This is a quick and easy way to dress up gift cards for Halloween. The paper I used is a 12 by 12” paper pad from Michael’s, Recollections Violet Grove. It’s a bit more grown up than most Halloween papers. I also like the gold foiling. I paired it with glitter paper in matching colors, also from Recollections.

Coffee Mug

Use the Trinity Stamps Coffee Mug Card Die Set to cut out the mug and the gift card holder. Note that some papers, e.g. the purple mushrooms, have an orientation. I didn’t use the coffee oval because it interfered with the embellishments. I was able to get two mugs and gift card holders out of each 12 by 12” sheet.

Fold the mug along the score line created by the die and adhere the gift card holder to the left inside. Take care not to glue down the little flaps that will hold the gift card.

If you’re not going to put the card in an envelope, you can place a strip of double-sided adhesive between the gift card flaps. That way the gift card won’t fall out of the card, even if it gets a bit manhandled. Don’t remove the adhesive backing paper until you’re ready to add the gift card.

I stamped “a little something for you” on the right inside. You could also stamp Happy Halloween, “enjoy” or something similar.

Embellishments

Cut apart the cut-apart sheet to embellish the front of the card. This is how I used the different parts:

• Lovers Tears, Snake Venom and Butterfly Wings: black marker on the edges and apply to card front

• Welcome Foolish Mortals, Scary Things Grow Here, Pick Your Poison, Green is the New Black: fussy cut and mat on glitter paper

Fussy cutting tips

I used a pencil to draw a light line 2-3 millimeters outside the motif and then cut along that line. Then I erased the line and inked the edges with black ink.

Turn over both the glitter paper and the fussy-cut motif. Place the fussy-cut part 2-3 millimeters in from the edges of the glitter paper. Then trace the edge on the back of the glitter paper. Draw another line 2-3 millimeters outside the line you just traced. Cut along that line.

When fussy cutting, two things matter: All outside corners need to be rounded and you need to follow the angle of the embellishment. It’s more important to follow the angle of the longer edges, than to keep a consistent distance to the edge.

When you turn over the fussy-cut part and the glitter paper, they will match.

Finish the card

Adhere the embellishment to the front of the glitter paper with plenty of glue. Then adhere the embellishments to the front of the mug cards. Finish it off with a ribbon bow through the mug handles. I used an assortment of ribbons, mostly from the Dollar Tree.