Christmas Priori*tea

 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord ~ Luke 2:11

Several years ago, a friend gave me a baby food jar with a spiced tea mix and a sentiment about making Jesus my Priority. The idea was that we would make time for Him in our busy daily lives. I kept the empty jar, label facing out on my spice shelf long after the tea was gone. I was thinking about all of the special gifts that I need around Christmas, and thought this tea would be perfect for a few. Isn’t this the time of year that we get most lost in the shuffle and bustle and forget a few of our priorities?

I used the recipe that Sharon shared last year HERE, but if you google ‘spiced orange tea recipe’ – you’re sure to find a recipe that suits your fancy. There are many. I put my tea mix in cello bags and then inside new kraft coffee bags. The coffee bags were stamped with the Fiery Floral Scrapblock from Cornish Heritage Farms. I used a Cranberry Pigment Ink Pad from Ranger. It gave such a rich, deep look.

Next, I stamped the sentiment with my JustRite Stampers, C41 Stamper and mini alphabet. Pssst, they are having a ‘buy one, get one free’ sale thru 11/30/08. Check it out HERE. The ‘Believe’ is a Rummage Bin sentiment that I love, created by the beautiful Lesley Langdon for Cornish Heritage Farms. It took a few minutes, so stamp several when you get it all set up! 😉 Don’t forget your Stamp-a-ma-jig.

I used Cranberry and Pesto Adirondack Dye Ink on the labels. It’s great that Ranger offers the colors in both dye and pigment ink. Make coordination a breeze with the proper ink for different mediums. Speaking of coordinating, the brads were colored with Copic Marker R59, it matches perfectly.

I cut the labels and the matted frames with Nestabilities. The tags are MayaRoad chipboard covered with Basic Grey Wassail patterned paper. I used Mod Podge to adhere the paper and dimensional dots to pop up the die-cut labels. Various ribbons from Webster’s Pages, Beaux Regards and May Arts (all available from the fabulous Cindy Lyles at StarLitStudio) finish it off.

This is the label on the back with a few suggested Christmas readings for a few stolen moments of quiet time. By the time I got here, I was getting lazy, so these are just printed on a clear label from the ole computer. 🙂

I’ve had a wonderful weekend full of crafting and getting ready for Christmas. More tea packaging, gift and Christmas ideas to follow this week. What’s up tomorrow? A challenge issued by Jami. She’s the bossy one! <wink> So, I wouldn’t dream of not following orders. See you in the morning.