Tag Archives: gift wrapping tutorials

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!

 

Bundle of Joy: It’s a Boy!

In this baby boy gift wrapping design, I tap into the vast array of patterned papers available in scrapbooking paper. I will often pick-up discounted 12″ X 12″ paper pads that I use for scrapbooking, card making and of course, wrapping small gifts. (When purchasing scrapbooking paper for wrapping, be sure to consider the weight of the paper, as heavier paper will not work as well.) Pads often come with 2 sheets of each pattern, so you can always join them to get a good sized paper at 12″ X 23″ (with overlap where joined). The larger gift required two sheets of paper, so there is actually a join at the bottom. I never worry much about the joins because if you’ve done a nice job of wrapping, no one will even notice it. In this design, I combine coordinating papers to pull 3 different gifts together in a united stack. I love the blue-green hue of the paper and the hint of yellow that is brought in through embellishments. These simple elements work together to create a lovely gift for that special baby boy!

The focal point and design elements combine paper elements, ribbons that vary in both colour and texture, and standard buttons, but it’s the little extras that really make this gift so adorable. I love the little plastic soother, tag and personalized touch with babies first initial. So cute!

Check out the video to see how it’s done.

I haven’t been to many baby showers lately, but I’m going to one in a few weeks. It is for my Great Nephew (Oh my…that sure makes me sound old!) Anyway, I got the invitation and thought that a few of the ideas were awesome. Perhaps this is actually a normal practise now a days. I’m at the age in which I’m just starting to go to baby showers again. It seems there was quite a gap of years where I really didn’t have anyone in my circle having babies. Anyway, loved both of these ideas…the first is to buy the baby a story book in lieu of a card and sign the inside, so that they can remember who gave it to them every time they read it. Obviously as a kindergarten teacher, I think this idea is fabulous! The second idea is to bring a package of diapers…any size. Love these ideas! So, if you’re in the process of planning a shower, keep these ideas in mind. So fun to have a new baby in the family!!

Vintage Baby Boy Gift Wrap

I was just preparing the finishing touches on my latest video when I came across one that I had published in the fall, but never set to go public. It just so happens both videos are actual gifts and both are for baby boys. I was planning one baby post, but because I have two videos ready, I will post one now and another next weekend.

In this video, I used vintage scrapbooking paper to wrap the gift. I love the look ….the colours and pattern are certainly not what you would describe as typical baby wrapping. For this gift, I mostly rely on paper elements to create the final look. I use paper punches to create simple shapes that pick-up on the colours of the paper and then layer them to create the focal point for the gift. The tag was actually included right in the scrapbooking paper pad. It’s not uncommon for pads to have a few pages of elements that coordinate with the paper in the pad. It’s really handy, as you can often find coordinated strips of paper that can be used as ribbon, tags, quotes/greetings and/or lettering. If you opt to use scrapbooking paper for wrapping gifts, be sure to purchase paper that is a lighter weight and pliable enough for wrapping. Some pads have a heavier cardstock that won’t work well. Also, never pay full price. Wait for sales/coupons and get them at a discount. Also, always make sure the pads have 2 or more pages with the same pattern, in case you need to join them to enlarge the sheet for bigger gifts. There’s a big difference between a 12″ X 12″ sheet and a 12″ X 23″ sheet (with overlap for join). Having more than one page with the same print is really important when considering gift wrapping.

Check-out this video to see how the paper elements are combined to create a unique looking baby gift!

Remember to LIKE, SHARE and SUBSCRIBE to both my blog and youtube channel: BOWhemian WRAPsody. Thanks for your support and happy wrapping!

TOP 10 HOLIDAY WRAPPING HACKS & TIPS

Invest in a few more expensive gift embellishments.

1. Designate one paper design to each member of your family! I sometimes do this and completely omit the tags. I purchase a roll of a paper for each member of my immediate family. This saves the hassle of tagging and prevents them from peeking, as there are no names on the gifts! I use other random papers for gifts that will be leaving our house…extended family, friends and co-workers.

