Decorative Packaging

When you are planning centerpieces for holiday dinners, don’t forget the kids table.  Decorating a kids table should be fun for them not stressful like a formal adult table.

These fun dishes are mix and match and can be found at most discount stores and dollar stores as individual pieces.  You don’t have to buy complete sets of dishes, just a few pieces to accent the holiday and coordinate with what you already have.

This doesn’t have to be expensive.  Use your own dishes but pick up a holiday salt and pepper shaker, and possibly a mug to fill with candy for that season.  This table is set for Easter brunch so the mug and plate have pastel colors and spring shapes.  A fall party could have mini pumpkin mug or bowls with candy in them.

I love the jelly beans and peeps for table decorations.  They added some Easter grass and nested the peeps in them.  Add some curly pastel ribbon streamers and use the same color holiday ribbon as a napkin ring then slip the fork into it.  It looks fancy and expensive, but it isn’t.  The kids will be so happy you took the time to make them a special place to sit.  If a cup gets broken, it’s no big deal; it’s not your china, its only dollar store decorative dishes.

We don’t have to wait until Valentine’s Day to be romantic and surprise our loved one with little gifts.  We should find ways to express our feelings to them every day through little things like a love note on a napkin in their coat pocket, or a heart shaped pancake for breakfast.

A simple canning jar, velvet ribbon and chocolate hearts are a wonderful surprise for Valentine’s Day and every day.  If you don’t have a glass jar, then use a small box or tin to place a favorite treat.  Wrap the gift up in velvet ribbon.  You can place some flowers or a bow on top for a more dramatic look.  But any gift given in love is never a bad idea.

You don’t have to be a hunter to love camouflage.  Woodland camouflage is about blending in with nature.  Some try to dress in camouflage so they can hopefully not be seen by the wild life they are trying to hunt for food.

Others are trying to blend in so they won’t be seen by the animals they want to take pictures of or just enjoy nature.

Camouflage ribbon is a fun way to bring the outside in doors. This adorable nursery is decorated in all camouflage fabric.  I love looking at home décor magazines.  Most of us don’t have the budget to purchase everything they see in these pictures of room redecorating.

But you can add your own personal touches to a baby’s room with camouflage ribbon on items like pillow cases, and curtains.  Purchase earth tone fabrics and make blankets and curtains then trim them or swag them with camouflage ribbon.

Decorative ribbon has so many uses.  Ribbon can be used to dress up a basket and give it a whole new look.  It can also personalize an Easter basket or transform it into a storage basket for craft items on your little artist’s desk.

This simple wicker basket is lovely with the mixture of several types of pink ribbon.

Baby pink satin ribbon looks so sweet with the pink and white gingham checked ribbon in two shades then add a delicate pink grosgrain and polka dot ribbon in the copy this look.  Tie the tiny bows and hot glue them on the basket all the way around.  If you wish to wrap the handle with ribbon also, then do it first so your bows can hide the ends of the ribbon you have hot glued down.

Teaching kids to keep their things organized at an early age will help them later on in school.  Be sure to provide many ways for your little ones to store their crafts and toys.

Indoor weddings or outdoor weddings would both benefit from this style of decorating.  I love an isle that is candle lit, but it also bothers me that a catastrophe may happen with all that fabric and fire.  These little galvanized buckets make beautiful little floral arrangements to decorate the center aisle for a wedding.

If you are a do it yourself bride, you can pick these mini buckets up for as little as $2.00 each. Place a floral oasis in the bottom if you choose to use fresh flowers like these lovely carnations.  Add the flowers and some greenery with baby’s breath of course then.  These country white chairs look so sweet with the satin ribbon or taffeta ribbon bows that attach the buckets to the chair.

If the budget is small, then you could put them on every other row, or every two rows.  You may even choose to use this for the first few rows where immediate family will sit, and then tulle bows on the other chairs.

Baby showers are so much fun.  The anticipation of the new bundle of joy is always something to celebrate with friends and loved ones.

With today’s technology, many expectant moms are eager to find out if they are having a boy or a girl. This is easier for those who are shopping to find specific things to encourage the new mother with.  But in other cases, the element of surprise is amazing.

