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)
3 Comments on Jul.Christmas.Noel – You’ve got mail
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Heidi – you do make me laugh!! I’m visualising the messes I could get into with superglue … not that it’s something I’m allowed to have being totally accident-prone and clumsy!! Your candy wrappers are adorable; you make it look easy, but I’m quite sure they took some time to make!
Aw, lovely! What a ‘sweet’ idea, ho ho! Thanks : ) Jen
Thanks Fiona & Jennifer!
@Fiona – I am not so sure I should be messing about with glue either, I have just noticed that in addition to gluing my project & fingers, I have also managed to get it all over my cutting board.
xh