Hostess gifts you can make

Hello all! I'm sure everyone is super busy preparing for and celebrating the holiday season. I made a few quick hostess gifts this weekend and wanted to share with you.  Here's a recipe card for "Kris Kringle Cookies" that I found on google images.  I printed it on card stock and embellished with some scraps of lace and the Santa graphic I found here at The Graphics Fairy.  Don't have a sewing machine? Hand stitch or just use a clear drying glue. I prefer to apply the glue with a paint brush to keep the layers very thin. For heavier embellishments, like the button and lace at top, use gel medium or tacky glue.  Used too much glue or don't want to see the stitching?  Glue the finished card to another piece of card stock for a nice backing then cut out with scissors.

I packaged the altered card in a clear cellophane bag. The top is an old Christmas card cut to size and folded over and stapled.  You can use a book page or sheet music too.

 

Here's another quick hostess gift - a wine bag with vintage postcard image.  I cut a rectangle a little bigger than my wine bottle leaving the material folded (seam) at the bottom so it was still one piece.  I then copied one of my vintage postcards onto another piece of fabric, trimmed with pinking shears and machine stitched onto the top layer only of my bag.  I kept this simple and did not matte the postcard with another piece of material but you could!  Next step, I sewed the sides and bottom of the bag (leaving about 1/2 inch border) but left the top open.  I then took my pinking shears and made the pretty edges down the sides. Place the bottle inside and tie the top with whatever you have on hand. I used a single layering of seam binding but I think the more you add to the top the better. Grab some ribbon, seam binding, jute all cut in different lengths but coordinating colors and tie it around the top. You can hang a tag or ornament there too!  Enjoy!  Linking up to -