It's wrapping season!

It's my favourite time of the year .... wrapping season! I have been asked many times if I am a "professional gift wrapper" and I always laugh and say "no". But I do like gift wrapping and designing packaging products.

So this month I am going to write a few posts about how I am wrapping my Christmas gifts. This weekend I started to wrap a few of my family's gifts. I have not finished holiday shopping yet but I always feel like I'm ahead when I get a few gifts wrapped up and under the tree. 

I select my holiday wrapping supplies early and try to co-ordinate everything. This year it is all about kraft, black, gold and a touch of white to match my contemporary woodland theme.

One of my favourite time savers for gift wrapping is to use plain gift boxes that are already "gift ready". All that I have to do is add some pretty ribbons and a few embellishments. 

Top left: This kraft box was decorated with ribbon. I added some artificial greenery and a gift tag that I created from a photo.

Top right: A wrapping paper band was added to this box using two sided tape. I purchased the felt mouse ornament and made the wood chalkboard gift tag.

Bottom left: Round boxes make great gift boxes and can easily be decorated using glitter, washi and lace tape. The toy deer and mini tree were glued into position on the top of the box so they could hold a photo gift tag.

Bottom right: These gold and kraft boxes are my favourite because the gold glitter does not come off ... less mess = less time cleaning up! Ribbon does double duty here - it keeps the box from opening and it holds the fox bookmark in place. Plain kraft tags are dressed up with ribbon and a hand written message.

I adore wrapping paper but I really don't like to wrap presents in the traditional way. So if I use gift wrap I usually try to do it in a way that will look "professionally" wrapped ... but it's not. 

Top left: Gold foil dots were added to plain canvas bags. I created this diy wine bag project for She Entertains' holiday 2015 online magazine.

Top right: I reuse these kraft boxes every year for my family's gifts. This year I'm adding patterned kraft wrapping paper and striped ribbons to decorate them. I glued one of my handmade wood chalkboards to a large clothespin to hold a kraft tag embellished with gold glitter tape.

Bottom right: I only wrapped the top of this kraft box with wrapping paper so it could be reused. My gift tag was something that I received from Anthropologie last year and never used - they would be easy to recreate and I'm going to do a post later on to show you how to make these yourself.

Bottom left: This is a simple idea for a hostess gift that I created for Creative Living online magazine last year . Use these clear boxes and fill them with candies from the bulk food store. I added a couple of bands of wrapping paper and a cute label to finish. You can find my free download for the label here.

Now that I'm (finally) on Instagram, I'll be sharing my gift wrapping ideas there too!

Have you started your holiday wrapping yet?