Wrapping Up with the Scotch Pop-Up Handband - Plus #Win Scotch Goodies!

One of the Christmas chores that I put off until the last minute is the wrapping of Christmas presents. It's always a rushed last minute affair, hindered by battling rolls of sticky tape!  This year, things are going to be made so much easier thanks to my Scotch Pop-Up Handband Dispenser.  No more struggling to find the end of a roll of tape, getting  rogue pieces stuck on my wrapping paper or wishing I had two pairs of hands to hold, cut, stick and wrap all at the same time.  Oh no!  Scotch Pop-Up Handband dispenses pre-cut tape strips and allows you to keep both hands free for wrapping.  It saves time, gives a professional finish and avoids a sticky tape mess.

The Handband makes wrapping parcels safer as you don't need scissors to cut the tape and there are no sharp edges involved.  The pre-cut, individually dispensed pieces of Scotch Tape make the job safe enough for a child to do.  So you can get the kids to help out when it comes to wrapping up gifts for the grandparents, friends or their teacher.  The tape pieces simply pull out from the slot in the top of the dispenser which is worn comfortably on the back of the hand.

Tips for Easy Gift Wrapping

• Sometimes you get a gift that isn't square or rectangular and it can make the job so much harder!  If you have any awkwardly shaped parcels you can make your life easier by boxing them up into a wrapped up grocery carton filled with shredded tissue paper.
• If you have anything that is round to wrap up, it's much easier to use a festive tea towel or scarf instead of gift wrap, securing it with tape then tying it at the top with a ribbon.

• Get the kids to make wrapping paper using a design such as fingerprint robins or handprint reindeer.  No one will notice how well the package is wrapped, they will be too busy admiring the kids' artwork!

• Use ribbons and bows to make a parcel look really special.  They can disguise any wrapping that isn't 100% professional looking.
• Use some twigs, pine cones or mistletoe to decorate the top of the parcel to give it an 'au naturel' festive feel.

The Scotch Brand from 3M is making a £10,000 donation to the Starlight Children’s Foundation this Christmas. Starlight brightens the lives of seriously and terminally ill children by wish granting and also by providing fun, entertainment, laughter and distraction for children in every children’s hospital ward and hospice throughout the United Kingdom.

Tom Chambers, of Holby City and Strictly fame,  helped with a present drop bringing Christmas joy to lots of children who received gifts. Here are some lovely photos of Tom with the delighted children.

Also this Christmas, Scotch have put the their products to the test by challenging a team of rugby players to use the Scotch Handband Dispenser to wrap up a load of presents.  Even the most heavy handed gift wrapper will find the Handband makes the job so much easier, quicker and efficient!  Watch this video to see how the lads got on.

         

Scotch UK have been running a competition on their Facebook Page to win weekly mystery prizes and there is still time to win a prize for yourself before Christmas.  Visit the Scotch UK What's Under Wraps app.

Win a Scotch Goodie Bag

For your chance to win a selection of Scotch products which will help with all your gift wrapping for any occasion, simply leave me a message below telling me whether or not you have finished your Christmas wrapping this year and click through the Rafflecopter entry form where you can get some bonus entries. But hurry, the giveaway is only open until midnight on Thursday!!

I'll randomly pick five winners who will win the Scotch goodies.  Good luck!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

How To Make A Easter Bunny Mask

With the weather being more akin to winter than spring, we have kept ourselves cosy by staying indoors!  Thankfully, we have had lots to keep us entertained and busy including doing some Easter arts and crafts projects. 3M Scotch set us a challenge to create some Everyday Magic at Easter with the kids by working on an Easter craft challenge using the Scotch Brand products. We were sent a bundle of Scotch goodies including their Magic Tape to use, which was perfectly timed to tie in with our own Easter craft activities.

For the challenge we decided to make an Easter Bunny Mask and Kizzy took charge!

What You Need

A4 foam sheet

Scotch scissors

Scotch Magic Tape

Scotch Double Sided Tape

Scotch Expressions Tape

Felt

Cotton wool

Cardboard

Feathers

Pipe Cleaners

Elastic

Hole Punch

What You Need to Do

Simply draw a mask shape onto card and use it as a template to draw the shape onto a piece of craft foam.

Cut out carefully (including eye holes - that are the right size and position for your child to see through!)

Using Scotch double sided tape, stick cotton wool onto his ears to make them fluffy.

Cut out cheeks from felt and teeth from white card and stick onto the mask with the tape.

Twist 3 pipe cleaners in the middle to make whiskers and stick with Scotch double sided tape.

Use Scotch Magic tape to secure the whiskers and then stick a felt nose on the top using a loop of tape.

Cut thin strips of Scotch Illusions tape and stick down as eyelashes.

Add a few finishing touches using feathers, felt shapes, glitter etc. to personalise your Bunny!

