Decorative Packaging

Erin Go Bragh !

  Celebrated each year on March 17th, Saint Patrick’s Day commemorates the religious feast day of St. Patrick, a fifth century Christian missionary. 

DIRECTIONS

Born under the name Maewyn Succat in the year 387, the man we now know as St. Patrick was kidnapped by raiders as a boy and sold into slavery in Ireland.   There he became a shepherd and endured many hardships and trials that led him to a deep and profound spirituality.  According to tradition he escaped captivity by following the guidance of an angel, and then traveled back to his homeland where he entered the church and became a priest. 

After his ordination as a bishop he returned, as a missionary, to Ireland where he impressed the people with his courage, wisdom, and compassion — setting off a wave of conversion that eventually engulfed the entire island.    St. Patrick’s legacy includes numerous legends, most notably his teaching the trinity with a clover leaf and his driving the snakes out of Ireland.

In America, Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated with great festivity in those cities with a large Irish population.  There it is embraced by Catholics and non-Catholics alike and is often more a celebration of Irish heritage than a remembrance of good St. Patrick himself.

Decorative Trees in the Home

I keep finding wonderfully creative ways to display evergreen trees and decorative ribbon in the home. Of course everyone loves Christmas trees but this goes way beyond just putting up a Christmas tree. Some people have lots of live plants in their home; others use the artificial fig trees with lights for an intimate feel to the room. I have found many examples of decorating with evergreen trees that don’t have to be Christmas trees. This lovely tree is used in a log home dining room. Country ribbon tied into huge bows with long tails embellishes this tree along with pine cones that have a hint of white on them. A coordinating ribbon used as garland winds around the tree from top to bottom. Uniform white twinkle lights glisten through the ribbon and evergreens as if the sun was beaming through ice on a tree in the woods.

Another image of the beautiful tree with the lights off show that the tree is a warm welcomed decoration in this rustic cabin for any occasion and all the year through. Bring the outside beauty into the inside with out any danger of in climate weather. Have fun decorating.

Many of the items you may need to create your own version of this idea can be found on our website by clicking on the link in my post.

Homemade Gifts for the one who has everything

Whether you are gifting a neighbor, friend, teacher or family member, they will love the variety of goodies you can display on a platter.  Wrap it in plastic wrap and use a pre-tied bow or to wrap around the platter.  You can also use a satin ribbon then add a bow on one end.  This is also a lovely way to bring goodies to a gathering when you don’t want to come empty handed.  This would make a great welcome to the neighborhood gift.  Maybe you are making a meal for a friend who is under the weather and want to take some treats for dessert.  This will brighten the spirits of receiver. 

Many of the items you may need to create your own version of this idea can be found on our website by clicking on the link in my post.  

Shamrock hair bow

16 inches of green fabric 1 3/4 “wide

1 regular large rubber band for hair

3 – 7” curled grosgrain ribbon

14” printed holiday shamrock ribbon

Heavy quilting threads that blends into the ribbon color

Sew the rubber band inside of the fabric as you sew the sides

Sew the ends of the fabric together making a circle.  Turn wrong side out and put the rubber band around the out side and fold fabric over the rubber band and sew edges so that the rubber band is totally inside of the fabric.  You now have a regular scrunchie type hair tie.

Take the 14”inches of printed ribbon and make a notch in both ends then make a large loop leaving 3 inch ends.  Lay the 2 grosgrain curled ribbon on top of the printed ribbon.  Pinch the center of the loop making sure there is and end on each side, then wrap the heavy quilting thread many times around  leaving one tail on the beginning, wrap till secure, then tie both ends of the thread in a secure knot.  Adjust the ends to perfect the bow. You can sew the bow onto the scrunchie, or hot glue it, or use fabric glue.  However you decide to attach it, make sure you can still stretch out the stretchy rubber band.

Many of the items you may need to create your own version of this idea can be found on our website by clicking on the link in my post.  

