Decorative Packaging

Gift Bag with Handles

This is a great way to save money, be creative, and have the perfect size for any need. You can make several in advance and always have a beautiful bag ready for your special surprise.  The recipient will admire the beautiful bag and assume you paid a bundle but then just die to know your secret.

 *Best with heavy paper or wall paper. The picture uses a peice of wall paper 17″ x 8″ .  You can cut the paper what ever size you like or need.

(Check with wall paper stores and paint stores, they often have old books of discontinued wallpaper book samples that they will get rid of for Free)

1. Mold—box or pile of books, it will be like you are wrapping the books.
2. Fold over edge, wrap paper around glue or use double sided tape.
3. Fold over one end like wrapping box- glue or tape, crease edges and bottom
4. Slip out of mold
5. Fold in edge at top ¼ to ½ way down
6. Punch 2 holes at top front and 2 at top of back
7. Tie cord, yarn, or narrow satin ribbon for handle through each side, knot ends so it wont pull through

Athletic themed ribbon has many uses.  We love using sports print ribbon for different hair styles.  You can braid ribbon in to pony tail braids, or just use it to tie a nice bow on a pony tail.  Ribbon can be used for shoe strings to decorate their gym shoes.  Our school has team spirit days and special sections for the kids to sit in to show school spirit at games but it’s required that you dress CRAZY to show support for the team.  So many different types of hair ribbons, ribbon braided into necklaces, crazy shoe strings, different shoes and socks and the possibilities are endless.  With the sports ribbon you can show your support for what ever game they are playing.

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.   

Victorian Ball Ornament~

This makes a beautiful little guest favor, as well as table dressing for a ladies tea.

We made these for a Mother / Daughter banquet and used them as decorations as well as parting gifts. I think it would be a wonderful idea to drill several small holes in the plastic ball and add some potpourri.

You will need:

1 clear plastic ball (with loop for hanging) (80mm)

12”inch lace square

1 ribbon rose (not wired type)

Satin Ribbon of various widths (1/8”, ¼”, 3/8” )

Baby’s breath, small silk flowers or pearls Scissors

Hot glue gun

1. Tie a 12” length of 1/8th” ribbon through loop on ball. Tie a knot.

2. Place ball on center of lace square, gather corners together.

     Gather remaining lace together at top of the ball.

    (Two people working on this is very helpful)

    Try to smooth lace around bottom half of ball as much as possible

    Make “gathers” at the top, rather than “pleats”

    Tie with 12” of ¼”ribbon.

3. Tie three 20” long ribbons of varying widths to top of ball,

    using the satin ribbon with which you tied the gathers,

    Center these three,

    and tie a bow with all three

4. Hot glue baby’s breath, small silk flowers, or pearls

5. Hot glue ribbon rose

6. Trim ribbon ends

 January Awareness Ribbon Schedule

Awareness Ribbons are a great way to show your support for a cause that is important to you.  The Satin Ribbon or Printed Ribbon can be easily cut  to 3″ in length depending on the size decide to make, folded and pinned using a small gold safety pin.  Here is a list of awareness ribbon colors and I realize that it is not a complete list.  It has been a long search to find the causes and colors we have listed below.  If you have a cause that is not listed, please contact us so we can add it and find the ribbon for you.  If you are interested in purchasing ribbons for a Fund Raising event, please contact us with the information so we can help you find the ribbon and the quantity you need.  You can have your cause printed on the ribbon that will help show your support even more and be a great conversation starter. 

JANUARY

Cervical Health Awareness Month;info@nccc-online.org
www.nccc-online.org/awareness.html

National Birth Defects Prevention Month;nbdpn@nbdpn.org
www.nbdpn.org/current/resources/bdpm2010
.html

Thyroid Awareness Month;gwillis@aace.com
www.aace.com

National Folic Acid Awareness Week;ncfa@sbaa.org
www.folicacidinfo.org/pages/folicacid_in
fo.php

Glaucoma Awareness Month;info@preventblindness.org
preventblindness.org/news/observe.html