Carefully punch a hole on either side of your finished mask, thread elastic through and secure ends.

Here is Kizzy's video tutorial on How To Make an Easter Bunny Mask!

It was a fun activity allowing Kizzy to use her creativity to create a rather spangly and funky Easter Bunny.  I think she did brilliantly well!   Why don't you challenge your little ones to make some Easter crafts this year? From bonnets, to painted eggs, to decorated sweet jars to pompom chicks, Easter is a great inspiration for craft activities.  We are having a lot of fun getting arty this year (especially as we can't go outside!)

Check out Scotch's Facebook Page  for hints, tips, chat and competitions!

We were sponsored by Scotch 3M to take part in this challenge and were given a selection of tapes to use in our Easter arts and crafts activities.

Scotch Mystery Gift Challenge #8

Here is the eighth clue in the weekly Scotch Mystery Gift Challenge.  Simply submit your guess on their Facebook app for your chance to win a beautifully wrapped gift from Scotch.

If you got a new iPod for Christmas, you'll be needing one of these as an alternative to headphones!

I am working with Scotch throughout the festive period to bring you the clues to their Facebook challenge.

Scotch Mystery Gift Challenge #7

Here is the seventh clue in the weekly Scotch Mystery Gift Challenge.  Simply submit your guess on their Facebook app for your chance to win a beautifully wrapped gift from Scotch.


An essential for keeping the kids occupied whilst on those long car journeys! 

I am working with Scotch throughout the festive period to bring you the clues to their Facebook challenge.

Scotch Mystery Gift Challenge #6

Here is the sixth clue in the weekly Scotch Mystery Gift Challenge.  Simply submit your guess on their Facebook app for your chance to win a beautifully wrapped gift from Scotch.


Comes in a wicker basket and promises to be full of festive treats! 

I am working with Scotch throughout the festive period to bring you the clues to their Facebook challenge.

Scotch Mystery Gift Challenge #4

Here is the fourth clue in the weekly Scotch Mystery Gift Challenge.  Simply submit your guess on their Facebook app for your chance to win a beautifully wrapped gift from Scotch.


Cheltenham --- or Leamington--- It’s sure to be a day of pampering; leaving you relaxed and revitalised!

Good luck!

How To Make Homemade Christmas Gift Wrap with the Children

Christmas is coming!  Our bank accounts are ready to be hit hard by the festive season and everything it entails and we are about to have to find those extra hours in the day to fit in all the extra things that need to be done.  So it is nice to find ways of saving time and money on those essential Christmas jobs like wrapping up presents!

This year, I have enlisted the help of my children to make homemade wrapping paper which will make our gifts look really special.  Not only will this provide a cost effective alternative to premium shop bought paper, it is also a really fun activity for the kids to do.  It also involves them in the Christmas preparations and makes something that loved ones will really appreciate.

To make the job of wrapping up easier, it is helpful to get some good tools of the trade.  Scotch Pop-Up Tape Handband is a great hands-free gadget which allows you to grab pre-cut strips of tape eliminating the need to wrestle a roll of tape, losing the end and getting in a sticky mess!  It is suitable for both left and right handers, leaving both hands free to wrap.  It is available in pink, blue or silver for £2.49 from leading stationery stores and supermarkets and includes a pad of 75 tape strips.  Refils of three pads cost £2.69.  It is a godsend for wrapping up gifts at Christmas!

A good sharp pair of scissors that glide through the paper is a must.  We have Scotch Precision Scissors which are great for cutting through paper cleanly.  It definitely saves time to use the best tools for the job, especially when faced with a mountain of gifts to wrap.

Tools of The Trade

How To Make Fingerprint Robin Gift Wrap

You need:

Plain Paper

Poster Paint: brown, red, black, yellow

Black Felt Tip

Cardboard

Scissors

Paint Brush

• First you'll need some plain paper to fit the gift you are wrapping.  Plain white, brown or coloured paper is fine.  For some small gifts such as a CD, a sheet of A4 paper will be a perfect fit.

• Using brown poster paint, get your children to make thumbprints randomly on to the paper.

• Top each thumbprint with a index finger print to make a head.

• Make a red breast using a fingerprint of red paint.

• When dried, cut out a cardboard stamp to print a brown tail on each robin.

• Cut another cardboard stamp to make two yellow legs on each robin.

• Using the end of a paintbrush, make black dots for eyes.

• Draw on a beak using a felt pen.

(Tip: You can use the same technique to make gift tags using self-adhesive stickers or on tags cut out from a cereal box or old greetings card.  You could make Christmas cards, place settings, calendars and decorative thank you letters using the same method.)

If you are not a fan of robins, you could make Penguins instead with a black fingerprint body and head, white fingerprint belly and painted on feet and a beak in yellow and eyes in white and black.

