Gift Card Envelope--#tgifc347

This Christmas week TGIF Challenge is for all of us last minute shoppers:  Gift Card Holders.  My last minute shopping includes some printable gift cards--the kind you have to fold up and put in an envelope.  So, my Gift Card holder is actually a Gift Certificate envelope:

I looked at my stash and discovered these cute Gold Holly Leaves (#156311) that I'd totally forgotten about.  So decided to incorporate them in my last holiday project of this season.  I made them into a holly swag on a "decorative wooden plaque" which was die cut using a Tasteful Labels die (#152886) and a wood patterned paper from the In Good Taste designer series paper (#152494) that I rubbed with a bit of white craft ink (#147277) to make the gold leaves pop a bit. The holly berries are Red Rhinestone Basic Jewels (#146924) that I colored with my Cherry Cobbler Dark Stampin' Blends to darken.  The swag is topped with a bow of Cherry Cobbler & Gold 1/2" ribbon (#156312).

The "plaque" is layered over a piece of  Tidings of Christmas  designer series paper (#155718), die cut using a Stitched Rectangles Die #151820).  Three Wonderful Snowflakes (#156340) were attached to the left-hand side of the rectangle.  

The decorated piece was adhered to an Evening Evergreen Ombre Gift Bag (#155479).  The bag was scored 1" from the top  and folded to the back.  A retired gold clip was used to hold a bow of Gold Simply Elegant Trim (#155766) at the top of the bag and as a closure for the bag.

Inside the bag is a card for writing a note to the recipient.  A piece of the same designer series paper pattern as on the front of the bag was adhered to the bottom of a piece of Basic White card stock and then it was die cut with the largest rectangle in the die set. The "for you" is from the Peaceful Cabin stamp set (#156395).  It was stamped in Cherry Cobbler and die cut using a Tailor Made Tag die (#155563). A piece of the ribbon was pulled through to the front of the tag before it was adhered to the card.

Now all I have to do is write my note, print and fold my gift card and slip it and the note in the the gift bag.  There is space on the folded edge on the back to write "to and from" names if you are not handing or mailing this directly to the recipient.

More ideas for last minute gift card holders are over at the TGIF Challenges Blog here.

Happy Christmas!  My grandson is arriving any minute now--so my holiday will be busy with painting, making cookies for Santa, reading stories and reassuring Roxie that she is still #1 (well, she is when Easton goes back home).

--Sara Nell