Christmas Gift Ideas

Last Christmas, when I first laid my hands on the My Memories Suite software (you know, the digital scrapbooking software that I totally love!), I immediately realized that with all the great designs and the easy-to-use program, I would be able to find a million uses for the software. Sure, I love digital scrapbooking! But I also love all the other fabulous things I can do with the program. The possibilities are really endless.

I've recently realized that there are a couple of big holidays are just right around the corner. I love giving and receiving truly thoughtful gifts, so I have really tried the past few years to make a lot of my gifts. If you are like me and like to make your own Christmas gifts, or if you just like to add a little bit of flair to your purchased gifts, the My Memories Suite software can really help with that! And I’d like to show you an idea that I’m going to use this Christmas.

I enjoy canning foods—you know, things like pickles, jams, pumpkin pie mix, cider, pie fillings, etc. This year, I’m going to be giving homemade canned treats to all the friends, teachers, neighbors, coworkers, well…you get the picture. We’ve all seen the jars of different mixes at Christmas that have the pretty fabric and the bow on top. While those are pretty, I was trying to think of a way that I can package my goodies and express my personality as well. Then I thought, What about making fun labels?!

I’ve made some jar labels to show you, and I’d have to say that making them was fun and incredibly fast. To make a jar label, simply create your design, print on regular printer paper, cut out, and glue to the jar. I used a glue stick, and that worked very well. (Hint: if you have an ink jet printer, consider spraying the paper with a light coating of clear spray paint to keep the ink from smearing with the glue.) In no time at all, the jars were transformed into cute gifts. And there’s really no need to measure anything, because you can cut it down to size. I printed my designs out as a 6x6” square, and they worked great for the quart sized jars.

Here are some jar labels I made. I used StoryRock’s “Twilight Fanpire” to create the pickle label, and I used Corina Nielson’s “Totally Eclectic” pack to create the marinade label.

I enjoyed my jar labels so much, I realized that making labels for jars doesn’t have to be limited to Christmas only. I got to thinking that a cute jar full of pumpkin pie mix or cider mix would make a great hostess gift at Thanksgiving or a fall party.

"Autumn Allure"

"Harvest Blessing" by StoryRock

So, there you have it….an easy and simple way to give your Christmas gifts some “oomph” and personality! It doesn’t have to end there, either. Think of all the other great things around your house that you can label with beautiful labels made with My Memories Suite! You could label not only jars, but gift boxes, kids’ toy containers, buckets, etc.

You know how much I love digital scrapbooking, and how much I want everyone to have the opportunity to try it for themselves. As I keep saying, it is soooo much more economical than traditional scrapbooking, and I think it's even more fun! To get everyone off to a great start with Christmas crafting, I've got a couple of great offers to share with you!

• Go on over to the My Memories Suite blog (link on the right). There you will find this same blog post, but there will be a link to the free giveaway for the week.

• If you click on the My Memories Suite banner to the right, you can get 25% off the software. It's truly a great deal, and you can only get the discount by going through that link. Here's a special bonus for you: Now through September 30th you can enter in the promo code B2S10OFF and receive an additional 10% off. So if you click on the MMS link from my blog you get 25% off and then by adding the code you get an additional 10%. How great is that?!

Happy labeling!