Tag Archives: embellishing presents

Wrap with Scrap!

Scrapbooking Paper

Whether you scrapbook or not, there is no denying the endless possibilities when it comes to the patterns, colours and designs available. I often find myself looking at gorgeous paper and fabrics in much the same way….often finding some designs just too beautiful not to have. When it comes to wrapping small gifts…why not expand your thinking and choose from the vast array of papers available, so much to choose from as opposed to the limited stock of wrapping paper available in most stores and/or the extravegant prices you find in higher end specialty stores. Of course, using scrapbooking paper does limit use to smaller gifts or requires piecing together two sheets. However, it is often available for as low as 50 cents for individual sheets and you don’t have to worry about storing the leftover paper!

Important things to consider if you want to use scrapbooking paper to wrap a gift:

  1. The size of the gift. Scrapbooking paper is available in 12″ X 12″ sheets (as well as standard 8 1/2 x 11 or smaller), so it will only work for small gifts or you can decide to tape two sheets together on the reverse side enabling you to play with a piece that is approximately 12″ X 23″ (with overlap for taping). If you aren’t sure if it will work and you don’t have any at home to test the size, just make a template from newspaper or plain brown packaging paper. In fact, you could keep it as a template for future gifts as well.
  2. Make sure you are purchasing a light weight paper. Some paper is definitely heavy stock and will not be very pliable for wrapping.
  3. If you need to purchase the paper, you may want to look and see what you already have on hand for ribbon and embellishments. Instead of purchasing more, see if you can coordinate your paper purchase with items you already have at home. I think it’s safe to say that most people that are creative and/or crafty…have a stash of stuff they “just had to buy”. Think of gift wrapping as a way to use up some of those crafting items ….perhaps not how you initially intended, but this way you get to purge and be creative at the same time! Make sure to take the embellishments you have with you to the store ~ DO NOT TRUST THAT YOU CAN MATCH THE COLOUR FROM MEMORY….believe me it is next to impossible. You think you can until you arrive at the store looking for teal and realize that even teal has a zillion different tones/shades…yikes!

Check out my latest video from my channel: BOWhemian WRAPsody to see how you can wrap with scrap!

Au Naturel!

I always keep basic brown packaging paper on hand. It’s actually one of my “go to” gift wrapping papers. It is cheap, readily available at any dollar store and oh so versatile! You can dress up the paper (using stamps, paint or sharpies) or leave it plain and just add embellishments. The paper is such a neutral colour that you can literally combine it with almost any colour to create a great look.

For this gift, I simply added a unique “ribbon” I found at the dollar store. It combines a rustic type of cord with tiny leaves to create an organic look. I then cut a few slips from flowers I had in the house. It looks awesome with a simple slip of greenery or combined with a simple flower such as a daisy. Love this look and so simple to pull together! Look for more great ways to use basic brown paper in up coming videos!