Oink! the blog of Piggy Bank Parties: {real cards} chef claire

One of my greatest joys is being an aunt. I rarely have the opportunity to spend time with my nieces, Claire and Catie, and my nephew, Will, since they live in Georgia. Surprising them is often limited to what I can fit in a box.

I recently found out from my sister-in-law, Kris, that Claire enjoys cooking and baking. I was excited since those are two things I do to relax after a long day. I gathered together three items to surprise Claire with--an apron, a kid's cookbook and a potato bag.

{A potato bag?} It's a great little bag you place potatoes in and bake in the microwave. It makes a perfect baked potato every time! My mom purchased one at a craft bazaar and figured out how to make them. So, I asked her to make one especially for Claire.

Here's what Claire saw when she opened her surprise...

Inspiration: The kid's cookbook I gave Claire had a gingham cover and I also had the perfect black plaid ribbon with red cherries.

{the card}

I love designing my own paper instead of purchasing it. I created the gingham pattern and added the saucepan and electric hand mixer. They were standard icons from a wingding font.

I printed the card on white cardstock and backed it with black cardstock. To give the card added dimension, I attached it with pop-up adhesive dots.

{the gift tag}

I used our "Custom Cake Stakes" to create gift tags for each surprise. After printing the Cake Stakes, I punched them out with a 2" scalloped circle punch and attached them with a pop-up adhesive dot to a 2" black circle.