Jul.Christmas.Noel – You’ve got mail

Jul.Christmas.Noel

You’ve got mail

isn’t a tribute

to that romantic comedy starring

Tom Hanks & what’s her face.

But, my OTHER Advent project.

‘You’ve got mail’ is in fact,

inspired by a little project from a Japanese book called

‘Wrapping lessons for girls

& Heidi over at Sewing Daisies’

(or something like that).

The isbn is 978-4-7572-1868-0

In this delightful little book,

the author shows you how to make a teeny tiny version

of those long  tear & go sweet (candy) wrappers

that are popular in discount stores

& french hypermarché.

As they have a special place in my heart (& tastebuds),

I thought I would make one too.

However, I opted to go large!

Well, large enough to add small pressies like

Kinder smurfs & gummi bear packs from Aldi

yum!

The You’ve got mail

parcel system is actually really

Quick & Easy to make.

 Once you have all your materials set up

and ready to go,

all you need to do is;

Fold, Glue & Tape

A) measure out 1x meter of baking (parchment) paper

fold in half lengthwise

cut into two (lenghtwise), & fold each half lenghthwise again

B) Take one piece, open up flat

fold over 5mm to create a hem (in towards center fold)

do the same on the other side

C) glue the two (hem) sides together

You can either use super glue or double sided tape

n.b

I made four tubes of baking paper

to allow for different sized parcels (and any mishaps).

And, if you plan on jazzing up the sides with tape (like I did),

now is the time to do it.

Just remember to leave the tube ends open.

Tape, (Gift) & Sew

A) fold the end of one tube 5mm over to create a hem,

fold again and glue.

B) add a band of fancy tape either over the hem or just above it

(make sure the tape touches at the back of the tube)

C) machine or hand sew a single line of running stitch across the tube

(above the tape & snip thread when done)

D) insert sweet or gift

sew a single line across the tube

add a line of decorative tape

sew a single line across the tube

*repeat until you have 7 days worth of gifts sewn

into 1 x tube.

To finish (& add string)

simply fold over the baking paper at the top of the tube (5mm)

to create a hem,

fold again and add a length of twine

glue everything down.

Tape & Number Cut

To make my advent numbers

I used the same decorative tape as my tube edges.

Simply add tape to a plain piece of printer paper,

turn it over and using a stencil (reversed)

draw your numbers.

With scissor or scalpel cut out your numbers

ready for glueing.

Final Glue!

Using a little paint brush,

add glue to the backs of your numbers,

then place onto the individual gift segments

of your Advent calendar.

B.T.W

If you plan on glueing the sides of the tubes together,

beware super glue.

It goes everywhere!

But, especially onto your fingertips.

Which isn’t VERY HELPFUL,

if you have a finger scanner on your phone.

oh, and that non-acetone nail varnish remover you have,

needs the acetone.

*sigh*

You will also need the nail varnish remover

to wipe down your sewing machine needle

every 7 packets or so.

Sticky tape & needles do not go together (for long)