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?

hostess gift idea for the holidays

Our family holiday entertaining plans are underway and I've already started marking dates on the calendar for holiday parties we have been invited to attend. That had me thinking about what to do about hostess gifts. I always try to give something that is practical, reusable and unique. And if time is not an issue, I always try to add something that I've created myself, even if it's just the gift tag!!

Last year I created these adorable hostess gifts and I thought that I'd share them with you for some early holiday gift giving inspiration.

I purchased large glass containers and filled them with beautiful decorated cookies. The containers will look like snow globes when you add a little course sugar to keep the cookies in place. I attached chalkboard tags that I decorated with chalk markers on with twine to the glass lids. 

The cookies can be eaten (right away or saved for another day), the glass containers can be reused, and this gift is sure to make someone smile when you walk in the door. Best part about this hostess gift is that it is so pretty you really don't need to wrap it up which will save you some time. 

If you are a baker and can make your own cookies that's awesome! Or you can do what I did and buy cookies from a local bake shop or custom cookie maker. My cookies were custom made for me by Branded Bites. Branded Bites used some of my illustrations to created my cookies. Just remember if you are looking to have custom cookies created you may need extra time to order them at this time of year.

And here's one of my favourite hostess gift wrapping ideas! Place two stacking boxes on top of a cake stand and tie them all together using a wide ribbon. Add an ornament to finish and you're done. The boxes could be filled with homemade baked goods or whatever you want. 

You can find more of my holiday ideas from last year here.

my gift wrapping inspiration for a wedding gift

My husband and I attended a wedding this weekend and I thought that I'd share with you how I gift wrapped our wedding gift. We always give cash but I really don't like to put it in an envelope because I think it's nice to see a few gift wrapped items on the gift table.

Instead of using gift wrap, I placed a gift box inside of a custom bag that I created using iron on transfers, a cotton tote bag and the graphics from a free download that I designed for Creative Bag. The graphics were easy to personalize - I just added the bride and groom's names as well as their wedding date. You can find the free downloads for five different graphics to use on cotton tote bags here.

You can see the inside of the gift box above. I filled the box with sizzle before I added the card and money. I simply tied a wide white satin ribbon around the gift box to keep the lid from falling off inside of the bag. I added a little note inside the box to let the bride know that the box could be used as a keepsake box for gift cards and photos after the wedding.

We had such a wonderful day at the wedding. The sun was shinning, the bride and groom were so happy and everything was so beautiful. I snapped a few shots at the wedding reception ... these were some of my favourite decor details.

Do you have a wedding to attend this summer? I hope that this inspires you to do something a little different with your gift wrapping - even if you are giving cash!

By the way - do you like to win free stuff? Creative Bag is celebrating the launch of their new website all next week for five days starting Monday June 8th. There will be five daily giveaways and daily specials in stores and online. I will be posting all week long on the Creative Bag blog and I hope that you will hop over to see what is happening and while you are there enter to win each of the daily draws!