It never fails — someone unexpectedly gives you a gift. You heart rate jumps, and your mind races, and you think, “oh no, I need to reciprocate — and FAST!”

Well, today’s Tutorial Tuesday post will show you some really great, fast, and inexpensive gifts that you can make using items you might already have on hand. Albums, notebooks, frames, and jars are all the perfect mediums for hybrid crafting! Today, I will show you how I transformed these items into terrific customized gifts… and quickly, to help you deal with surprise gifting emergencies!

The first item you can use — JARS! Jars are so easy and fun, you can fill them with anything… candy (my favorite), sewing kits, a candle… you name it, and it will probably fit in a jar! The only thing you have to worry about is a nice little band to go around it, and a focal point. For the example shown below, I used Dunia Design’s 25 Days Kit to create this adorable little candy jar. I made a 2″ band in Photoshop using 2 complementary papers, and printed the band… along with that cute snowman and a sentiment. The top of the jar is covered in a cupcake liner, but could have easily been another paper from the kit. All I had to do at the end was add a button and twine, and that was it! Easy-peasy!

The second item we’ll use today — FRAMES! Craft stores have all kinds of DIY frames, and the one I used (shown below) cost me just one dollar. I loved the elements in Mari Koegelenberg’s 12 Days | Full Kit, as well as the bright colors. Using white acrylic paint, I whitewashed the frame, and then let it dry. While it was drying, I measured my frame, and set it up in Photoshop exactly how I wanted it to look (what can be easier than that?! …and the benefit is, you can save your project to print & use again & again). After I set it up, I separated all of the elements for printing. Setting it up this way allowed me to print only what was needed, which cuts down on ink! I popped a couple of the trees up with dimensional adhesive, then outlined some of the elements with glitter glue.

Item number three to share with you today — HOME DECOR! This is probably one of my favorite types of projects. For an easy and yet elegant project, search online for quilt patterns! I found this awesome tree and converted it into a template. All the gorgeous papers in Scotty Girl Design’s Season of Joy Collection popped in my mind, and I knew it would be the perfect digital collection for this project! Again, I set up my design in Photoshop first, and then I printed, trimmed, & adhered it all to a cardstock base. I also added a few elements from the collection, and adhered them with dimensionals. Finally, I added a nice frame, and it was all finished!

My fourth project use another great/inexpensive item — NOTEBOOKS! Shown below is a little notebook I snagged in a dollar bin somewhere (and I won’t pretend that I bought just one!). To use it for this hybrid project, I first measured the notebook and then made (in Photoshop) a little panel to adhere to the front, using Project Twenty-Fifteen | December Kit by Laura Passage and a few physical supplies like buttons. If you have a note-taker in your life, this would be a fine gift!

Finally, the last item we’ll look at today — ALBUMS! This cute 4″ x 6″ album was also a dollar store find. I loved all the journal cards in Twenty Five | The Collection by Mari Koegelenberg, so I decided to use them to make this ready-made album. I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t love this for Christmas (or any other day of the year!); all they have to do is add their own photos. 😉

Here’s a look at the inside; journal cards and patterned papers combine to make a fun little album. Just set up a Photoshop template for the size of your pages, and mix & match to your heart’s content. If the recipient is a little bit crafty, you could even print out & trim some elements for them to add for themselves!

 

All in all, these five projects cost me less than a total of $20 (not including the price of the digital products used), and now they are ready and waiting in case I forget to shop for someone and/or get an unexpected gift!

Want to give this a try? We would LOVE to see your hybrid holiday decor – please share it with us over in the hybrid gallery and/or our The TDP Facebook page.

---

About the author  Arielle H Gordon is a wife and mom of two crazy kiddos, ages 5-1/2 & 7. She moved around (a lot!) before returning to settle down in her hometown of Enterprise, Alabama, to marry her sweetheart and start her family. She is an avid crafter — digital, hybrid and otherwise! She LOVES Jesus, family time, camping, gardening, reading cozy mysteries, hot tea, popcorn, and anything on the BBC! This time of year, you’ll find her glued to the Hallmark channel watching every single Christmas movie — even if she’s seen them 5 times each!