Decorative Packaging

Have you ever received a gift that was wrapped in expensive designer wrapping paper?  I have and always felt very special to think someone would wrap something for me in such expensive paper.  I cannot afford the expensive paper so I am always on the hunt for imaginative ways to wrap in a way that it looks expensive but doesn’t break the budget.

If you have a box of crayons then you can make this very artistic gift wrap yourself.  You will need six sheets of tissue paper, two pieces of wax paper the same size as the tissue paper, and your favorite Crayola colors and an iron.

Remove the paper from the crayons and use a crayon sharpener to make piles of shavings.  Let the shavings fall in separate piles so you can distribute them where you want them.  Place the crayon shavings between the tissue paper.  (Three on top and three on bottom) Then place wax paper on the bottom and the top.  Set your iron to medium heat with no steam.  Then begin ironing the paper with constant pressure until the crayons have melted.  The wax paper will preserve your iron from any seepage.

Let the paper cool off and wrap your gift. Don’t forget to include a beautiful satin ribbon and equally beautiful and creative bow to complete your artistic masterpiece.

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.

There is a popular country song that says “Country must be Country wide”.  I believe that must be true because it seems that everywhere you look, someone is wearing plaid shirts with jeans and boots, and camouflage isn’t just for hunting anymore.

Camouflage ribbon comes in many colors, not just greens and browns.  This cute little hair bow is a great example of that.  These are very easy to make.  Depending on the size of the bow you want to make will determine the length of ribbon you will need.

You can start with about 6 inches of camouflage ribbon.  Then make the bow and if you want the bow smaller or larger, you just add or decrease the amount of ribbon.  Fold the ribbon into loops; stitch an x in the center to secure the ribbon.  Then add a flower or button or bead.  Then hot glue the bow to a snap clip or barrette.

Do you know someone who loves coffee? Here is a creative way to wrap a gift to take to one of those friends or family members who love flavored coffee. Perhaps you have been invited over for dinner, or maybe just for coffee and a snack while fellow-shipping, you can take a gift of appreciation.

Bottles are difficult to wrap without looking like a bottle unless they come in a box. You can use linen dinner napkins or simple woven fabric that you have hemmed all four edges of. Set the bottle in the center of the fabric and gather up all sides and secure around the top with velvet cording or any type of ribbon you have. Grosgrain ribbon works wonderful for tying a bow. It doesn’t slip.

Coffee flavoring syrups are a great gift for the coffee connoisseur in your circle of friends. They can be very expensive depending on the brand, but there are very reasonably priced ones as well. They make a great gift for any occasion or no special occasion at all.

These would look adorable for a mother daughter tea party.  If you organized a mother daughter banquet where many ladies and daughters would be attending the tea, you may want to choose to use many beautiful colors such as these.

You could alternate each place setting with a different color, and have the flowers on the table coordinate with the ribbon.  You could also have a blue table, rose table, and baby pink table and coordinate the flowers on the table to match the wide luxurious double faced satin ribbon bows.

Use crisp white linen napkins and table cloths. Delicate china with only a hint of color or even a metallic gold trim would look pretty. This will allow you to keep the color on the table coming from the flowers and ribbon.

Mothers Day is still a few months away, so stock up on top quality ribbon at wholesale ribbon prices.

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.

I wonder what is inside this beautifully wrapped gift.  The luxurious organza holiday ribbon bow is accessorized with a sweet angel head and wings and a fabulous gold star ornament.

It’s my experience that if someone has gone to the effort to wrap a gift so special, then the inside must be extremely important. There was one exception when I was kid; my brother wrapped a set of markers in about 15 boxes ending with a box that originally held a dish washer which was my mom’s early Christmas gift.  He must have used 5 rolls of paper and an outlandish amount of scotch tape. I guess I am telling my age because Crayola had just started packaging a brilliant assortment of markers that were scented and I just had to have them.  I could have clobbered him for making me work so hard for the markers, but it was fun and I was so happy to get those markers.

Holiday ribbon comes in all styles and colors. This could be an all occasion gift, or a special New Year gift to that special someone to start the year off in the right direction.

I love to crochet and I am not very good at knitting so I get bored with the same ole patterns. Here is a fun alternative for scarfs. This can be made of fat yarn or several strands of regular yarn.  I have even seen multiple colors of wide taffeta ribbon used to make this scarf.  All of the various materials will give you a different look, each one fabulous and unique to please all of those on your list of gifts to give.

Here are the basic instructions. You can adjust the pattern depending on what you use to make it with.  Play around with various materials, like thin satin ribbon in many colors, or even long strips of fleece.

Cut 12 pieces of bulky weight yarn about 2x longer than the desired length of the finished scarf.  (You will need to work with 4 groups to knot, make your groups equal in width) (140 inch length can make an 86 inch length scarf) Macramé knots look best for this craft.  You can Google to find out how to make the square knot.

Divide yarn into 4 bunches of 3 strands each, Tie 2 bunches together with a square knot, and leave 6 inches of fringe at the end, repeat with remaining bunches. Pin knots to a piece of foam or card board to help you keep things straight.  Knot inner 2 bunches of yarn together, spacing knot 1 inch from existing knots, then knot left and right bunches together.  Alternate knotting the inner bunches and the left and right ones, spacing knots evenly apart, until about 6 inches of yarn remain on the end. Finish so that all the final knots are a mirror image of the opposite end.  Trim the ends evenly and make sure they don’t ravel.

Have you noticed that the new trends with scarfs just keep getting longer and longer? I have seen some kids trying to wear them that almost look like a hazard. This is a great idea and very Purchase them ahead of time so you can have all your craft items done before the holidays.

You can start with a long fleece scarf. You can also make them out of fleece. The fabric will quick to do. These would make great gifts, or craft bazaar items to sell. The best time to buy scarfs is after Christmas, when all the seasonal things are marked way down. You can purchase many of them at a fraction of the cost for one at original price. Fleece fabric will also go on sale to make room for the spring fabrics.

Kids can make this simple project for family members. All you need for this craft is either a long wide scarf, or ample amount of fleece fabric, pins, yarn, or knitting ribbon and a wide eye needle. Decide if you want to make it with two pockets or three and if you want to make some with equal width pockets or some narrow and some wide. Also you will need to determine how deep you want to make the pockets.

If the scarf has fringe, you can either cut if off and hem the ends, or fold the fringe down to decorate the outside of the pockets. Fold up the ends of the scarf to the desired depth and pin the sides and the middle. Use a ruler to be sure that you keep the lines perfectly straight. Using a darning needle, thread the knitting ribbon or yarn through the needle and then sew both layers. Use pins as the guide. Cross stitch the top seam and tie off the ends and hide the ends inside the seam.