2. Budget hack: Invest in a few more expensive gift embellishments, but reserve them for immediately family. This allows you to re-use them year after year.

3. Gift Boxes: I have a large tub of gift boxes that I use over and over again. Not only does this mean I always have a stash of boxes, but also that the sizes of boxes I use are pretty standard. I have a variety of styles, so that once under the tree, they are not all typical shirt boxes. I also wrap with varied focal points, so some are off centre or even positioned vertically to add interest.

4. Good quality ribbon can get very pricey. By using the same boxes from year to year, I can actually re-use my ribbon/embellishments as well. In fact, sometimes I just slide on a previously tied ribbon with decorative elements still tied on from the year before. (PS When you do buy new ribbon…wait for the 70% sale!)

5. The paper gets recycled once gifts are opened, but everything reusable is kept. (Ribbon, gift decorations and even the tags!) My paper changes. but I am often able to incorporate my gift decor complete with attached tags, from Christmas to Christmas. For example, my daughter might receive a gift in the exact same box with same ribbon, embellishments and tags every year. She doesn’t even realize it because the paper and gift are new! (You know what they say KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid)

6. Everyone loves a TAB TOP surprise! Save your tab top cans (Eagle Brand milk) and create a fun opening experience! Follow the link to check out my video to see how it’s done!

7. Now that I’m wrapping for tutorials, I obviously don’t do this, but for years, my strategy was always the same. I would spend hours wrapping every last gift. NO TAGS. NO RIBBON. NO EMBELLISHMENTS. I would simply print the name on the underside of the gift (tiny so it really wasn’t noticeable). I would “decorate” the gifts on a totally separate day.  I would take out my stash of previously used ribbon and embellishments and re-use as much as possible. This would often just entail a few minor adjustments and perhaps (but not necessarily) a new tag. I would then create new looks for gifts that could not work with items from my previous creations due to size or colour. This method saves lots of time and money.

8.  STOCKING STUFFERS: (This isn’t necessarily a wrapping tip, but I always wrap every gift in the stocking!) I always try to include a variety of items in the stockings. I try to get at least one item per category: Something to WEAR, EAT, READ, USE, and DO. I will often use the dollar store metallic paper and/or decorative tissue to wrap stocking items. I find these papers to be super pliable and easy to work with. For example, you can easily wrap a pair of socks without a box because the paper is flexible and simple to work with. I will be posting some tutorials of how I wrap stocking stuffers using this dollar store paper over the next few days, so stay tuned. 

9.  Wrapping Paper Cutter – I just got two of these to help with my wrapping. They work great, but don’t fit around larger paper rolls. Most of my rolls are standard size, so it’s fine, but something to be aware of if you consider purchasing one. The paper cutters make a nice straight cut and are easy to use….love them!  They work well for storing paper as well, but then you’d need one for every roll. I use my DIY toilet paper roll storage system and just reserve the blades for cutting.

10. Upcycle and Repurpose anything and everything! Some of my favourites gift wrapping upcycles are jewellery, Christmas Cracker Wired Embellishments and cellophane which I love to use to make paper flower style bows. 

Hopefully you’ll find some of these tips helpful….Happy wrapping!

Gift Wrapping Hack: Inside Out Box

Have you ever needed a box for a gift (or other purpose), found the perfect size, but hated the fact that it was covered with print/graphics that identified its original use. I love reusing boxes, but always feel like the print on the outside of a box takes away from the beautiful wrapping. Although this hack won’t work every time, I’ve pulled it off many times in the past. Simply take the box apart and reassemble it inside out!

Check out my latest video to see how simply it can be done! Now you don’t have to feel so bad about using that old tampon box to wrap that special gift…Ha! Ha!

Don’t forget to LIKE and SHARE! Subscribe to my channel BOWhemian WRAPsody for more great gift wrapping tips.

