decorating tutorials here.

This fresh rosemary wreath isn't just pretty, it will make your gift smell good too! I added a round coaster with a holiday message behind the wreath as a gift tag.

 Photo credit: Janet Kwan Photography

Mini wreaths all tied up with ribbon are so simple yet so elegant.

Add a one-of-a-kind hand painted ornament for a personal touch like this one from Jennifer Fryer.

If you shopped at any local holiday markets you might have picked up handmade ornaments like this adorable wood fox by Kiriki Press. You can make your own gift tags using photos .

I've shown you how to make these simple paper bows before and they are a great way to use up your wrapping paper scraps.

Can't find something to use as a gift topper? No problem. You can add a personal touch to plain gift boxes and wrapping paper using markers, stamps and paints. I used a gold metallic pen to draw a design to the top of this gold foil edged gift box.

Happy wrapping and Merry Christsmas.

Sources: All of my gift wrapping supplies were from Creative Bag. 

Floral elements were created by Flower Treasures. 

All photography is my own with the exception of the two photos that were credited to Janet Kwan Photography.

Creating sweet tables has to be one of my favourite things to do during the holidays. 

You don't need to have a lot of different treats to create a holiday sweet table. I used assorted serving dishes, buffalo gift boxes, burlap ribbons, mini trees and lights for my festive set up.

I prefer to put out a little bit of everything in smaller containers and then refill them every once in a while so that the display looks some what full for most of time.

Here's how I set up my little stress free sweet table:

Buffalo plaid gift boxes are both functional and decorative in my set ups. If you don't have gift boxes, you can create a similar look using books covered with wrapping paper "jackets" like I did here.

I have created these snow globe inspired jars filled with cookies as hostess gifts for years. This year I thought that it would be fun to make one for myself and use it as the focal point of my sweet table display. 

 I use coarse sugar to create a snowy base in the glass containers.The mini gingerbread house and cookies are from Mad Batter Bakers. The container is more of a display element so you may want to fill another serving dish with gingerbread cookies for guests to easily take and eat.

I filled a candy dish with custom made sugar cookies from Emma's Sweets. You can add coarse sugar to the bottom of the candy dish so that the cookies will stand up.

Another small candy dish was filled with assorted colours of french macarons from Macaronz and placed on a gift box for height.

Not everything on your sweet table has to be baked goods. I like to fill larger containers with chocolates, popcorn, candy and nuts.

Once the serving dishes have been set up I fill in large spaces with gift boxes tied up with ribbon. I like to use pretty gift boxes in my holiday decor and in January I fill them with Christmas tree decorations for storage.

Finally I add in mini trees and battery operated strings of lights.

Guests may think that your sweet table is too pretty to eat so make sure that you tell them it's okay to help themselves!

Cookie Cutter Projects for the holidays - bake, craft and wrap

Eating cookies and baking cookies are two of my favourite Christmas traditions. I had a few custom cookie cutters made to match the Sweet Life Collection that I designed for Creative Bag. The metal cookie cutters are great for baking, crafting and gift wrapping projects.

Mary from Emma's Sweets made the most adorable custom cookies using the cookie cutters so I could feature them in a holiday themed styled shoot. She decorated the cookies two ways - in full colour and in white with gold details. The white and gold cookies were so unique and inspired me to create my oven baked clay ornaments.

And as you know I love to add special touches to my gift wrapping so the cookie cutters made their way into my holiday gift wrapping as gift toppers.

My oven baked clay ornaments can also be used as gift toppers. 

sources: wrapping papers, gift boxes, ribbons, posecards, cookie cutters

Here's how I created my oven baked cookie ornaments:

Gather your supplies: oven baked clay, cookie cutters, rolling pin, wire, wire cutters, bamboo skewer, paint, paint brush, twine. You'll also need a baking sheet, parchment paper and oven to bake the clay.

1. Soften clay and roll out oven baked clay just as you would regular cookie dough.

2. Cut the cookie shapes and set aside.

3. Wire loops will be used to hang the ornaments. Cut pieces of wire and bend as shown above. 

4. Using the bamboo skewer, make a hole in the top of the clay shapes and insert the wire loop.

5. Place the clay shapes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake as per the instructions on the oven baked clay package.

6. Paint the ornaments with as much or little colour as you want. I gave my ornaments a contemporary look by just adding a few gold details. I used my cookie pattern as a guide. 

7. Add twine, baker's twine, yarn or leather string to hang. 

Note: If you don't want to use wire loops to hang the ornaments, add a small hole in the clay before baking using the bamboo skewer.

Sources for custom cookie cutters: owl, deer, squirrel, bird, fox.

Wishing you a sweet holiday season and I hope that there are lots of cookies!