After Christmas Sale Valentines Gifts

Did you know that some candy companies only put the seasonal packaging on the outer package? Not all candies have seasonal wrappers on the candies themselves.

Last year I found a fantastic find at Target after Christmas. Actually it was so far after Christmas that the candy was something like 75% or 90% off! I bought a whole bunch of Ghirardelli chocolate for very cheap (I want to say it was something like $0.75 per bag). I knew exactly what I was going to do with them. Valentines was right around the corner. I stored the chocolates till I was ready to use them. Then I removed them from their bags. I found some pretty heart fabric in the remnant bin and made little bags to replace the seasonal packages. We are talking good chocolates with fabric bags and handmade heart tags for less than $2 each! Granted you may not find the mega deal I did but you can take advantage of 50% off the day after Christmas. HELLO!

To start I decided to make my bags about the same size as the original bags that the chocolates came in. I added a little extra for the height to account for room to tie on a ribbon. I cut my fabric twice the length that I intended for my finished bag. I then cut the fabric into strips making them wide enough to account for seam allowances.

I did all my sewing assembly line style. Meaning, I started with the top fold over hem and did all of my hems for one side at the same time. When I finished with one side I cut them apart and did the same with the other top edge.

Here you can see that I now have the fabric folded right sides together to sew the first side seam. As soon as I finish with one bag I go right into sewing the next with out cutting the threads. I cut the threads before I go to the next step.

Here you can see all my bags 2/3 done and all still together. This is a very fast way of sewing lots of the same item. These bags were VERY simple to make and didn’t take a lot of time. If you follow the edge of the fabric with your pressure foot you will get a fairly straight line. This is a great kind of project for a first attempt at machine sewing.

Since candy does not go bad very fast (unless you leave it in the sun or something) it is perfectly ok to get Christmas candy for Valentines day gifts. It is not even two months away after all. Here you can see all the pretty Ghirardelli bags all dressed up for Christmas.

Here you can see that the wrappers inside are their normal design. Nobody has to know that they were for Christmas. Shhhh it is our secret..

For Valentines day cards the boys and I used heart templates to cut out lots and lots of hearts. We put all of the smaller hearts through a sicker maker. The boys loved that part. Then we just layered them on. The boys wrote their own messages on the back side of the hearts. They did the same for their classmates, minus the Ghirardelli chocolates. For the classmates we attached airplane kits to each heart.

This is also a great way to get rid of all that pink paper you have in that paper stack you bought. Since you only have boys and don't use pink paper for your scrapbooking. Seriously I have been trying to figure out what to do with this paper for years. It feels good to finally use some of it.

Katrina

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Awe! You guys are giving me the warm fuzzies with all your wonderful comments. I really REALLY LOVE comments. They make my day.

Hugs!

Katrina