Shabby Chic Gift Wrap: Burlap & Doilies

In my latest gift wrapping tutorial, I combine brown packaging paper, burlap and doilies to create a simple Shabby Chic look. In the video, I share how the elements can be combined in different ways to create various different looks. Paper doilies are readily available at most dollar and craft stores, but you can step it up a notch by watching for cloth/lace doilies while out thrift shopping…just be sure to check for stains. You can often pick them up for under a dollar and they definitely can help make the difference when going for a Shabby Chic look!
Check out my latest video, but be sure to watch to the end to see the featured designs!

If you like the video, you can help me out by clicking LIKE, SHARING the video and subscribing to my channel. Thanks for visiting!

Gift Wrapping Ideas: DIY Pillow Box

Have you ever been faced with the problem of wrapping an awkwardly shaped gift? We’ve all been there…it won’t fit inside any boxes you have on hand, you end up with this weird shape and if you’re like me, the gift always ends up getting bumped and torn because of how the paper is sitting. I hate that! Well, I may have a great solution to your problem….a DIY custom made pillow box.

What is a Pillow Box?

A pillow box is generally oblong with curved ends and a shape that resembles a pillow. They are relatively easy to make and you can even find templates online. However, if you really want to make a pillow box work for you, the key is to learn how to customize the size to accommodate the size of your gift.

Kinderarten Challenge:

In this tutorial you get a bonus tip: find out one of the most important skills I teach my kinders and see if you pass the test and employ this strategy!

DIY Custom Pillow Box Tutorial

Today’s video tutorial is a bit longer in length, but it takes you through the steps involved in creating your own customized pillow box. I offer a specific demonstration for creating a small pillow box using a standard 8 1/2″ X 11″ card stock so that the size is a bit more camera friendly to work with. This is followed by instructions on how to enlarge the scale of the design to create a full bristol board sized box.

Not only is a pillow box a great option for those difficult to wrap gifts, but it is also a simple way to change up the same old. Perhaps a long, narrow pillow box might be a great alternative to the standard gift bags used for wine and other bottled gifts.

Of course, you’ll be limited by the colours of bristol board available, but don’t let that stop you …..they rarely run out of black and white and to me those are the two best options anyway.

I hope you find this video helpful! Please remember to LIKE, SHARE and SUBSCRIBE to my channel: BOWhemian WRAPsody for more great gift wrapping ideas.

Gift Wrapping Ideas: Make it Masculine 2!

I never like to pigeon hole my gift wrapping creations by saying they are more suited to a male than a female, but I do feel that some, feature elements that are combined to create a simpler look that may be considered more appropriate for a male than pretty flowers, lace and doilies! My purpose for making the designation is simply that when wrapping for a male, one sometimes wishes to create a more “manly” vibe and I think I have some ideas to help make that happen.

This design relies on geometric paper shapes and a simple square-topped brad. I love the black and white elements coupled with a hint of silver. One of my favourite additions to this gift is the use of washi tape in lieu of ribbon. Check out the video to see how several different looks are created with the embellishments mentioned above. In addition, find out what my suggestions are with regards to purchasing washi tape. Washi tape makes a great alternative to ribbon, but be mindful when purchasing so that you don’t end up with a collection of tape that never gets used.

I also highlight one of my favourite paper punches. In this video, I use my double square punch from Creative Memories….one of those “can’t live without” tools that I purchased several years ago. (I noticed that it is no longer available through their site, but perhaps it or something similar can be found on eBay or through Amazon).

I hope you enjoyed the video! Don’t forget to LIKE, SHARE and SUBSCRIBE to my channel: BOWhemian WRAPsody for more great gift wrapping tutorials.

Gift Wrapping Ideas: Braided Belt Ribbon

This quick gift wrapping tip highlights a recent thrift store find. I love how this simple braided belt serves as both the ribbon and the bow for this gift. The braided suede-like belt offers interest and creates a very natural look. I love how the buckle serves as the focal point. This is a quick watch and the concept of using a belt might spark many other ideas for creative gift wrapping projects.

If you like this gift wrapping idea, be sure to check out my other wrapping tutorials for more great ideas. Don’t forget to LIKE, SHARE and SUBSCRIBE to my blog and Youtube channel: BOWhemian WRAPsody.