These shower decorations and gifts could easily be for a boy or girl since pink and blue is kept to a minimum.  With the color theme being lavender and green, they have done a beautiful job of decorating.  You can also decorate in the mom’s favorite color and buy some things for her personally and many of the specific needs like diapers, accessories, neutral colors P.J.s and blankets.  Then once the baby arrives, you can bring an outfit to the hospital to suit the gender of the baby.

Baby shower ribbon comes in many colors and is cute to use for wrapping the gifts, decorating the gift table, napkin rings or bows, for use in party games, and wrapping the prizes for those games.

Floral ribbon or plaid ribbon can dress up any plain paper, even this brown mailing paper.  This beautiful green plaid ribbon could easily be used for St. Patrick’s Day surprises or any occasion at all.  Stocking up on a wide variety of decorative ribbon will insure that you are prepared to wrap anything for any occasion.

Adding embellishments like flowers or bows is always welcomed.  These flowers could have come off of a hair bow, or floral arrangement.  My mom has a purse that has a flower on it like the small gift on top.  It looks much prettier as a gift topper than it does on that purse.   Sorry mom!

Wrapping a round box isn’t difficult.  Just lay ribbon out in a cross pattern, and sit the box down on top, bring the ends up and tie in a knot, then a bow.

This gift looks as if they planned it to look like this instead of a last minute way to wrap a gift when you have no paper. A decorative package is much more fun to receive than an ugly one.  So Be creative when you are wrapping!  And Have fun!

Finding creative ways to wrap gifts is a hobby of mine.  I remember when we moved out of state, my sister in law and mom used to send us occasional packages with special items in them.  Sometimes it was home baked cookies, or gifts for our daughter.  It was always so much fun getting a decoratively packaged package in our mail box.  They always decorated the brown paper wrapping with markers, and stickers.  Sometimes they would color pictures or use the funnies from the Sunday paper.

I love this idea, you can use this idea to mail a gift or as gift wrapping.  If you plan to mail this gift, use colored tape and not ribbon to decorate the box.  Weave the colors in and out to create the pattern. Then use a mailing label to write the address on.  Who do you know that could use a care package?  A college student would love to get a box of goodies wrapped like this.

If you plan to use this idea for a hand delivered gift, then try alternating horizontal and vertical strips of various colors of ribbon.  Use coordinating curling ribbon to add a festive bow.

This cake could easily be a wedding cake or even a pretty princess birthday cake.  If you want to make the cake yourself, but are not very skilled with icing tips and flowers, this is a great alternative.  If you use a red and green plaid ribbon this can be a festive Christmas cake. The ribbon pattern or color will be determined by the occasion.

You can even purchase pre-made bows if you struggle with perfect bow tying.  Whether you make your own or buy them pre-made, attach the bows to floral wire and poke them into the cake.  You will want to remove them before slicing.

The top bow is a larger version of the mini ones.  You can also attach it to floral wire and a wooden stick like a Popsicle stick. This way you can poke it down into the top of the cake and remember to leave long flowing tails on the ribbon.

Have you ever seen an example of “less is more”?   The simple elegance of this idea is wonderful.  This may have been an idea for a Thanksgiving table setting but the basic idea  can be used at any dinner party.

You could use personalized ribbon with your favorite quote, or bible verse.  But this particular idea has used a simple organic cotton ribbon or “green ribbon” on a table with natural woven cotton place mats.

They have scattered a few fall leaves but you could use any item from nature depending on you season for the event.

Since we are just coming out of the holiday season, most of us are partied out.  From Thanksgiving, Christmas, then New Years, it was one gathering after another.  We have much to celebrate about. God has given us so many wonderful gifts that we should have a dinner party in His honor to humbly give thanks for all the things we take for granted every day.

It is easy to get caught up in the technology world and so busy with our lives that we don’t take time to stop, and actually give thanks for the air we breathe, water we drink, wonderful variety of food He has provided naturally.  Most of us have been blessed with health, and families, and more wealth than 70% of the third world countries.

Each of these classic water or wine goblets have ben gently adorned with a hand scribed cotton ribbon with a quote of thanksgiving, gratitude, appreciation and love. What a wonderful world it would be if all of us took time to give thanks for all we have more often instead of complaining about the things we don’t have.