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Tropical Holiday Cottage

The tropical theme is carried on through out the house with simple yet elegant decorations through out this beach house.  With the natural wood work on the walls and floor only being accented by the white trim wood work, your color pallet is wide open.  The tropical coral wide ribbon that is used to hang the stockings on the stair way is also decoratively splashed onto the front door by the wreath being hung by the same color.  The bow on the wreath is also the beautiful Coral Tropicana color. Using lemons again on the front door along with other tropical fruit is very inviting to the eye.  Traditional red and white colors of Christmas are introduced by adding tropical flowers in a simple vase.  I Love the sea green stockings too that finish off the warm feel of the room. Can’t you almost hear the ukulele playing softly in the back ground?

Many of the items you may need to create your own version of this idea can be found on our website by clicking on the link in my post.  

When Life Give’s you Lemons…

This tropical room displays a hint of yellow with the lemons that are wired on the wreath.  Whether you decide on fresh or artificial, this is a unique approach to hanging a wreath.  It keeps the theme of the room Tropicana and still has the festive holiday feel.  The wreath is beautifully hung with brilliant, wide, gold ribbon to add another accent color.  I love the 4 tails hanging down from the bow. It’s just a two part bow.  Two ends are left long from tying a knot in the loop that hangs the wreath, long tails are also left over from tying a simple but huge bow at the top. 3M makes these great hangers for anywhere you don’t want to make a hole in the woodwork or wall.  They have an adhesive double stick gel pad that attaches to a plastic backing with a hook on the front.  They are incredibly strong too. 

Many of the items you may need to create your own version of this idea can be found on our website by clicking on the link in my post.  

The charm of pew bows can be created simply with several ribbons in bow combinations, or made more elaborate with the addition of strings of pearls and graceful lengths of tulle flowing from pew to pew.

MATERIALS FOR ONE BOW

4 1/2 yds (4.5m) of
2 5/8-inch wide (6.5cm) brocade merrow-edge wire ribbon in ivory
4 1/2 yds (4.5m) of
1 1/2-inch-wide (4cm) wire-edge sheer ribbon in ivory
1 yd (1m) of 2 5/8-inch wide (6.5cm) wire-edge sheer ribbon in ivory.
2 to 3 branches of ivy
Tacky glue or hot glue

DIRECTIONS

Cut three 1 1/2-yard (1.5m) lengths from the 2 5/8-inch (6.5cm) ivory brocade ribbon. With right sides out, make a 6-inch (15cm) loop at one end of each. Wire all three lengths together and notch ends.
Following the instructions below, make a twelve-loop bow with 16-inch (40.5cm) tails from the 1 1/2-inch (4cm) ivory sheer ribbon. Wire this bow to the loops from step 1.
Following the instructions below, make a fancy pulled rose from the 2 5/8-inch (6.5cm) ivory sheer ribbon. Glue the rose to the center of the ribbon bow.

Glue the ivy to the pew bow.

GENERAL BOW TECHNIQUES

To fasten a bow with wire, fold an 18-inch (50cm) length of wire in half. Place the folded wire underneath the chosen ribbon and wrap the wire around the center, inserting the wire ends through the loop to tighten. Pull the wire ends to secure, bringing one end around center again at back. To tighten, twist the bow — not the wire — a few times.

TWO-LOOP BOW AND VARIATIONS

Cut a length of ribbon as specified in the project instructions. Wrap the ribbon back and forth, forming two loops with tails. Glue a small strip of ribbon around the ribbon loops to hold it in place. Ease the ribbon tail to the back of the bow.
For four-, six-, eight-, ten-, and twelve-loop bows, simply increase the number of loops before securing the center strip.
Note: When using ombre~ ribbon, results will differ depending on which side of the ribbon you work. Experiment with this for interesting color variations.

PULLED OR GATHERED ROSE

Cut ribbon to desired length. Knot one end, and pull knot firmly toward end to secure. From opposite side, gently pull one wire, slowly gathering ribbon along that edge. Continue gathering until entire side is completely ruffled and curling naturally. Wrap gathered ribbon around knotted end, forming a bud. Continue wrapping lightly so ribbon flares out and acquires an open rose effect. Tie wires together and trim. Adjust shape by fluffing or crumpling.

