There’s just ten days to go before Christmas day, and around here, the excitement is certainly rising. Our neighborhood is rife with light displays, snowmen,  Santa and nativity scenes.  More prevalent than  the past years, though,  is the somber undertone amidst the festivities:  you’ll notice one or two houses with no lights from within,  with “For Sale” or “Foreclosed” signs in front, the malls and restaurants are less full, there’s less parties to go to and less presents under the tree. But less money does not necessarily mean less Christmas spirit, in fact, there seems to be even more. When our church asked for volunteers to package food baskets and deliver them to the needy, so many signed up that there were more volunteers than baskets. It was also surprising to learn that our church reached and even exceeded its quota of fundraising for our diocese.  As I write on our Christmas cards this year, I also noticed that we have more  family and friends that we have kept  in touch with.  Although this year may be hard financially on many of us, this is a year that is certainly not lacking in spirit.

The idea of Creating Christmas  by Paulette and Rhonda Sue was to demonstrate just that: there’s no need to spend a lot in order to spread Christmas cheer. We, the artists and designers who joined the blog adventure,  believed in the same thing. This has been a  joy-filled adventure, and we hope that it’s been the same for you!  

My last printable offer is a cute bucket purse treat bag. The template is by Mel McCarthy at www.melstampz.blogspot.com - thank you, Mel! The bag is about  4  3/8″ tall (includes the handle) and 1 ½” thick. A circle punch (1″ or larger) was used to create the handle. 

Here is the designed template: to save in your computer, just right click on the image. To make the bag,  print on 8 ½” x 11″ cardstock, cut along the outside solid lines, then score and fold along the broken lines. Punch out the handle, then put adhesive of your choice on the side flaps.  I also pinched the sides together (just near the top)  because it’s easier to hold the handles.  An easy-peasy project!