Decorative Packaging

I have seen many diaper cakes for a baby shower.  But I think this is such a sweet idea for a bridal shower.  Instead of using diapers, use fluffy new towels.  You can never have too many towels.  It would be fun to do them in themes too.  You could do a kitchen one and add kitchen utensils to decorate it.

This lovely bridal shower towel cake is so pretty.  The roses and pearls are so delicate and pretty. The gathered tulle at the top with a bouquet of roses imitates a bridal veil and a bouquet.  The wide satin ribbon beautifully embellishes each layer of the towel cake and helps define it.  Adding a velvet ribbon would change the look completely but just as beautiful.  You could do this same design with high quality sheets if you knew the size of the bride to be future bedroom suit.

When making diaper cakes, you would roll many diapers into mini rolls and hold them together with rubber bands or whatever until you complete it and add ribbon and accessories.  But this cake is much simpler.   You will need at least four luxury bath towels, four hand towels, and four wash rags.  If you want to make it four layers, you can use four bath sheets for your bottom layer.  Splurge for the high quality towels since this will be your gift.

The pearls are swaged and pinned with a pearl pin at each peak.  The ribbon can be held secure with double stick tape squares since it is just ornamental.  As you roll your towels, use pins to secure each roll so it stays firm.  On the final round, hide the pins or use ornaments to hide the pins.  Place the centerpiece on a crystal plate as if it were a cake and add flowers to complete the wedding look.

This will be a beautiful centerpiece for any bridal shower! And the bride will love the new towels too! You can also make one of these for a new neighbor as a welcome to the neighborhood gift.  You can use some hand towel, dish towels, and a few neutral bath towels to make it.  It would be a great idea to decorate with some coupons for local restaurants.  Maybe a current telephone book, a city map, notes with hints for stores with the best prices, a directory of churches in the area and any other items you think would be useful for your location.  When I was recently out of my element, and relocated in a big city,  I was at the hospital with my husband and could not find a laundromat anywhere.  I was at the mercy of strangers who were helpful.

Here is a fun idea for a fall party. You could make a bunch of these for trick or treat kids but that would take a bunch for some.  If you let the kids help you, they could have fun and make it an assembly line!

Just gather some baggies, thin ribbon or holiday ribbon for tying the top shut and adding decoration, card stock and an imagination.  You can print images off the internet or clip art of pumpkin faces, or you can let the kids design their own faces on the paper.

Cut the card stock into thirds from the top down.  If you choose to use clip art, print three images in portrait settings on your printer.  I suggest that you use double stick tape join the edges of the orange faces.  Then insert the baggie, pour one cup of candy corn, or a mixture of candy corn and peanuts are excellent together, into the baggie. Then twist the top of the bags and use the holiday ribbon to tie in a knot and then a bow.

These will look great as table decorations and then party favors as your guests leave.  Have fun and don’t eat too many of the candies while you are making them.

Party favors are always a good idea.  It is expected that guests will receive some small token as a thank you gift for attending weddings.  In today’s economy, saving money is essential and while a bride won’t want to cut corners on her wedding gown or her photographer, you can save a lot of money if you make your own favors.

Votive candles are very inexpensive and can be purchased in bulk for an even greater savings.  Everyone loves candles; some prefer scented candles while others are just as happy with the warm glow of a candle.  You can order candles personalized and packaged for a fee but your guests will appreciate your added effort to say thank you to them.

This type of candle is a great thank you for weddings, bridal showers, or baby showers.  Anytime you go to a lot of effort to plan a large party or function, it is appropriate to give a small gift just to say thanks for fitting my special day into your busy schedule.

The glitter design can be placed on the glass votive jar by using a stencil and glitter paint, or free hand a design on to them with glitter glue. Decorative packaging is an important part of any gift.  The clear plastic boxes can also be purchased in bulk.  They will come flat and you have to fold them.  A lovely ribbon bow will complete the gift packaging.  Add a decorative gift tag and select the ribbon to fit the occasion.  You would want to use baby shower ribbon if that was the function.  I love the gold metallic lame’ ribbon that matches the gold glitter stencil on the candle, Choose the ribbon to fit the occasion.  You can buy the candles in colors and glass holders in clear or frosted.

