Reindeer & Snowman Holiday Toppers

I know, I know...Halloween's still not over yet, so please don't shoot me for posting this! I was sitting here and got a couple of ideas and had to try them out. And of course, once I was done, I just had to share them! Don't get disgusted and stop coming to my blog, I promise I'll post more Halloween, Thanksgiving, and fall stuff again soon :-)

These would make adorable stocking stuffers, as well as party favors, so I wanted to get them posted to allow you to plan ahead. If you have a child who's having a holiday party at school, or you or your spouse is having a holiday party for work, or you want some little goodies you can set aside to give your postal worker, package delivery person, or other people you'll see during the holidays, these are just ideal to make ahead and keep on hand.

Of course, some people might be offended by the "poop" sayings and being called naughty, so I made sure to create alternative tags for each topper.

• Click HERE to download Reindeer Poop tag
• Click HERE to download Snowman Poop tag
• Click HERE to download Reindeer Food tag
• Click HERE to download Snowman Soup tag
• Click HERE to download Reindeer Kisses* tag
  * (NEW! - Thanks to demonstrator Sami Flanagan for the idea and verse)

Both toppers were made using the Bigz™ Top Note Sizzix die, available exclusively from Stampin' Up!®. The snowman topper is Whisper White, and the reindeer topper is Creamy Caramel. The reindeer topper also uses the Tulipe Bigz™ die, for the antlers and eyes. To get all your reindeer parts from your Tulipe die in one cut, place a strip of Chocolate Chip card stock over the flourish parts which will make the antlers, then place two small pieces of Basic Black over the little oval in the center of the Tulipe design, for the eyes. You can run all 3 of these card stock pieces through the Big Shot die-cutting machine at the same time. The tags were printed on card stock and trimmed out, then adhered to the front of the bags with Mini Glue Dots®.

Reindeer Design Notes: Cut apart the flourish of the Tulipe to get 2 antlers. Because they are so delicate, you'll want to use the Two-Way Glue pen to adhere the antlers to the topper, placing adhesive only on the area that will be glued down. You can mark this by holding the antler in place while turning your topper over, then using a pencil to trace around the Top Note edges where the antler extends past it. Then, simply keep your adhesive within those lines on the back of the antler, and you should be fine. A 3/4" Circle Punch was used on Real Red card stock for the nose. The eyes and nose were adhered with Mini Glue Dots®.

Snowman Design Notes: Cut a piece of Basic Black card stock to 3/4" by 4" for the hat brim, and 2" by 3" for the hat top. Use the Corner Rounder Punch to round all 4 corners of brim, and top 2 corners of hat top. Adhere Baja Breeze 1" Double Stitched Grosgrain across hat top piece, approximately 3/4" from the top (you'll need about 6-1/2" of length to wrap around hat top). Then, line up bottom of hat brim with bottom of hat top, center with hat top (leaving about 1/2" on each side), and adhere. You may use Sticky Strip, but a few Mini Glue Dots® will work just as well. Adhere hat to front of folded Top Note (again, Sticky Strip works wonderfully, but Mini Glue Dots® are much more convenient and do the trick). The eyes are made using the 1/2" Circle Punch on Basic Black card stock, and the nose (carrot) was made using the Word Window Punch on Pumpkin Pie card stock, then trimming one end with Paper Snips. The eyes and nose were adhered with Mini Glue Dots®.

Cello Bag Contents: For Reindeer Poop, you can use malted milk balls, chocolate covered raisins or peanuts, or any other roundish, brown treat! For Snowman Poop, the most commonly used treat is marshmallows, but you could also use yogurt covered raisins, white mints, or any other white, roundish candy. For Reindeer Food, mix 1/4 cup rolled oats with either red or green sugar crystals, like those used to decorate cookies. This keeps the "sparkle" edible and biodegradable! And for the Snowman Soup, place 1/4 to 1/3 cup cocoa mix, one or two Hershey Kisses, a few mini marshmallows, and a miniature candy cane in your cello bag. (UPDATED to ADD: for Reindeer Kisses, use any kind of chocolate kisses.)

If you slide your cello bag all the way up to the fold of the topper, and then adhere the topper to the bag, you probably don't need to seal your cello bags when you enclose candy, but if you have oats or cocoa mix in the bag, it will surely leak out if the bag is overturned. You can fold over the top of your cello bag in one or two small folds,and staple it shut to help seal it, or use a commercial sealer that actually melts the cello together.

DISCLAIMER: If you decide to make and sell these toppers, please note that the die designs are exclusive to Stampin' Up!®, and the tags were created using Stampin' Up!®'s Write Me a Memory Font CD (Vol. II - Jodyola font), so all of your creations using these pieces MUST include a copyright notice in accordance with the Angel Policy.