Tag Archives: gift wrapping design ideas

ALL THINGS CHRISTMAS #2!

gift wrapping

REPOST: Gift Wrapping Tips: Post 1 (Original post December 5, 2013)

I love to decorate gifts. Back in the “olden days” when I didn’t have so much on my plate, I would be done my Christmas shopping by the end of October and be completely wrapped and ready to go by the end of November. I’ve come to accept that my years of getting all my shopping done early are over. I now to do most of my shopping online and tend to leave the bulk of it until Black Friday and Cyber Monday. I still try to support local when possible, but have definitely been sucked in by the convenience of shopping from home. I’ve never been much of a shopper (other than thrift stores of course). I’m not a browser and wouldn’t think of going to the mall just “for something to do”. When I go shopping I’m generally on a mission, with a list in hand. It just does nothing for me.

Regardless of how early I complete my shopping, I always use the same system for wrapping.

  • Basically, I wrapped all the gifts in one sitting (or at least most of them). This might take me several hours, but I find it works best for me. Binge wrap!
  • I do not add any ribbons, bows, tags or embellishments at this time. I simply choose paper, wrap and then write the person’s name (very small) on the bottom of the gift.
  • This allows me to stack and store oodles of gifts without having to compensate for the bows.  
  • I then set aside another block of time (several hours) and set to work decorating each gift. I love to do this and I thought I’d share a few of my favourite tricks!

Wrapping on a Budget

First of all, I spend very little on wrapping paper and embellishments. I always purchase materials when Christmas stuff is on clearance. I often pick up beautiful wire rimmed ribbon at Michael’s for up to 90% off. I also purchase many of the items I use from the dollar store. It’s all about how the items are used and combined with other elements. The example I am sharing today includes mostly dollar store items.

  • gift wrapping
  • gift wrapping

For this particular project, I used dollar store wrapping paper and dollar store wire rimmed ribbon. I can’t remember if I bought the wire holly garland and metallic shreds at the dollar store or not, but probably.  I had both on hand from last year.

I tend to use primarily wire rimmed ribbon. I will occasionally use the curly ribbon, but most often to dress-up the embellishment a bit. I wrapped the gift with one band of ribbon and tied a nice big bow. (Did you know a BOW on a gift represents family ties and the fact that we should be tied together in bonds of goodwill?) I then slipped a bit of metallic shreds beneath the bow. The shreds are not silver or gold, but rather that clear “opalescent” look. (Don’t you love that word?)  I love how it just punches up the bow and seems to fill the dead space a bit. I then like to take a 6 to 8 inch piece of wire garland and slide it under the shreds and then twist it on top of the bow to hold everything in place. I like to leave the ends of the wire garland sticking out. This look is really easy to achieve and yet takes a simple ribbon and bow and kicks it up a notch. I often choose gift tags with a string. I just prefer the “hanging” look over stickers. Such is the case with this tag. I just looped it over the wire garland.

You already know how obsessed I am with re-using and re-purposing items, so I am sure you won’t be all that surprised to know that I collect the ribbons and bows on Christmas morning and re-use many of them the following year. I have even been known to leave the tags attached and use it for the same person. Thus, my stash of beautiful ribbons and bows does not need to be replenished that often.

ALL THINGS CHRISTMAS #1! Cellophane Bows

I decided to dive into the archives throughout December and do some re-posting! I certainly hope to including some new posts as well, but watch for my daily posts about ALL THINGS CHRISTMAS…mostly a trip down memory lane re-visiting posts from Decembers past!

Gift Wrapping Tips: Post 2 (original post December 8, 2013)

I love all things pretty, but am also very frugal. Cellophane is one of my secret weapons when it comes to making gifts look great on a budget. Of course, you can pick-up a roll for a buck and get numerous bows out of one roll.

cellophane

I purchase printed cellophane, solid colours and also love the look of the clear.

 Cellophane Bows:

    • Purchase dollar store cellophane and cut off 2 to 3 strips. I generally make my strips the about 4 inches wide and the length is equal to that of the width of the roll.  The size can be altered to fit the size of the gift you are decorating.
      cut cellophane strips

      This bow was made with only two strips of cellophane.

    • Stack the strips.
    • Scrunch up the strips in the center so that the entire strip is gathered together in the center. (You know, similar to the tissue flowers we made back in the 70’s!) The YouTube video gives a great tutorial for making the tissue flowers, but these are much easier. Less layers, no folding (just scrunch), no trimming the ends to form a petal shape and less to pull apart after.
      Scrunch up cellophane

      Scrunch up the cellophane in the center of the strip, until the entire length of the strip has been gathered up.

    • With the center pinched tightly, tie a string or ribbon around the cellophane to secure it in the middle . You can tie it onto the gift at this stage or after the flower has been pulled apart. Regardless, the final step is to pull the layers of cellophane apart to create a very full looking cellophane flower.

I always incorporate a few other things to finish off the gift. In this case, the final look was made with these three items:

Green Raffia, Polka Dot Cellophane and White Star Wire Garland
Cellophane Bow
Cellophane Bow

The thing I like best about cellophane is that you can create any kind of look you want depending on the colours and patterns you use. The ribbon and other embellishments can make you gift look fun or elegant, depending on what kind of look you are going for. Get creative and see what you can add to your gifts to dress-up a simple cellophane bow!

 

Wrap With Scrap #2

Wrap With Scrap #2

How to Patch When Your Paper is Too Small

In today’s post, I wanted to share with you how to successfully patch exposed ends when using wrapping paper that is too small. I love wrapping with scrapbooking paper whenever I can, simply because the options are endless. There are so many beautiful designs to choose from, but you are limited by the 12 X 12 standard size paper. Obviously, you can join multiple pages together, but it isn’t always easy to get the finished look you desire. In this video, I demonstrate two tips for patching. In this particular scenario, the paper fits nicely around gift, but is not long enough, so the ends are left exposed. Watch the video to see how I rectify this problem.

How To Create Interest By Moving Your Focal Point

The second part of the video demonstrates how you can change the look of a gift by simply changing the placement of your focal point. Clearly, the centre of the gift is often where the bows and embellishments are mounted, but you can add interest just by sliding the key elements closer to one end or by flipping the gift and creating a vertical look.

Check out my latest video tutorial from BOWhemian WRAPsody to see how to patch effectively and create interest by moving the focal point of your wrapped gift.

Coordinate It! Video #2

Check out the second video in my 3 part tutorial on how to create impact with coordinating wrapping paper.

Don’t forget to LIKE, SHARE and SUBSCRIBE to see all of my latest blog posts and Youtube Tutorials from BOWhemian WRAPsody.

Lovely Layered Look!

How to Create a gift with a "Lovely Layered Look"

In today’s video, I used a basic brown packaging paper and added added various elements that varied in both colour and texture to create a layered look. The process was super simple and the look was really just created by using a combination of materials.

Check out my latest Youtube tutorial at BOWhemian WRAPsody ~ It shows you how to create the “Lovely Layered Look!” pictured above! Don’t forget to LIKE, SHARE and SUBSCRIBE!