National Radon Action Month;www.epa.gov/radon/nram

Pink Ribbon: Breast Cancer, Birth Parents & Nursing Mothers

Lime Green Ribbon: Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Lyme disease, Lymphoma (alt red), Muscular Dystrophy, Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (Lymph Node Cancer) & Sandhoff Disease 

Peach Ribbon: Uterine Cancer & Endometrial Cancer

Red Ribbon: AIDS/HIV, Burn Victims, Cardiovascular Disease, Congenital Heart Defects (alt red & blue), Congenital Heart Disease (alt red & blue), Congestive Heart Failure, Courage and Inspiration, DARE, Diamond Blackfan Anemia,  Driving under the Influence, Epidermolysis Bellosa, Evans Syndrome, Factor XI Deficiency, Heart Disease, Hemophilia, High Blood Pressure, Huffing, Hypertension, Inhalant Abuse, Long Q-T Syndrome, Love, Lymphoma (alt lime), MADD, Marfan Syndrome, Project Red Flay, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, Sniffing Abuse, Stroke, Substance Abuse,   Supraventricular Tachycardia, Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, Tuberculosis, Von Willebrand’s Disease and Wolf-Parkinson-White.

Teal Ribbon: Agoraphobia, Anxiety Disorder, Batten Disease, Cervical Cancer, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Ectodermic Dysphasia, Food Allergies, Fragile X Syndrome, Marker X Syndrome, Martin-Bell Syndrome, Myasthenia Gravis, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Ovarian Cancer, Panic Disorder, Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD), Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Progressive Supanuclear Palsy, Rape, Sexual Assault, Substance Abuse(alt Red), Tsunami Victims and Uterine Cancer

Green Ribbon: Bipolar Disorder, Bone Marrow Donation, Cerebral Palsy, Childhood Depression, Depression, Environment, Eye Injury Prevention, Franconia’s Syndrome, Dibrodysplasia Ossifican’s Progressiva, Freedom, Glaucoma, Growth & rebuilding, Kidney Cancer & disease, Kidney Donation, Leukemia (Alt Orange),  Literacy, Living Organ Donation, Manic Depression, Mental Health, Mental Illness (alt Grey), Mental Retardation, Missing Children (alt yellow), Mitochondrial Disease, Nephritic Syndrome, Neural Tube Defects, Neurofibromatosis, Organ Donation, Organ Transplant, Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis,  Safe Driving, Save Darfur, Spinal Cord Injury and research, Stem Cell donor and Research, Tissue Donation, Tourette’s Syndrome Traumatic Brain Injury, Von Hippel Lindau and Worker Safety. 

Grey Ribbon: Allergies, Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, Aphasia, Asthma, Brain Cancer, Brain Tumors, Diabetes & Mental illness (alt green)

Pink & Blue Ribbon: Amniotic Fluid Embolism, Baby Safe Haven, Birth defects, Male Breast Cancer, Hyper emesis Gravid ram, Hyperammonemia, Infant Loss, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pregnancy Loss, Premature Birth, Stillbirth, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) & Twin to Twin transfusion syndrome.

USA Flag Ribbon: National Support, Fireworks Safety, Flag, World Trade Center Victims & Heroes

Puzzle Ribbon: Autism & Asperger Syndrome

Violet Ribbon: Hodgkin’s Disease & Testicular Cancer

Orange Ribbon: Agent Orange, Cultural Diversity, Hunger, Leukemia (alt green), Lupus (alt purple), Melanoma (alt black), Kidney Cancer (Renal Cell Carcinoma), Motorcycle Safety, Racial Tolerance, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome & Self Injury

 White Ribbon: Adoptee, Adoption, Anti-Child Pornography, Anti-Pornography, Anti-Way, Blindness, Bone Cancer, Bone Disease, Child exploitation, Child Sexual Abuse/Assault, Community Support, Congenital Cataracts, Elderly Affairs, Hernia, Holocaust Remembrance, Hope & Support, Innocence, Multiple Hereditary Exostoses, Molestation Survivor, On-line Sexual Predator Awareness & Internet Safety, Osteoporosis, Peace, Postpartum Depression, Retinoblastoma, Right to Life, Safe Motherhood, Salvation Army, Scoliosis, Stalking, Student Sexual Abuse, Teen Pregnancy Prevention & Victim’s of Terrorism

