Hundreds of merry little Christmas presents were

hand-wrapped and beribboned for this season.

Cat Crackers are a big item at GillianCards.

Grendlepuss (my calico buddy) supervises them closely.

Oodles and oodles of treat tubes waiting to be filled.

I had these 6 inch long, 2 inch diameter tubes specially made this year so that items of unusual shape or fragility could be safely mailed.

Baskets of wrapped treat tubes wait to be filled.

Cutting the paper is always a big job.  It takes three or four days to cut it all for each season.  All of the paper at GillianCards Old-Fashioned Crackers is hand-cut.

These rolls have been partially prepared and are now waiting to be cut down to cracker size.

Along one wall of my studio an elongated table holds bin after bin of decorations and goodies.

At GillianCards,

crackers are available all year round

 for birthdays, weddings, baby showers and other occasions such as Valentine's day and

Father's Day.

Bright chocolate kosher 'coins' are one of the little surprises packed into this year's treat tubes for

Hanukkah.  Although the candles did not arrive from Israel in time for this year's crackers, I did find some lovely vanilla and blueberry candles.

Another image of this year's decorations

lovingly wrapped and tied with ribbons. Each cracker receives a tiny little holiday decoration for the Christmas tree or window.

I remember as a kid being given 35 cents each Saturday - 25 cents for admittance to the matinee at the theatre  and 10 cents to spend at the sweet shop next door to it.  They had all different shaped jars with fresh candies that we could buy for a penny.

Now at GillianCards, I have my own little sweets section for Christmas and for all year-round for birthday, wedding, valentine and baby crackers and really fun Father's Day Crackers.

Some odds and ends waiting to be put into crackers.  Stickers galore and lots of snappers.

Each little tissue "paper crown" or hat is hand-made at GillianCards from printed tissues.  Here is a recent batch of 600 hats neatly folded and waiting to be put into crackers for customers to enjoy.  I tried not making the hats one year thinking that people always complain about having to wear them.  The response to that idea was nothing short of mutiny!!  So now I make mountains of them every year.

Each order is prepared separately rather than making  thousands of crackers and filling orders from general stock.  This means that each order is assured of lots of variety and fun. To keep everybody's order straight, all incoming orders are taped to the wall of my hallways where I can see them!

Here's the shipping department after a particularly busy and messy day's work.  Time to tidy up!

At the right hand top you can see two small boxes stuffed with thousands of puzzles and Christmas Carols.  Underneath are balloons, candles and other fun things for birthday crackers.

No, I will NOT model the cat "paper crowns"

says Grendlepuss turning away.

And in between crackers, time still must be found to fill Christmas card orders.  I have been a full time professional greeting card maker for many years. 

2007 is my 20th anniversary year.

These cards are from my new,

"He Said; She Said" Line - quoting thoughts that men and women have been sharing with us throughout the years.

They are a lot of fun and selling like hotcakes.

Some non-Christmas cards hanging in their busy bee wall hanger.  I used to make hangers like these for my downtown card boutique.

More cards, cards, cards...

Well that's the end of the Cracker-making tour for now.  I hope to have a few more pictures for you soon so that you can see the mounds of beautiful crackers all dressed and ready to go to waiting customers!

Thanks for your interest in GillianCards Old Fashioned, hand-wrapped Holiday Crackers.

If you have any questions, please drop me an email.

Members of the MEDIA/PRESS, please visit here for a recent press release.