 ADD TULLE TO THE BACK OF THE BOW

First you need to determine how long you want the tails so you can figure out how much tulle you will need.  Play around with the tulle to make sure you end up with a tulle puff bow that is slightly larger than the ribbon bow and the tails are slightly longer than the ribbon tails.  Start in the center of the tulle, pull up loops and hold like a bouquet until you have reached the desired size, at least 10 loops can be secured with wire like a bouquet leaving the two long tails hanging free.  Once you have the loops secured, pull them out to each side to make a circle.  Do not flatten, it should resemble a flower with out a center, the ribbon bow can be attached to the center of the tulle circle by feeding the wire you used to fasten the ribbon together through the center of the flower.  Just play with it so that it lies right with the ribbon.  It can be as large and full as you desire.

 HINT

Allow plenty of time to play with the tulle because it can be difficult to arrange and it slips and slides but once you have it secure, it will stay.  Hang the bows from a hanger, don’t lay them flat or it will be hard to fluff them back.

Gifts wrapped in the traditional Japanese wrapping called Furoshiki.

Gift wrapping refers to the act of enclosing a gift in some sort of material.

 Wrapping paper is a kind of paper designed for gift wrapping. Gifts may also be wrapped in a box. They may be held closed with ribbon and topped with a decorative bow (an ornamental knot made of ribbon).

In Western culture, gifts are often wrapped in wrapping paper and accompanied by a gift note which may note the occasion, the receiver’s name and the giver’s name. In the United States, an additional 5 million tons of waste are generated over the Christmas gift-giving period; four million tons of this is wrapping paper and shopping bags.^[1] Some people attempt to avoid this by unwrapping gifts with care to hopefully allow the paper to be reused, while others use decorated cloth gift sacks that can be easily reused many times.

In Chinese culture, red wrapping connotes luck.

In Japanese culture, wrapping paper and boxes are common. However, the traditional cloth wrapping called furoshiki is increasing in popularity, particularly as an ecologically friendly alternative to wrapping paper.^[2]

Wrapping paper output in 2006

In Korean culture, bojagi are sometimes used for gift wrapping. A yedanbo is a ceremonial gift bojagi used to wrap wedding gifts from the bride’s family to the members of the groom’s^[3]
Adhesive gift wrap is a product that makes it possible for anyone to present a beautifully wrapped gift with clean, crisp edges. The wrapping paper adheres to the gift and itself so users do not have to hold the paper and gift in place as they fumble for tape. The gift wrap can also be repositioned easily until the desired look is achieved.

Many of the items you may need to create your own version of this idea can be found on our website by clicking on the link in my post.

Red and Gold are the colors of love!

This stunning gift basket will make some body’s day!

The shimmering gold color of the basket is continued into the basket with metallic decorative shreds, a card and candies. When the deep romantic red color is added by inserting ribbon bows, flowers and more candy, this simple gift of a card, candy and a flowers is transformed into a royal delight.

Sometimes less is more, keeping the color theme to just red and gold is very pleasing to the eye.

This would be a perfect Valentine gift, or for any occasion, even when it’s “just because”.

Many of the items you may need to create your own version of this idea can be found on our website by clicking on the link in my post.

Friendship Box

Struggling to find an idea for a special friend who has everything? This is a friendship box is a great idea. This is a gift of time and creativity.

Wrap a small jewelry box in special paper fit the occasion. Tie a white Dainty Double-Face Satin Ribbon around the entire box. Finish off with a simple bow.

The gift is your time and creativity in a poem that you can secure with double stick tape, or punch a hole in the corner and attach like a gift tag.

Personalize your poem to your friendship. Let them know that this little box is full of friendship and when they really need a friend, they can look at that little box and remember that they will always have a friend in you!