I am a collector of many things. I always have been. Oddly however, I have these fantasies of living in a minimalist home or at least an impeccably neat one. To make matters worse, for the longest time I was also a hoarder. I would hold on to all of these little odds and ends because I liked them. Fortunately, with my new Etsy shop, The Craftarium, I am finally thinning out at least two of my collections - vintage holiday seals and pretty paper.

During the Thanksgiving weekend, I wanted to offer a holiday promotion, so I offered free shipping and unique gift packaging. I decided to collage each box with decorative papers, cut-outs, and shop labels. As I sorted through my collection of "collage-able items" (one of many collections) I found a babyfood jar filled vintage holiday seals that I picked up in 1998. Jackpot! The seals date from the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.

With a glue stick and scissors I got to work and whipped out a bunch of boxes pretty quickly. My customers on Etsy and at my trunk show really seem to like being able to give their handmade gifts in a unique, hand-decorated gift boxes.

Although I picked up my seals a decade ago, you can find vintage holiday seals on Etsy, by searching under "Vintage: tags and titles" for "christmas seals."

If you do not have stacks of pretty paper lying about, check your recycling bin, your junk mail, old books (not valuable ones!), wrapping paper stash, piano bench, or really anyplace you keep paper that you are willing to cut up. All of those Christmas catalogs that spill out of your mailbox lately are filled with seasonal images - all yours ripe for the slicing.

Then pull out your scissors and gluestick and go to town. When finished you will have festive gift boxes as unique as you and your gifts are.

Although my holiday promotion is over, I am extending it for fans of The {NewNew} blog. If you order from my Etsy shop, The Craftarium, between Tuesday, December 9 and Friday, December 12 I will waive shipping fees and include a gift box for each item ordered (while supplies last.) Just add "newnewblog" in the message to seller during checkout.

Happy Holidays!