Your guests will love the little gift and either save it as a memento of the occasion or burn it.  It’s a great idea to order bulk items at whole sale prices because once the wedding events begin its one party after another.  You can also order your ribbon in bulk at whole sale prices.

I would love to grow mini pumpkins one year.  I just keep forgetting to plant them.  They are so great for decorating in the fall.  We always end up buying them.  Sometimes we paint faces on them.  Sometimes we just use them in other groupings of larger pumpkins and flowers.

If you are a crafter like I am, you know you always have left over pieces of this and that and have a hard time throwing them out.  My mom always says, “You never know when you will need this”.  Well I am sure I have saved way too many things that I will Never Ever need.  But ribbon always has a million uses.

I adore the polka dot ribbon used in this bowl of pumpkins.  You don’t even have to worry about if stripes go with the dots, or the colors match.  Each pumpkin is a treat for the eye and can stand alone.  But they are fabulous when all placed in a bowl or basket as a centerpiece.  You can measure the ribbon and cut it with a bit of overlap. This way it saves the ribbon in to be used again if you wish.   If you use a double stick tape square to hold the first end, and then place a second sticky square on the overlap, you can just snip the ends where the tape is.  If you don’t wish to re-use the ribbon, just glue the whole ribbon on and toss the bowl of pumpkins when the season is over.

Wedding Ribbon Wreath

This wreath would look amazing as part of the decorations at a wedding reception. A wreath like this is very easy to make and could be used in very formal settings or even to decorate in the home.  This is a creative way to add just the right color to a room that needs a bit of a change.  You can change the color to fit any holiday or occasion.  You can change the ribbon to fit any style setting.

This wreath is made from grosgrain ribbon.  If you changed the ribbon to a shiny satin ribbon, it would take on a completely different look.

If you were using this as decorations for the church or reception, choose the colors that the bride has chosen to be her accent colors and alternate her colors.

To make this wreath, the only thing you need is plenty of grosgrain ribbon or your ribbon of choice.  You will also need a wire hanger and a pair of pliers to help bend the hanger into a perfect circle.  You can trim off the hanger part as you will not need it since you will be using ribbon to hang the wreath to hang it.

Depending on how large you want your wreath, cut approximately one hundred 6” strips of grosgrain ribbon.  You will want to dip the ends in ribbon glue or fray-stop or cut with a hot blade to prevent the ribbon ends from raveling.  Begin tying knots around the hanger, making sure the knot is in the center of the ribbon. Continue the knots and keep scrunching them closer together until you have the look you desire.  Attach a length of ribbon that is approximately 36” long with a knot on each end to the hanger.  Be sure to keep the ends as long as the rest of the strips. This will give you an 18” loop to hang your wreath.  Adjust the length accordingly to fit your décor.

The Gift Giving Season Is Right Around The Corner…

Will you use decorative ribbon or decorative packaging to dazzle the recipient? Why not both?

As the holiday season approaches, companies are looking for novel ways to show appreciation to their customers….and it’s all in the presentation!

Are gift cards on your clients’ lists? Consider these presentation ideas: pop-up gift card boxes or gift card holders.

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When the lid is raised, the gift card is displayed.  Voila!  Each case pack contains 50 gift boxes.

The gift card folder, which measures 6” x 6”, is available in 19 patterns, including 4 holiday choices.

These gift card folders include a die cut insert to hold the card.   Each case pack contains 100 folders.

Both presentations have an area to indicate the giver, receiver, and card amount. A logo can be hot stamped with a minimum of 500 pieces.

What an eye-catching way to say “Thank you” this holiday season – or any time of year!  The card recipient will be delighted with your “one size fits all” gift.

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There are so many ways to decorate for fall.  Autumn is my favorite season of the year.  The weather is cooler and the humidity is low but best of all are the beautiful colors in the leaves as they change.

