Final Christmas Challenge Stampathon 2018 Project

That is a mighty long post title. But it was a mighty long challenge hosted by some wonderful worldwide Stampin’ Up! demonstrators. Eleven months of challenges, some of which I’ve posted here. All of which are on my Pinterest boards. This final challenge involved making a decoration for the holiday. Being from New Mexico, I immediately thought of Luminarias. Yes, we fill lunch sacks with a scoop of playground sand and put a lit candle in the paper bag and then place them all around our homes. No, really. We do. To see just how serious we are about this tradition, click here.

I decided for this challenge to make an indoor version of the beautiful decorations. I used Christmas DSP, my Gift Bag Punch Board, and some interesting dies. In most cases, the detail on the die you use is irrelevant, it won’t show. Pick something with an interesting shape. Or pick a die that only cuts out the detail, not an outline.

The tree is from last year’s Card Front Builder. The star in the back is an example of a die that cuts out the detail only. It’s part of the Starlight Thinlets set available in the Annual Catalog. The last two are from the Snowflake Showcase that will not be available after today, November 30, 2018. I love the detailed outline and I saved the snowflake for use in another project.

I made the bags using the punch board instructions here. My bags are made from 6″x10″ pieces of DSP. I chose that size because a 6″ piece will fit through the Big Shot so I could use the dies. Before I built the bags, I die cut them and then I backed the cutout with small pieces of Vellum.

Now it was time to decorate. I used scraps and other embellishments like Copper Trim and Rhinestones to make each one unique. The Merry Christmas sentiment is from the Hung with Care stamp set because I like the font. A battery operated tea light fits perfectly inside the bag. Please don’t use actual flame candles with these – they are meant for an indoor decoration. They will be going in my windows and guest rooms as part of my holiday decorating.