Happy Christmas Or Merry Christmas?

When I was growing up we always said “Merry Christmas and a happy New Year”. So ever since, even without the new year bit, I’ve stuck with “Merry Christmas”. It never occurred to me that this might seem odd to some, but it was a question raised by one of my customers recently. It came about when she ordered the Happy Holly-Days Stamp Set and said how grateful she was that it included her preferred “Happy Christmas” greeting. So to acknowledge this difference I’ve created today’s project with two sentiment options.

Create this Santa bottle wrap and collar using the Poinsettia Petals Stamp Set and Ornate Frames Dies from Stampin' Up! #papercraftwithme

SANTA’S BELT

This simple bottle wrap decoration actually uses an idea I’ve recycled a few times with minor changes.

I began by wrapping a 4″ wide piece of Real Red Card around my wine bottle to hide the label. This particular bottle needed that piece of card to be 11″ wide and I joined the ends together using Tear & Tape Adhesive.

TIP – If you want to be able to slide the bottle wrap off to reuse it, attach the card to itself rather than to the bottle.

Once the Real Red Card was in place I cut a 1-1/2″ x 11″ strip of Basic Black Card. I wrapped this around the bottle then fixed it at the back using more Tear & Tape Adhesive.

Finally I needed to create Santa’s belt buckle and for this I needed the Ornate Frames Dies. In fact I needed two dies to cut this large buckle. One was the larger fancy die, plus the smaller plainer die to cut out the centre. I nested the two together and then using my Mini Cut & Emboss Machine cut out some Gold Foil Sheet. With that done I attached the buckle to the belt with Tear & Tape Adhesive and the wrap was done.

CHRISTMAS COLLAR

To complete the decoration of the bottle I decided to add a simple collar. This would also include a sentiment.

I began by cutting a 3/4″ x 10-1/2″ strip of Real Red Card. Then from the Poinsettia Petals Stamp Set I chose the “Merry Christmas” sentiment.

Using VersaMark ink I stamped the sentiment onto the card and sprinkled the sticky ink with Black Stampin’ Emboss Powder. Then I tapped off the excess powder and removed a few stray specks, before melting the rest with my Heat Tool set on 2 (high).

All I had left to do was wrap the strip around the neck of the bottle. Then with Tear & Tape Adhesive I secured the collar where the card overlapped. Now this could be removed before the wine is poured.

Create this Santa bottle wrap and collar using the Happy Holly-Days Stamp Set and Ornate Frames Dies from Stampin' Up! #papercraftwithme

For my second collar I turned to the “Happy Christmas” sentiment from the Happy Holly-Days Stamp Set. I decided to change up the colour scheme for this collar, cutting a 3/4″ x 10-1/2″ strip of Basic Black Card. Then I embossed the sentiment with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder before assembling the collar in the same way.

So there you have it two options to decorate a wine bottle for the Christmas table. Which one is your favourite I wonder…?

For another project featuring an alternative smaller Santa’s belt idea see my blog post I discovered Santa’s belt buckle.