Welcome to the CHRISTMAS IN JULY blog hop, hosted by the Cookin' Up Creations Master Chef Challenge Team! The temperatures outside may say summer, but it's cool in here!! We hope our projects and craft ideas will help you get a head start on your holiday crafting. If you have been following the hop route, then you should have come from Jo's blog. If not, and you would like to follow along the complete blog hop itinerary, please start at the Cookin' Up Creations Blog so you won't miss any of the fantastic projects and inspiration the "chefs" have cooked up for you.
It's beginning to look alot like Christmas...Well at least we can pretend it's cooler weather.  One of my favorite parts of Christmas is wrapping gifts.  I love to find new ways to wrap gifts to make them look special for my family and friends.  Here are a few things I have come up with.

Paint cans!  I love them!  The cover fast and easily and make a big statement.  I using them for cookies and candy and I love using them when I need to protect a breakable gift that can fit inside. The paint cans as you know come in all sizes so you can pick the one that suits your needs.

Another thing I like to do is make tags for my gifts.  This is a great way for me to use up my pieces of left over paper and extra embellishments that I have.

These tags are quick to make and add a personal style to your packages.  I used the left over tags that I got out of Basic Grey paper pack, chipboard tags and circles,and I even cut a couple out of paper.  I added stickers, buttons, and chipboard accents to embellish them.


Now what's Christmas without the spirit of giving. So follow my blog and leave a comment below and you will be entered into a drawing for some goodies that Santa has dropped by for all the good girls and boys.

Thank you for stopping by! Now be sure to go next to Sandy's blog to see what holiday inspiration she has cooked up for you. Our blog hop continues through Sunday evening, July 22.

And be sure to stop by the Cookin' Up Creations forum (please provide link) for our CHRISTMAS IN JULY CROP this weekend, starting Friday, July 20 and continuing through Sunday, July 22. There will be more Christmas and holiday inspiration, challenges, and games.