Monday, August 11, 2025

Christmas in July Craft Retreat Projects

Group Photo Week 1
Group Photo Week 2

I recently held my 10th semi-annual craft retreat.  I can hardly believe it!

What happens at a craft retreat? Attendees get their own 6-foot table to work at all weekend.  They bring any projects they want to work on (scrapbooking, card-making, knitting, sewing, quilting, ALL kinds of things), plus they can borrow my stamps, dies, and punches all weekend as well.  I provide make & take projects each day as well as dinners and table gifts.  We have so much fun!  This time, I hosted the retreat TWO weekends in a row to accommodate more people, which is why I have two group photos above.  I think I will stick to one weekend moving forward, but it was fun to hang-out with my die-hard stampers two weekends in a row!

These are the make & take projects we did over the weekend.


I really wanted to use all current products, but the Stampin' Up  Holiday catalog isn't released until September now (I started this when it was released in July), so I was more limited on my choices.  I ended up using a mix of current products, upcoming products, and retired products.

One of the new products we used was the Jar of Joy stamp set and the coordinating Sweet Jar Builder Punch to make the following project:
This is a remake of a non-Christmas version we made at our Super Saturday class in May.  You can watch my video tutorial for this project HERE.


The Christmas version uses the retired Take a Bow Designer Series paper and images from both Jar of Joy and the Sweet Jar set.  The birthday version uses the Turtle-y Cute paper and Floral & Gingham Vellum Paper.  I'll post a supply list for both versions at the end of this post.  

Here are the measurements: 
  • Card base (Real Red for Christmas version, Pool Party for birthday version): 5-1/2 x 7-1/2, score at 4-1/4
  • Basic White (inside): 4 x 5-1/4
  • Small card (Crumb Cake for Christmas version, Basic Beige for birthday version): 3-1/2 x 3-3/4, score at 3/4 (with 3-3/4 side at the top)
  • DSP (left): 3 x 5-1/4
  • DSP (right): 2-3/8 x 2-7/8
  • Basic White (mat under DSP): 2-1/2 x 3
  • Basic White: scrap to die-cut a 1-1/4" circle with Stylish Shapes Dies, also to stamp and fussy-cut the gingerbread image on the inside.
I also made a super cute table gift with this stamp set.  I cased this triangle box from Kitchen Table Stamper.  She made a birthday version with candles and I changed it to a Christmas version.  You can find her free tutorial HERE.  I filled my box with a glue eraser and my favorite chocolates.

Following are individual pictures of the other projects we made.  If you would like a PDF with all the measurements from my retreat projects, you can purchase if for $10 at THIS LINK.  Several of the projects were cased from other stampers, so I'll link to their posts below where you may also be able to find measurements.

The following card was made with the Shepherd's Care stamp set.  I cased this beautiful card from Sharon Davern HERE.

This adorable gingerbread house card was cased from Leah Dixon HERE.  We used the Humble Home stamp set which is currently on the last chance list for only $12!  Unfortunately, the coordinating punch has sold out, but it wouldn't be too hard to fussy-cut the house.


This next card features the beautiful Peaceful Garden suite of products that will be available in September.  Demonstrators had a chance to pre-purchase it in the summer.  The inside greeting is from an old set I had my shelf called Star of Light.

The following card uses the new Poppin' By stamp set.  This doesn't look like a Christmas card, but we put a Christmas greeting on the inside.  When you open this card, a gift card pocket slides up.  I think this is the perfect way to give a movie theater gift card.  My sons love popcorn and the movies, so this will be a great Christmas gift for them!  You could also use this for other celebrations, so guests could choose whether or not to add the Christmas greeting.


This last card uses mostly retired projects, but I couldn't resist using the Peaceful Evergreen and Peaceful Season bundles that were just added to my library last season.  I really wanted an elegant card to go with all the cute cards.  I saw this card idea on Pinterest with a watermark from Touch of Joy Creative Studio (no link for the project):

No retreat is complete without a few table gifts.  In addition to the triangle box I posted above, I gave my guests the following:

I saw this idea from Dena Wright HERE. 
I filled the pouch with a roll of Red & White Baker's Twine and some candy.

I kept it simple with this one--a pack of peppermint bling
and Stampin' Dimensionals tied up with ribbon.
The circle tag was made with the new Encircled with Love set.

I love Bath & Body foam soap!

That's a wrap on the projects at the retreat.  As I mentioned before, you can purchase a PDF with measurements for the six make & take projects for $10 at THIS LINK.

Here are some other photos from this fun event!

The calm before the storm.  Room set-up before guests arrived!
Stamp borrowing station and project displays.
More project displays.
The Christmas corner.  The tree was decorated with handmade tags.
Stamping friends crafting away.

Stamping friends crafting away.
Stamping friends crafting away.
Bingo winners!
Stamping friends crafting away.



Cindy and Roma came all the way from Utah!
Cindy is a big helper to me when it comes to setting up the room.
She is also my partner in crime for hosting Crafting Cruises!

That's all for today!  Happy Stamping!

Marsha LaFroth

P.S.  Here is the supply list for both the Christmas and Birthday versions of the jar cards:

Product List
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