{tutorial} piggy bank gifts

It's time for another tutorial over on the May Arts blog during May Arts + Jenni Bowlin Week. We loved this tutorial so much that we wanted to share it with you here on Oink! Make sure you hop over to the May Arts blog for more fun holiday tutorials and a GIVEAWAY!

The crew at Piggy Bank Parties loves giving gifts but our piggy banks only have a few pennies to spare this holiday season. We’ve gathered a few of our money saving tips and design tricks to share with you. Our gift wrapping was inspired by Jenni Bowlin’s designs and May Arts' ribbon. Christmas will be here before we know it...so let’s get started!

Gather the following supplies:

• May Arts Ribbon: Item # PM01, RJ14, 363-16, 336-38-34 and 336-38-14
• Jenni Bowlin Paper & Embellishments: Family Tree Journaling Cards, Star Banner Yellow Stickers, Cousin Rose, Aunt Charlotte and Cousin Fred Papers
• American Crafts Take A Chance Paper
• Bazzill Basics Dotted Swiss Phoenix and Salt Paper
• Plain Cardstock
• Scissors
• Adhesive Dots and Double-Stick Tape
• Inexpensive Food Containers, Recloseable Food Storage Bags, Mugs and Dishes
• Optional: Snowflake Punch and Various Circle Punches, Brads and Eyelets

Ready? Here we go...

1. Gather inexpensive food-safe containers from around your house or shop your local grocery and dollar stores. We spent between $.25 - $1.00 per container by passing up the holiday-themed containers and embellishing them ourselves.

2. Fill your containers with delicious treats—Cinnamon Apple Cider, Popcorn, Brownies, Cocoa Mix and Marshmallows, Muffin Mix and Tea Bags. Each of our goodies cost $1.00 or less per container.

3. We embellished the clear containers with simple shapes created using punches and scissors.

4. We layered cardstock on journaling cards and embellished the label with yellow star stickers and ¼” brads. The label was attached with ribbon and double-stick tape. We punched various sized circles out of paper and cardstock and added a matching embellishment on the lid.

5. To cover the entire lid of a container, trace around the edge of the lid on a scrap piece of paper. Cut inside the line ¼” to allow for the lid’s edge. When you have your pattern just right, trace onto cardstock, cut and adhere with double-stick tape.

Designer Tip: Double-stick tape adheres well and can be easily removed so the dish can be washed and reused. There's always a roll in my tool kit!

6. We created the wreath by punching sixteen 1” circles. We attached the first layer of 8 circles with adhesive dots. We added one 1/8” button eyelet to 3 of the remaining circles. Then we tied a bow and attached it to another circle with a ¼” brad. The second layer of 8 circles was attached with pop-up adhesive dots for a 3-D effect.

7. We wrapped twisted burlap around the neck of this container, attached 1 open eyelet to a journaling card and embellished it with 3 button eyelets and hand cut holly leaves.

8. Not a baker or a chef? Add two packets of cocoa mix, mini marshmallows in a recloseable snack bag and a wooden stirrer to a mug. Wrap in a simple food storage bag and embellish. We even decorated the wooden stirrer!

9. Add a muffin mix to a beautiful baking dish and place it in a plastic bag. We cut the top off of a recloseable food storage bag and taped the bottom corners to the bottom of the package. We created the bow by looping wired pom poms and tying them in the center. Isn’t the ribbon so fun?!?

10. Our last little gift is 4 tea bags in a snack bag. We stapled folded cardstock to the top of the bag and then embellished it.

Hank's Hint: Keep a few snack bags filled with tea bags and embellished with toppers in your cupboard throughout the year. They are a quick and easy gift for any occasion!

As you can tell, our favorite Jenni Bowlin paper was Cousin Fred! We love the simple dot pattern and the color combination. We also love May Arts ribbons and YOU, our faithful blog readers...so we designed a little something to get you started on your Piggy Bank gift giving this season!

{Free Download} Favor Bag Toppers

The Favor Bag Toppers fit standard size recloseable snack and sandwich bags. We embellished our toppers with a few of our favorites things—Jenni Bowlin embellishments and May Arts ribbon! We hope you have fun creating holiday gifts on a Piggy Bank budget!

Stay tuned to Oink! for more inspiration...