gifting baked goods

Have you ever noticed that great wrapping can really make a gift extra special? Taking some time to hand craft some special wrapping for a baked gift adds even more to an already special homemade present for someone special. From Fiskars punches and paper to sewing a case, the options are limited only by time and imagination. Our design team has come up with several creative ideas for dressing up your baked gifts -

Designer:  Lisa Storms
As the beautiful weather arrives, I am in the mood to entertain outdoors!  I am looking forward to all of the upcoming BBQ's and parties.  I love to make the "conversation piece" of the party, but I don't like to spend a lot of time doing it.  So I came up with a couple cupcakes I plan to use this summer for different events taking advantage of time-saving tools and inexpensive cardstock. 

This crab is full of personality, but he's only made up of a few punches!  Pairing up Comma Comma Chameleon punches for pinchers and layering circles for eyes is all you need to bring this cute guy to life. 

Glue eyes to red toothpicks and insert at the top front of red-iced cupcakes.  Cut a toothpick in half (I use my Wire Cutters for ease) and stand up on the back of pinches with a glue dot.  Insert the toothpicks horizontally into the cupcake pushed out so the pinchers aren't actually touching the icing and are easy to remove.   These cupcakes are fun served on a bed of crushed graham crackers for sand.

These sailboats would also be cute for birthday parties with the age on the sail, or in pastel colors for a baby shower.  Layer Boundary Waters border punched strips of cardstock cut to fit around bottom of cupcake and adhere together with a glue dot.  I used the Frames Shape Template with the Ultra ShapeXpress to cut out sails using the Bowed frame.  By lining up opposing corners on my Trimmer, I get two sails from each frame.  Roll up a glue dot at the top and bottom corners to adhere to bamboo skewer.  A Lifesaver candy on top and Goldfish crackers around a blue plate are fun finishing touches.

Designer: Kendra McCracken
It's the time of year that's perfect for packing up a picnic lunch and heading out for a day with family and friends, taking a break from the craziness that is life and relaxing. Bringing the food along in fun little baskets and containers will only help to liven up the day, making it even more special. While bugs are an annoying given to be dealt with when picnicking, when they are in the form of cute little punched ants running along the base of a basket with a pretty liner, it adds a little humor to the situation.

Using the Fiskars 45mm Comfort Grip Rotary Cutter, making a liner for a basket is an easy process and has the added benefit of being very inexpensive. I paid $5 for this basket and the liner cost around $1 in supplies.

To determine the amount of fabric needed for the sides, measure around the top edge of the basket and add 1 1/4". Next, measure the height and add the amount that you want to fold over to the outside of the basket, plus 1/2". To determine the amount of fabric needed for the base, measure the length and width of the base and add 1 1/4" to each measurement.

To assemble the liner, start folding the fabric for the side panels in half , right sides together, and connect the ends by sewing a 1/2" seam. Place this in the basket, wrong side facing out, and press the fabric neatly into the corners. Gather the excess fabric and form a dart in each corner, pinning the neatly in place.

Stitching the darts. Add a bottom to the liner by matching the raw edges of the bottom of the side panels with the raw edges of the bottom piece, right sides together, pinning and then stitching in place. Cut openings for the handle(s) of the basket and stitch ribbon (folded in half lengthwise) along the remaining raw edges.

For the final fun, decorative touch, I used the Fiskars Limited Edition Gettin’ Antsy – Large Squeeze Punch to punch ants from patterned papers and adhered them along the bottom edge of the basket.

Designer: Becky Novacek

Presentation makes all the difference. I love to buy thoughtful gifts and yet, if they’re not wrapped up and pretty, it loses something. The same applies to bringing a gift of food.

I took a simple generic white pie box and covered it with pretty pattern paper. The key to this project looking really crisp and well done is using the Fiskars Fingertip Craft Knife. You can adhere a full 12x12 inch sheet of paper to the box and then take the Fingertip Craft Knife and cleanly cut a precision edge.

I covered the bottom half in this way, folding when needed on the corners and adhering as you cut. All that’s needed on the top is to cover the actual square area that shows. Then take 4-¾” wide strips of vintage ledger paper the length of the top edge of the box and use the Fiskars Threading Water Border Punch on the long edges. Adhere each strip to the top sides of the box.

Then you just need to use a strong wet adhesive to adhere the black trim to set the box off. I used bulldog office clips to hold the trim in place until the adhesive dries. Finish it off with a few pretty flower accents.

Designer: Lisa Truesdell
I am not a baker by any stretch of the imagination – slice and bake cookies is about as fancy as I get – I’ve found a local bakery that I love.  They are my go to place when I need a treat for any occasion.  But while their cookies are to die for yummy, the packaging isn’t so fancy.  I used some of my favorite Fiskars sewing tools to create a stamped bag that can be customized for any occasion.

I started by tracing a circle onto my fabric using an USX template, then I cut it out using my No5 Touch Microtip Scissors.  The circle becomes the bottom of the bag, so you’ll want it to be bigger around than the cookies.  To create the walls of the bag, I measured the cookies and added 6in to the measurement so that I could have a nice, finished top.  Then I had to stop and think -  how wide did I need to make the fabric? I had to dig deep in my brain for some high school math facts (and, um, use google to verify that I was right!) – I needed to find the diameter of my 4in circle.  To do that, I multiplied 4 x 3.14 (pi) and got 12.56.  I rounded it to 13in to give myself room for the seam.

I used my Fiskars Comfort Grip Rotary trimmer to create the strips I needed for the bag – a narrow one and a wide one in my main fabric, and a narrow one in an accent fabric.  I sewed them together into one big rectangle, and then stamped the accent fabric with a cute house stamp from Heidi Grace’s A Little Bird’s Tale line. Fold the top 3in of fabric back and stitch a zigzag stitch along the top to hold your fold in place. Next I sewed the edges together to create a tube of fabric – make sure your seam faces the inside.

Now I pinned the fabric for the walls of the bag to the circle that forms the bottom.  I did this with the bag inside out, so that the seam would be on the inside.  Just curve the fabric around the circle and use LOTS of pins.  When it’s time to sew, go S-L-O-W.  I put my machine on the slowest speed possible, and stopped to take pins out along the way.  When you’re finished, flip the bag right side out and slide your cookies inside!

I added a ribbon to cinch the top of the bag and a super simple little tag – I used the Scallop Sentiment border punch along the bottom of a shipping tag and accented it with a house trimmed from Heidi Grace’s A Little Bird’s Tale patterned paper and a few buttons.  The back of the tag is a perfect place to give your new neighbor’s your phone number and name.

The next time you're looking for the perfect baked gift, don't forget the wrapping!

By fiskars design team