Gold Ribbon: Childhood Cancer, COPD, Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma, Neuroblastoma and Osteosarcoma (alternate yellow)

Black Ribbon: Accidents, Amish Support, Anti-Terrorism, Gang Prevention, Gun Control, Melanoma (alt orange), Mourning, Narcolepsy, POW/MIA (alt yellow), Primary Biliary Cirrhosis, Sleep Apnea, Sleep Disorders, Students for Gun Control and Trauma

Brown Ribbon: Anti-Tobacco, Colon Cancer (alt blue), Colorectal Cancer (alt blue), Familia Polyposis (alt blue) & Tobacco Awareness

Burgundy Ribbon: Adhesions, Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome, AV Malformation, Brain Aneurysm, Cesarean Section, Cystic Hygroma, Disabled Adults, Factor V Leiden, Headaches, Hemangioma and Vascular Malformation, Hereditary Hemochromatosis, Hospice Care, Hughes Syndrome, Lymphatic Malformation, Meningitis, Meningococcal Meningitis, Multiple Myeloma, PHACES, Post-Polie Syndrome, Sickle Cell Anemia, Sturge-Weber Syndrome, Thrombophilia, & Williams Syndrome.

Purple Ribbon: ADD, ADHD, Alzheimer’s, Animal Abuse, Anti-Violence, Arnold Chiari Malformation, Chronic Pain, Colitis (alt blue), Crohn’s Disease (alt blue), Cystic Fibrosis, Domestic Violence, Epilepsy (alt Lavender), Fibromyalgia (alt Cranberry), Fibromyalgia in Men, Harmony, Homelessness, Leimyosarcoma, Lupus (alt orange) Macular Degeneration, Mucolididoses, No Unattended kids in Cars, Pancreatic Cancer, Pancreatitis (Chronic), Religious Tolerance, Sarcoidosis, Sjorgren’s Syndrome, Thyroid Cancer (alt specific ribbon) and Victims of 9/11. 

Lavender Ribbon: Cancer (unspecified), Caregiver Appreciation, Epilepsy (alt purple), Foster Care, Gynecological Cancer, Hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis, Infantile Spasms & Rett Syndrome

Pearl Ribbon: Emphysema, Lung Cancer, Lung Disease, Mesothelioma, Multiple Sclerosis & Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia

Silver Ribbon: Brain Disabilities, Brain Disorders, Campaign for the Brain, Disabled Children, Dyslexia, Elderly Abuse, Encephalitis, Niemann-Pick, Parkinson’s Disease, Schizophrenia, Sciatic Pain, VACTERL & Young Onset Parkinson’s Association (YOPA)

Blue Ribbon: Alopecia, Ankylosing Spondylitis, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS),  Arthritis, Brachial Plexus Injuries, Child Abuse, Children’s Healthy Weight, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Colitis (alt purple), Colon Cancer (alt brown), Colorectal Cancer (alt brown), Crime Victim’s Rights, Crohn’s Disease (alt purple), Drowning Awareness, Dysautonomia, Dystonia, Drunk Driving, Education, Epstein-Barr Virus, Erb’s Palsy, Familial Polyposis (alt brown), Free Speech, Foster Care Awareness, Guillain Barre Syndrome, Huntington’s Disease, Hurricanes, Hystiocytosis, Ichthyosis, Interstitial Cystitis, Langerhans Cell Hystiocytosis, Leukodystrophies, ME/ CFIDS, Myositis, Police Lost in Line of Duty, Prevent School Violence, Osteogenesis Imperfecta (IO), Restless Legs Syndrome, Steven Johnson Syndrome, Teens against Smoking, Transverse Myelitis, Victim’s Rights, Victims of Hurricane Katrina, Save the Music, Water accidents, Water Quality and Water Safety.

Navy Blue Ribbon: Alopecia, ARDS, Arthritis, Child Abuse, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Colitis, Colon Cancer, Colorectal Cancer, Crime Victim’s Rights, Crohn’s Disease, Drowning, Education, Epstein-Barr Virus, Erb’s Palsy, Free Speech, Guillain Barre Syndrome, Huntington’s Disease, Hurricane Katrina, Death of Police Officer on Duty, Rectal Cancer, Restless Legs Syndrome, Teens against smoking, , Victim’s Rights, Water accidents, Water Quality & Water Safety.

