I had another TV appearance today. Not quite as stressful as last week’s, but you always want to do your best for any television show! I was on our local KJZZ News at Nine program; the topic was holiday gift ideas for friends, neighbors, and even co-workers.

Stampin’ Up! has a 12 Days of Holiday Sales promotion going on right now, and a selection of Big Shot dies are available at 15 to 25 percent off, so I used one of those (the Baskets and Bloom die) along with our Christmas Jingle Simply Scrappin’ for most of the gift ideas.

I wanted to show how versatile the die was, and it was fun coming up with different ways to use each of the pieces.

The Holiday Potpourri gift bag is a wonderful idea—quick and easy to make, you can get the ingredients (orange, cinnamon sticks, and cloves) anywhere, and it’s very affordable.

You just fold the sides of the basket to create the tag (I folded them in then out again so there was a strip of the coordinating color along the front of the tag), include the recipe, and you’re done!

The Garden Gate toffee bag uses pretty much the same basket tag, but it’s tied up with a ribbon, instead of the self-adhesive Simply Scrappin’ strip.

The two treat bags feature the basket made as it’s meant to be—a regular, 3D project, filled with fun goodies. The handles are folded down on one of the baskets and kept up on the other.

The red felt basket is made by simply keeping the basket die flat. There’s still room to tuck a few goodies (or maybe a gift card) inside, and I really like the different look of this basket. Check out the tag—the bow on the present is the flower from the same die!

The 2^nd gift tag shows the same flower as a bow, but with a different present and back ground.

Now those of you who are organized and on top of things have probably already got your neighbor gifts made, and maybe even passed out! In addition to being jealous of you, I wanted to inspire you as well, so here’s the same felt basket idea with a different color for a Valentine’s Day project. The Real Red flower makes the perfect accent.

And check out this 2^nd Valentine’s Day tag—the hearts on it are the same Real Red felt flower, just cut into thirds. I love it when we come up with a different way to use something other than the obvious.

And while I was waiting for my segment to begin, I actually started thinking about the holiday after Valentine’s Day—St. Patrick’s Day. If you cut it carefully, the outline flower makes a great four-leaf clover (I didn’t show that, I just thought of it while I was waiting. . .). Stick that on a green felt basket, fill it with gold coins, and you’ve got your next holiday covered.

And with the versatility of this great die, you could come up with something for every single holiday, I’m sure. Switch out the color palette, think creatively, and let the fun begin!