› Holidays & Special Occasions › Christmas-Yule-hanukkah-Kwanzaa-Winter Solstice › Gift Wrapping Tips
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April 6, 2007 at 11:03 pm #240150
BiggerPiggyBank
Gift Wrapping Tips
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Create a signature wrap that reflects your personal style. Perhaps you prefer the elegance of white satin ribbon on white embossed paper, or the casual simplicity of raffia tyings on brown packaging paper. Maybe the flair of layering colorful cellophane tied with Mylar ribbon is more your style.
Experiment with various combinations of paper and tyings until you find one that says “YOU.”Gift bags are great for wrapping odd-shaped or unboxed items in a hurry, and they are available in a wide range of sizes, colors, and patterns.
Make reusable gift bags from silk, taffeta, burlap, chintz, or another fabric, or from dishtowels, doilies, or pillow cases. These are great for odd-shaped and oversized presents and are easy to customize. Embellish the bags with appliqu?, embroidery, lace, trim, or buttons and tie them closed with yarn, ribbon, cord, or raffia.
Wrap oversize gifts in pillowcases, paper tablecloths, butcher paper, or lawn and leaf bags.Tie with rope or wide ribbon and attach an extra-large gift tag.
To design your own gift wrapping paper, spatter-paint, rag-roll, sponge, or stencil sheets or rolls of plain-colored paper.
When presenting several packages to one recipient, form a “tower” by stacking them from largest to smallest and tying them together with a sturdy cord, rope, or ribbon.
Hide a small gift in a huge bouquet of flowers, a jar of penny candy, a bucket of marbles, a box of chocolates, or a bag of popcorn.
For padding fragile objects, use paper streamers, shredded paper, popcorn, or unshelled peanuts.
To mislead shakers and squeezers, add marbles, bells, weights, or padding to your package before wrapping it.
A bag of potpourri inside a package makes a sensory treat.Scented candles and fresh flower petals would also be scent-sational inside wrapped gift packages.
Wrapping tissue is now available in many patterns and colors.Some are designed to coordinate with outer wraps, but it’s fun to use your own creative flair to mix and match patterns.
For added interest, embellish your gifts with baubles, fresh or dried flowers, small toys, balloons, knickknacks, ornaments, trinkets, or potpourri sachets.
In addition to ribbon in all its varieties?satin, French-wired, acetate moir?, lace, Mylar, metallic, cloth, and so forth?many other objects make creative tyings.
To measure the amount of wrapping paper you will need to cut from a roll, wrap a piece of string or yarn around the package and cut it to length. Then, use that to measure the paper.
Keep a pair of scissors, a stapler, and a pen with your wrapping supplies and guard them jealously?unless you don’t mind searching for them when needed.It is said that good things come in small packages. Put a ring or another small piece of jewelry in a plastic egg, then place the egg in a basket with other eggs filled with the usual Easter treats.
Sometimes the presentation of a gift is as appreciated as the gift itself. You are not limited to wrapping paper and bows. Be creative in the kind of container used to hold the gift and in the wrapping material.
Decorate boxes with colored macaroni, colored or pearlized beads, or sequins glued in a design.
Include a loaf of bread and jar of preserves with a bread basket.
Top a jar of homemade jelly or relish with a doily and tie with a ribbon or paint the lid and glue on a fabric heart, shamrock, Christmas tree, etc.
For a Western theme, decorate the package with a little straw hat or wrap gift in a bandanna.
Purchase wooden cutouts from a craft store or catalog.Paint or leave plain and attach to the gift box.
Make a miniature wreath by stringing cranberries or beads on wire.
Give a child a doll in a doll chair or doll bed with the doll holding the gift.
Paint a tin pail or can with acrylic paint for the container.
Place an awkwardly shaped gift in a new trash can and top with a Santa’s or elf’s hat (or other seasonal decorations).
Make a Cherub Gift Bag (see Gifts to Make).
Place the gift in a useful container such as a toolbox, sewing basket, closet storage container, or cookie jar and tie with ribbon.
Place a gift certificate in a large box weighted down with a brick.
Fill a basket with Easter grass, a lace doily, a kitchen towel, baby’s breath, napkins, an apron, curling ribbon, straw, or a cross-stitched bread cloth before placing the gift inside.
Spray paint a six-pack bottle carrier and fill each slot.Possibilities include jars of honey or picante sauce, pencils, snacks, or toys.
Cut a shape out of a sponge. Brush paint on the sponge and decorate a set of napkins or a tablecloth. Iron to set the paint after it is dry.Use this fabric to wrap a gift.
Decorate six graham crackers or petit-beurre biscuits with icing, sprinkles, or candies. Glue together with icing for an edible box. Insert a toy.
Tie packages with useful items such as measuring tape, shoelaces, a jump rope, or a scarf.
Make a drawstring bag out of country prints or rich tapestry and use year after year for gifts.
Insert a hobby tool, kitchen utensil, lollipop, or pencil in the bow or ribbon on the package.
Play “hide and seek” with your packages.
Decorate packages with natural materials such as little pine cones, flowers, sweet gum balls, etc.
Reuse the pictures on greeting cards for decorating a package.
Make a face on a package with buttons or candies, or draw a scene and glue on appropriate miniatures (e.g., small car on a highway).
Make a basket out of bread dough.Spray with clear acrylic spray. Line with a colorful towel or napkins.
Gift Wrap Ideas for Special Recipients
Wrap a baby gift in a cloth diaper secured with diaper pins. Top it with an assortment of teething rings or rattles, a small stuffed animal, a pair of booties, or a pacifier.
What little boy wouldn’t love a package with a generous assortment of colorful rubber bands stretched around the box?Don’t be offended if?at least initially?he finds the rubber bands more amusing than what’s inside the package.Top a little girl’s present with an assortment of colorful shoelaces, hair ribbons, barrettes, or bows.
Place small balloons, balloon-twist animals, a box of crayons, or an assortment of crazy straws on top of a child’s wrapped gift.
Help your children make custom gift wrap for their friends’ gifts.
Wrap a get-well gift in Ace bandages. Make a bow from strips of gauze and top with a bottle of aspirin or a thermometer.
Wrap kitchen gifts in pretty dishtowels. Tie with a colorful bow and attach wooden spoons or wire whisks.
Wrap presents to grandparents in their grandchildren’s artwork.
Wrap presents to the computer buff in computer paper or pages from a computer magazine.
Wrap bon voyage presents in maps of the recipient’s destination.Embellish the package with a toy boat or airplane and a gift tag that resembles a ticket for travel.
As a thoughtful touch when giving gifts of food, include cooking, reheating, or storage instructions.
Wrap concert tickets or other small gifts for the music lover in sheet music.
To create custom birthday wrapping paper, cover the package with plain paper. Then, with colored markers, write the recipient’s age in various sizes all over the package.Gift Tags and Gift Cards
Don’t underestimate the power of the handwritten message accompanying your gifts. Shakespeare’s Hamlet gave gifts to Ophelia . ..
“. . .
As made the things more rich.”
Tagging Along
Create a gift tag to look like a medical prescription, a court summons, a military order, an office memo, a sweepstakes award, a traffic citation, a ticket to an event or attraction, or a fax cover sheet.
Write a message to accompany your gift on one of the following: a spiral note pad, a Post-It note, a recipe card, a small white board, a miniature chalk board, an Etch-a-Sketch, a Magna- Doodle, or a note attached to a small cork board.
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› Holidays & Special Occasions › Christmas-Yule-hanukkah-Kwanzaa-Winter Solstice › Gift Wrapping Tips