Light Blue Ribbon: Addison’s Disease, Behcets Disease, Chronic Illness, Cushing Syndrome, DiGeorge Sequence, Graves Disease. Hyperaldosteronism, Klinefelter’s Syndrome, Lymphedema, Men’s Health, Pro Choice, Prostate Cancer, Scleroderma, Shprintzen Syndrome, Spay or Neuter Pets, Thyroid Disease, Trisomy 18 and Velo-Cardio Facial Syndrome

Yellow Ribbon:  Adenosarcoma, Adoptive Parents, Amber Alert, Bladder Cancer, Canadian Cancer Society, Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, Complementary / Alternative Medicine, Endometriosis, Equality, Ewing’s Sarcoma, Gulf War, Hydrocephalus, Liver Cancer, Liver Disease, Missing Children (alt green), Myxoid Liposarcoma, Osteosarcoma (Alt Gold), Obesity, POW/MIA (alt black), Remembrance, Sarcoma, Spina Bifida, Suicide Awareness & Troop or Military Support

Cream Ribbon: Paralysis, Spinal Cord Injuries, Spinal Disorders and Spinal Muscular Atrophy

Light Green Ribbon: Celiac Disease, Chronic pelvic Pain, Human Papilloma Virus and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD)

Black & White Ribbon: Anti-Racism, Carcinoid Cancer, Diversity, Transitions and Vaccine Awareness.

Orchid & Orange Ribbon: Eczema & Psoriasis.

Blue & Yellow Ribbon: Designated Drivers, Down Syndrome and Thoracic Outlet Syndrome.

Blue & Purple Ribbon: Pediatric Stroke & Rheumatoid Arthritis

Blue & Red Ribbon: Congenital Heart Defects and Disease (alternate red), Hypo plastic left heart syndrome, Noonan’s Syndrome, Pulmonary Fibrosis and SADS.

Red & White Ribbon: Aplastic Anemia, DVT, Head and Neck Cancer, Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia, Oral Cancer and Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Teal & Purple Ribbon: Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.

Purple & Yellow Ribbon: Autoimmune Hepatitis, Chemical Injury and the relationship between Lupus and Endometriosis.

Red & Yellow Ribbon: Hepatitis C, HIV/HCV Co-Infection and surviving family members of Suicide victims.

Teal & White Ribbon: Cervical Cancer

Black & Pink Ribbon: Loss of a Sister, Loss of a female child, mourning a sister, mourning a daughter.

Black & Blue Ribbon: Loss of a Brother, Loss of a male child, mourning a brother, mourning a son.

Periwinkle Ribbon: Acid Reflux, Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Eating Disorders, Eosinophilic Disorders, Esophageal Cancer, Gastric Cancer, Gastro esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Pulmonary Hypertension, Small Intestine Cancer & Stomach Cancer

Lou Gehrig’s Ribbon – White with Navy Pin Stripe – Specifically done for Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Juvenile Diabetes Ribbon - Grey ribbon with Red heart

Thyroid Cancer Ribbon - Pink, Purple & Teal

Black & Red Ribbon – Murder Victim’s, Murdered Children, Loss of a Fire fighter on Duty

Latex Allergy Ribbon – Red & Pearl – Specifically made for this cause.

Pistachio Shell Wreath

Kids can easily make this ornament will be an excellent family project that can be used for gifts for teachers as well as trim your tree. 

You will need

10 same size whole opened pistachio shells with nuts removed

Green acrylic craft paint

Small flat paintbrush

10-inch length of ¼ inch-wide white satin ribbon

12-inch length of green pearl cotton or 6-strand embroidery thread for hanging loop

3mm red beads for trim (optional)

Glue gun and glue sticks

Scissors

Finished size: Each wreath measures about 2 ½ inches across.

Directions:

Glue the sides of the shells together with the bases toward the center to form a circle. Let dry

Paint outsides of shells green. Let dry

Glue red beads between shells if desired. Let dry.

