I've always loved seeing the beautifully wrapped packages under the tree....somewhere besides my house. I'm throwing paper around the presents sometimes as late as Christmas morning. I've been known to leave them in the bags from the store they came from or to grab a newspaper to add a more "festive" touch. Martha Stewart, I'm not!
I came across these gift wrapping ideas in a book called "Tis the Season (found it on my bookshelf when I was painting. Should have read it years ago!) and thought I would share them. Some may be a little dated. As I read through them, I thought, " Is this woman a Scrapper!?!"
Personal care items (soaps, bubble bath, etc.) wrapped in a hand towel and washcloth with a ribbon around it.
For the seamstress--wrap the gift in fabric with lace or trimming as a bow--sewing supplies arranged cleverly on top (thread, buttons, etc.)
Kitchen items wrapped in a pretty kitchen towel.
Shirt in a box-neck/bow tie to decorate the top of the box.
Girl's dress in a box-use the dress bow to decorate the outside of the box.
Use leftover or discontinued wallpaper to wrap gift boxes for the "decorator look" under your tree.
Use crepe paper to wrap unusually shaped gifts...it stretches around most areas without ripping.
For small boxes decorate with stretchable headbands, bows, ponytail bows, etc.
Use old costume jewelry, strands, beads to decorate the top of a box.
Newspaper--using the appropriate section for the person receiving the gift or the section that goes with the gift inside the package (example: a baseball mitt in a box wrapped in the sports section, tickets to a concert wrapped in the entertainment page, etc.)
Roll of plain paper from an art store-plain colors allow you to decorate for all/any occasion all year--for years! Crayons, Markers, stickers, and ribbon can all be used creatively to decorate this paper!
Decorate lunch bags (brown or white) with stickers, stenciling, or stamping before filling them with a gift. Fold the top edge to close, punch two holes at the top or either on either end, put ribbon through it and tie a pretty bow.
For a traveler--a compass on top of the box wrapped with a map.
Fabric gift bags--made from Christmas fabrics in various sizes--close with ribbon as a drawstring in a simple casing. Add a gift tag. (Reuse every year! No more bows, paper wrappings, waste, or clean-up! Plus you save time, energy, and money in the long-run!)
A clean mesh potato sack filled with movies, popcorn, etc. with a card that says, "For a couch-potato day!"
A clean mesh onion bag filled with boxed soup mixes, crackers, etc. with a note saying "Have a SOUPER Christmas." (This works well as a gift well gift also. "Hoping you will feel SOUPER soon!")
What are some of your ideas? I have a friend who does the fabric gift bags and every year I would think to myself, "My Walmart bags will work just as well!)
Creating memories, one page at a time.