Whiteley Creek Homestead

Jessica J., via her blog How About Orange, provided the inspiration for this snowflake package topper. See her version here. So so cute.  

 
This Christmas wrapping paper, with vintage-looking cars each heading home from a cut-your-own tree farm, is my all-time favorite. I bought a roll last month at Target, I think. To enhance the paper's theme, I found a pattern for this snowflake with evergreen tree shapes and cut it from green gingham scrapbook paper. My snowflake doesn't look like the pattern. Either I took a detour and chose to put my own spin on it, or my direction following went awry. The end result was trees, though, so I glued a red plastic snowflake-shaped bead, leftover from my kids bead crafting days, in the center to provide a pop of color… and I smiled.  

"Elf Shelf"

 
The Hallmark Channel, where Martha Stewart moved her daily talk show, also hosts her shows from years ago. Yesterday, an old show featured her taking a field trip to a tree farm in Maine. The farm's owner explained that a tree has a bare spot here and there. This occasional, sporatic, excess space between the branches creates what is called an "elf shelf" where a small, wrapped gift for Santa's elf can be placed. I tucked my gift box topped with a paper cutout snowflake in between some branches for Cedric, my elf to rest.  The inspiration for Cedric came from I don't know where. Maybe a magazine clipping? What I do know is that with a few scissor snips of paper, yarn, and string and some strategically-placed bends in chenille stems, Cedric's playful personality was birthed.