Tie ends of pearl cotton or floss together in an overhand knot of hanging loop. Trim ends close to knot.

Wrap hanging loop around wreath between two shells. Insert the knotted end of hanging loop through the looped end and pull on knotted end to tighten the loop around the wreath.

Tie white satin ribbon in a small bow. Trim ends as desired. Glue bow to bottom of wreath.

Hang these “nutty” trims in a window, on a tree, from garland or where you please!

Button Bouquet Gloves

Enhance inexpensive knit gloves with bouquets of bright button flowers and green ribbon leaves for a great holiday gift.

You will need:

Black stretch knit gloves

7/8” – 1” buttons: 2 each bright red, yellow, and blue

Ribbon: 12” 7/8”-wide green satin, 18” 3/8”-wide black and white checked

Sewing thread: black, green

Hand sewing needle

Adhesive

Cardboard to fit inside the glove

Slide cardboard into glove to keep from sewing both sides together. Using back thread, sew one button of each color to glove, overlapping buttons slightly.

Leaves: cut green ribbon into six 2” pieces. Fold ends of one piece down toward center (fig 1). With green thread, sew gathering stitch across bottom edge (fig.2) and pull thread to gather tightly. Wrap thread ends around stitches; knot and clip thread ends. Trim excess ribbon to within 1/4” of stitching. Repeat with remaining green ribbon to make six leaves. Apply adhesive to stem end of each leave; tuck under buttons.

Cut checked ribbon into two 9” pieces. Tie each in a bow. Glue one bow off to one side of button arrangement on each glove (or tack it in place with a few stitches). Notch ends of bow streamers.

Tasty Wedding Shower Gift Idea

This is a wonderful gift for the bride to be.  Purchase a medium size basket, some of your favorite recipe books and recipe cards, or scrap book your own recipes and kitchen hints, throw in some pot holders measuring spoons, cups, and miscellaneous baking needs.  Put some Decorative Shreds in the bottom of the basket.  If you know the brides favorite color, use it, or possibly the color of the shower theme, or coordinate the colors of the cook books.  The possibilities are endless.  You could wrap the whole basket like an Easter basket using colored plastic wrap and a large wide ribbon bow, or wrap the handle of the basket with ribbon then tie a beautiful ribbon bow with an accent color to the top of the handle.  You can also wrap the whole basket with dish towels clipped together with kitchen clips and tie with a plaid ribbon at the top.  You can even wrap the basked with an apron and gather around the top and tie with a ribbon bow.  This makes the whole gift useful.  How ever you decide to wrap the gift, it will be a useful gift for the bride for years to come.  I received a recipe box for my wedding from a dear friend of my father and it is still the recipe box I use after more than 20 years of marriage.

St. Patrick’s Day is in March.  I don’t even own anything green!  We always just get some St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock printed ribbon and put hair bows in the girls hair to keep them from getting pinched in school for not wearing green.  If you don’t want to wear the ribbon in your hair, you can just cut about 3 inches of the ribbon and make a loop like the awareness ribbons, use a small gold safety pin to attach it to your shirt or collar.  Then when some well meaning jester pops up and says ,, “hey, wheres your green”,, you can just proudly display your green ribbon.  We have also used printed ribbon like this for shoe strings.

We like to recycle our Christmas cards and make ornaments out of them. This makes a great family craft and its fun to remember who all the cards were from too. For this craft, you will need 2 cards of the same color or complimenting colors.  The pictures don’t really matter because they will be cut up.  I traced an ibuprofen bottle, 1 inch diameter or so.  Cut 20 perfect circles then fold perfect triangles, each point sharp, each angel equal 60 degrees.  Glue the flaps together.  Be sure to fold the circles so that the color will be on the outside.  Punch a small hole at the top of two of the circles to run a ultra thin ribbon through and tie a bow at the top and hang on the tree.

Children can use ribbon to decorate packages with too.  This white satin Curvaceous ribbon is easier to use than the paper ribbon for children.  The white on white will also make a simple but elegant statement.  The paper ribbons curl and slide out of place but a child can easily tie a bow just like tying a shoe!  Of course many colors are available besides white.