Saturday, December 5, 2009

Christmas Wrapping Tips


Christmas is by far my favorite holiday- so I thought I would share with you some of the favorite things I do in preparation for the holiday. One of my favorite parts of the holiday is wrapping presents. (Yes so much so that I volunteer to wrap other peoples- honestly, I love it- want me to wrap yours??? I am not kidding, drop them off, I'll do it, serious!) We aren't doing many gifts this year, we are trying to give less stuff and give more of ourselves relationally with our time and our talents, but the few things we are giving should look pretty darn cute and festive right??? Here are some holiday gift wrap tips, simple and inexpensive.


1. When buying wrapping paper, try to buy in coordinating rolls so that you can mix and match and create stripes on the packages. This especially comes in hand when you cut the paper too short or need to add a patch on extra large boxes, make it look like you did it on purpose! (In the photo above you can see that I wrapped a box in one sheet and then added a complimentary strip of paper in a coordinating color, and a ribbon on top of that. My husband refers to this as the "racing stripe".)

2. Get creative with your bows! Use left over bows (yes, I recycle ribbon!) and think out of the box- use twine, string (like old fashion packages), non- Christmas colors work as long as they match the paper and don't be afraid to add chatter- you can see a package wrapped in plaid and tied with a polka dot ribbon.

3. If you want to spice up your gift tags but already have the "sticker" kind, simply apply them to a piece of colored card stock and cut out a shape, hole punch, and tie with a cute ribbon. (I cut corners this year and didn't do it- kinda wishing I had- oh well!)

4. And last but not least, have fun! Make yourself some coco and turn on a Christmas flick and get all your supplies out so you don't have to keep getting up. Enjoy it or bring it on over and I'll help you out!


Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Framed Fabric...





So here's an easy way to dress up some walls with fabric and frames! And the best part about it is you don't have to hunt around for that perfect print you won't get sick of. All I did was buy some large black frame that had matting inside, cut a piece of the fabric an inch large than the whole and then taped it on the back- you could use masking tape or blue painters tape. I also added some fake flowers (that I pulled apart and laid flat) and glued a rhinestone in the center of each flower for some added sparkle. These were for a teenage girl and all three were hung right above her bed. And if you get board with them, an inexpensive fix- change out the fabric! Think out of the box- could you use these anywhere you have a bare wall??? use fabric or dishtowels or an old sentimental piece of clothing??? Have fun with it!