Thursday, December 20, 2012

12 Projects: Creative Packaging



My mother has always been amazing at wrapping christmas gifts.  She is great with bows, and always comes up with the best combinations of ribbon and paper.  I bet people would pay her to wrap their presents.  I've always liked having cute gifts to give away, but I don't like to spent a lot of time wrapping.  I guess I get bored easily!  My gifts also have to be able to travel, so intricate bows that may not survive a car trip are not really an option.  Here are a few of my gift wrapping tips!


My gift wrapping stash.  I have a number of small brightly colored papers from the Target dollar spot.  I also like to buy paper on sale after Christmas.  It's a great time to get the fancy papers from places like World Market. The tub houses my boxes, ribbons, tags and bags.  My mother trained me early to save bows and bags for re-use.  Anything that was purchased new was bought on after Christmas clearance.  


Stock up on reusable boxes!  Not only do they save time and paper, but you can stick them back under your tree once everything's been unwrapped.  The boxes on the right are from Dollar Tree, and the one on the left came with some Christmas cards my mom purchased years ago.



Need a box for something tiny? This is made from a toilet paper roll. Doodle on it with metallic markers, paint it, or have the kids color festive designs!


Use an inexpensive stocking and some ribbon to fancy up a wine bottle.  You could stick chocolates in the toe to round out a hostess gift!



Run out of gift bags? Make your own! Kraft paper is everywhere this year. I purchased these little kraft paper bags earlier in the year.  I doodled with metallic permanent marker, folded over the tops, punched holes, and tied a bow.  You could do this with any size of paper bag!


My mother's wrapping tendencies rubbed off on me enough to want the gift tags to coordinate with the paper.  Don't have any matching tags?  Cut (or use a craft punch) a few out of kraft paper or spare paper bags and use a coordinating marker. 


If you are running out of ribbon, put those scraps to use!  Yarn and fabric can be easily used as embellishment.  


If you are running low on colorful paper, use small pieces to dress up kraft paper or newspaper.  You could also use colorful magazine pages to bring in a burst of color.  Don't forget doodling all over that blank paper.  Every present can be a work of art!


I am excited to have most of my presents wrapped and ready for transport home.  How are your holiday preparations going?  Are there any holiday activities you are hoping to get in before the big day?


Missed something?  Check out The 12 Projects of Christmas.


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