I love the mini ears of corn for decorating inside.  Of course we use tall stalks of corn for outside decorations but it would be a bit tough to use that inside.  This is a great way to bring that look inside.

Most of us have tall cylinder candle holders so there is not any extra expense with this part.  Choose a fall scented candle for the inside.  Peel back just enough of the shucks and trim them even till you have the look you want.  You can use mini dots of sticky tape to temporarily hold the mini ears of corn in place until you can wrap the satin ribbon around them and secure it.  You can hot glue the ribbon ends or use sticky dots.  Since you are gluing the ribbon only, it will be a temporary decoration that you can alter for any season.  You could tie a festive bow if you like that look better.  The sticky dots will easily clean from the glass candle holder.

Place the candle on a wicker place mat or hot pad to complete the centerpiece.  MMM cant you just smell the cinnamon candle burning now?

Years ago, most people only decorated with wreaths at Christmas time.  Modern decorating uses wreaths in almost every room for any season.  There are so many unique ways to accent a wreath to customize it to anyone’s taste.

I adore the look of this white feather boa wreath.  In many cases, less is more! This wreath is simple yet elegant.  Pristine white feathers hung with a beautiful taffeta ribbon in a color that can be changed to fit the season or room.

White feather boa wreaths also look incredible as wedding reception decorations.  Use ribbon in the bride’s colors alternating.

You will need a hot glue gun, thin floral wire, a foam wreath base, and U shaped pins attach the boa. Spray glitter can add a nice sparkle to the wreath too.  They make white glitter spray and you can spray the white boa to resemble snow. White wreaths look amazing hung on a mirror.

If you use white, and decide you want to add a few decorations, you will find that blue and silver will look awesome.

Hot glue the end of the first boa to the foam base, and begin to wrap the feather boa around the foam wreath pinning it as you go. If you want to add small clusters of ornaments, hot glue them after the boa is completely wrapped.  You may need several boa’s depending on the size of the form and length of the boa.

This is a fantastic way to use up all the extra grocery bags that accumulate so fast.  In a previous post, I mentioned how you can crochet tote bags from the same bags.  This idea tops that one in many ways.  You will use more bags, and have unique decorations for the great outdoors.

Using recyclable items help the environment, and add beauty to your living area at the same time.

You can use many types of items to make a wreath like this.  The plastic will last a while but you could also use holiday ribbon when making the bow to add a more festive touch.

All you will need to make this wreath is a metal coat hanger and plastic bags. I have seen the plastic sleeves that a newspaper would come in to protect it from the weather come in the orange color. Regular (clean) plastic trash bags or shopping bags can also be used.

Step 1. Bend coat hanger to form a circle. Use the pliers to help form the curves. Using the pliers, bend the hook of the coat hanger to form a closed circle. This will be the loop from which the wreath will hang.

Step 2. Cut plastic sleeves or plastic bags into 2 1/2″ x 5 1/2″  strips. Because a wreath always looks best when very full, A LOT of strips will be needed !

Step 3. Tie plastic strips onto wire form. Over and over again! This is a great craft to get the kids involved in too.  Even the younger kids can tie a simple knot.  I like to crochet and make many other crafts like this while watching TV – it’s a very mindless activity. (Both watching TV and tying on the strips!) I like to use a double strip when tying onto the form. Push the strips together as they are tied on and alternate the ends. This will add to the wreath’s fullness. Do not pull the strips too snug or you might stretch out the plastic and cause it to snap.

Step 4. When the wreath is full, a bow will need to be made. Cut a 8″ wide strip of plastic approx. 54″ long. Double over the strip so it is 4″ wide. Doubling over the strip will  help your bow to ‘stand out’ and not flop over. Take this strip and tie a large bow around the ‘neck’ of the wreath (just below the loop you made for hanging).

Hurray!!! You now have a weather proof wreath. The colors can be changed to suit the Holiday – green wreath with red bow for Christmas or even pastel colors for Spring or Easter.