Fingerprint Penguin

When the wrapping paper is all dry you can use it to wrap up a special present for a loved one.  You don't need to spend a fortune on buying bows to decorate the present either.  Cheap Christmas ribbon can be used to make a gorgeous mass of curls on top of the gift.  Simply wrap it around the gift and tie off the bow.  Make the bow loops the same length as the loose ends, then snip them to make them six ribbons which can then be curled using the back of a pair of scissors.  It makes a very attractive decoration and is very easy to do and costs just pennies. (Tip:  I always buy things like ribbon in the January sales and put them away for the following Christmas.  It saves a fortune!)

Curled Ribbon Bow

I really enjoy doing Christmas crafts with my children and love how this activity saves me money and makes unique and very special wrapping paper, tags and other essentials that will be really appreciated on Christmas day.  

This video shows you exactly how it's all done!

This post has been sponsored by 3M Scotch but it is an activity I would have done anyway!

Secret Santa Ideas for Fashionistas

If you are looking for the perfect Secret Santa solution for a stylish colleague or a stocking filler for a fashionista teenager  then look no further!

If your Christmas budget doesn't stretch to a pair of Laboutins or a Mulberry handbag, you can still stay on trend with a fashionable gift from Scotch and Post-It, two of the leading stationery brands, who have some practical, yet elegant accessories that will add style to any desk!

How about this trendy mock-croc style Handbag Post-It Note Dispenser?  Perfect for jotting down shopping lists and memos, Post-Its are incredibly useful.  The weighted dispenser looks fabulous and ensures your Post-Its stay put on your desk, close at hand.

If shoes are the accessory of choice, how about this chic Stiletto Scotch Tape Dispenser?  This chic shoe will see any desk step up in the style stakes and avoids any tape related sticky situations by keeping a reel of Scotch Magic Tape ready for use and at hand.

Both items are fun, cute, stylish and designed for that wow factor, yet they are practical too.  They'll turn a work desk into a talking point!

I was sent a stiletto to try and was surprised at how big and well made it is.  It is impressive, girly and looks really impressive in its shiny, black finish.  It certainly makes stationery a lot more appealing and fun!

The handbag is £8.99 complete with one pack of Post-Its.  The Stiletto is £7.99 including a roll of Scotch Magic Tape.

My daughters would love one of each in their stockings...a perfect present for students, teens, work colleagues or fashion loving friends.

Available from Tesco, Staples and Amazon.

Get Into The Festive Spirit with Scotch Restickable Tabs

Christmas is here again and it's the perfect time to get together with the kids and create some unique hand made decorations to give your home a traditional festive feel.  Hand made decorations are not only fun to make, but they are also budget friendly.  Decorating your house for Christmas can be really costly so to have a fun, festive, family activity that will save you money is the perfect solution!

Scotch Restickable Tabs make hanging your Christmas decorations really easy.  The double-sided adhesive tabs are easy to use and stick to any surface.  They remove cleanly, leaving no marks and mess, and because they are clear they are barely detectable even on windows or mirrors.  Best of all, when you have finished with the tabs, you can wash them clean with soapy water and they will be ready to use again for your next creative project!  Being re-usable makes them even more cost effective.

This Christmas why not try the following ideas:


Christmas Card Displays
Every year we get sent lots of lovely, colourful festive cards from friends and family.  Why not use them to create the ultimate, personalised Christmas wall decoration?  Simply hang your beautiful cards in vertical rows on your internal walls, doors or mirrors using Scotch Restickable Tabs, safe in the knowledge that they will remove cleanly and easily afterwards without leaving a trace!


Tip: You can get really creative by cutting out scenes or shapes from the cards to create a festive arch over focal points such as lights or pictures.

Christmas Window Scenes
Turn everyday ordinary plain white paper into beautiful Wintry Christmas scenes.  Simply draw snowmen or snowball shapes and cut them out (make sure no pencil marks show.)  Using the Scotch Restickable Tabs attach them to the bottom of your window panes.  The tabs appear invisible leaving passers by able to admire your fantastic homemade creation!

Tip:  Why not spray some fake snow onto the corners of the window to add to the festive feel?

Paper Chains
This is an activity that children love to do!  Choose some different festive paper (red and gold works well) and cut into even strips about 2cm wide.  Stick the ends of one of the strips together to create a closed loop.  Take the next strip and put one end through the hole in the first loop.  Stick the ends together to make a second loop.  Continue until you have the length of chain that you want.
Then attach your Scotch Restickable Tabs to the ends of each chain and stick your beautiful home-made decorations around the house.

Tip: Why not try sticking them across door lintels, pictures frames, mirrors and mantel pieces to create a fantastically festive feeling?

Scotch Restickable Tabs are available in Ryman, Staples and from www.3Mselect.co.uk

 **This is a featured post for Scotch.**