Free festive gift tags

Are you wrapping your presents yet? I hope not, it's the first of flipping November.

I found this post last year on Aussie Graphic-Designer-turned-Blogger Amy Moss's site Eat Drink Chic. It gives you a free cross-stitch gift tag download, so hopefully, you can use it to decorate all your prettily wrapped presents this year. Luck-y!

If you're over cross stitch, then maybe you'd like these pretty illustrated typographic tags, which Amy uploaded for Christmas 2010.

In 2009, Amy also very generously provided free downloads for a series of reindeer themed gift tags, which are just beautiful. Look at this gorgeous Reindeer gift tag. The print is so kitsch, it reminds me a little of Babycham.

Then there's this holiday jumbo gift tag using a more intricate print.

And finally there are the tags that look like beautiful Christmas envelopes. I think these are my favourites.

Aren't they lovely?

Christmas decorations

Christmas obviously *just* happened, but if you like crafting your own decorations, you should probably start making them now for Christmas 2012 (or if you're like me, Christmas 2014). I've found some PDF cross stitch kits available from Country Rustic on Etsy which are really beautiful.

I love this Sleigh Bells cushion pattern, the typography is gorgeous. It's wintry and festive without being religious, so it would make a nice gift for anyone.

This Holly design would be perfect for my friend, who is called, surprisingly, Holly...

This C is for Christmas sampler is really sweet too.

All the above designs cost $7 (under a fiver), which is hardly anything, considering that they'll last a lifetime. Plus, the good thing about cross stitch is that it keeps you out of mischief :)

Angelic paper decorations

These sweet packs of Paper Angels from Very Nice Things are quite simply, very nice indeed.

I think they'd look pretty as place settings at a Christmas table, on the tree, or just scattered about the house randomly spreading festive cheer about them in a tiny, angelic fashion.

They cost £10 for a packet of 7, and look, they come flat-packed, so you could either spend a happy afternoon making them all up for yourself or send them as little postcards to your friends! You could be the coolest of your friends with unusual Christmas cards AND spread crafty, festive cheer! Win.

I originally wrote this post for About Your Dress Blog, you can still find it amongst heaps of other posts by me and two other talented ladies there if you'd like to go and have a peek.

Wreaths at the ready

Winter is coming...Sorry I've been reading Game of Thrones every spare second in preparation for the new series starting on Sky Atlantic in the New Year...yep, fully aware I'm a geek, but whatever, I love it.

Anyway, Winter is coming and now we're in November, we might even go as far to say, comfortably, that Christmas is coming too. I work in retail so I've been ramming it down everyone's throats in an official capacity since September, but it's in November that I start to feel wintry and want to start decorating. So here I am in an unofficial capacity, chatting to you about Christmas decs, because I actually want to. 

See here? This is The Christmas Button Wreath, which I've spotted on From The Wilde.

I love it. It's a From The Wilde exclusive and costs £25. Green and purple is a nice, unusual combo for Christmas, but I like it. It comes in lots of different colours too, if green and purple ain't your thing.

There's also this awesome Brussels Sprout wreath, which I've spotted on Not on The High Street for £29.

I feel this wreath will be received a bit like Marmite; peeps are either going to love it or absolutely hate it, but I think it's light-hearted fun. After all, what would Christmas be without the dear old sprout?

I originally wrote this post for About Your Dress Blog, you can still find it amongst heaps of other posts by me and two other talented ladies there if you'd like to go and have a peek.