Wrapping Gifts with Fabric

I am trying to be on top of my Christmas shopping this year by buying and wrapping my gifts with time to spare.  I have been incorporating fabric swatches into my gift wrapping because I think using fabric creates fun and unique presents that are sure to wow at any holiday party!  Using fabric also seems to give a present a lovely personal touch that shows the recipient how much you care about him or her!  I started wrapping a few of my gifts already, so I thought that I would share what I have done:

First, I pre-wrapped some of my gifts with wrapping paper or tissue paper as a base for using the fabric. 

I then got out fabric swatches to start adding some personal accents to the gifts!  Just a quick note: A lot of fabric stores have old fabric swatches that are just going to be thrown out.  Simply ask for some old/discarded fabric, and many stores are happy to hand over what they have for free!

I started by wrapping the smallest gift entirely with fabric.  Since fabric is thicker than typical wrapping paper, you will probably need a few extra pieces of tape to keep the fabric in place.  Otherwise, treat the fabric like regular wrapping paper to wrap your gift.  Once all wrapped, I added a pretty bow with yarn to complete the look.  This look is so easy to achieve, and yet I think it makes the gift look so elegant!

For this next gift, I decided to add just a touch of fabric on the box for a subtle yet striking look.  I layered a few fabric swatches on top of each other and then placed the gift tag on top of the fabric (you can either glue or tape the fabric down, either way seems to work just fine).  This makes the gift tag the focal part of the present.  I finished the look by adding a strip of fabric along the top of the tag and tied a piece of yarn along the box.

For this last present, I decided to decorate only the card with fabric for another subtle yet pretty effect.  I glued two pieces of fabric down to the sides of the cards to give the card a unique look.  I then added a yarn bow across the present to "tie" everything together.

So there are just a few of the ways I have incorporated fabric into my gift wrapping so far this season.  I'm looking forward to getting even more creative with my use of fabric when I go to wrap the rest of my gifts!

I might as well "wrap this up" by letting you know that I am also offering a gift wrapping service at my Etsy shop for those of you wanting to make your Holiday shopping even easier!  With this service, your item will be carefully and lovingly wrapped by yours truly in the style of your choice and with a handwritten note to the recipient.  Below are the styles you can choose from, and you can get all of the details of the gift wrapping service by clicking here.

Pretty cute, right?!

Anyways, I hope this post gave you some fun gift wrapping ideas to get your creativity flowing this holiday season!  How are you planning to wrap your gifts?

Cheers!

Jennifer

DIY Artwork with Sparkle!

I am in the process of making a few special gifts for some family and friends this holiday season, so I wanted to share one of my projects with you all!  This project is not as complicated as you might think, and it produces a beautiful and gift-giving worthy result :)

Supplies:

-Sheet of watercolor paper

-Computer & printer

-Mod Podge or glue

-Glitter

If you are painting the letters (like I did), you'll want these additional supplies:

-Watercolor paint

-Paintbrush

-Container of water

-Tray for paint

To start out, you'll want to create a template for your print.  Decide what words/saying you want to include on your paper.  I went with the saying "Never Let Anyone Dull Your Sparkle" on this print.  You can create your template on word, photoshop, or whatever software program you would like to use.  I typed out the words using Chalkline font, but feel free to use whatever font suits you!  I made the font large enough to fill the whole paper, and I changed the font from black to a golden color to reflect how I am decorating it.  Here is what it looked like on my computer:

Once I created my template, all I had to do was print it out.  Since I have a heavy duty printer, I was able to print the words on a nice sheet of thick watercolor paper measuring 12" x 9."  If you don't have a printer that will print on watercolor paper, you can take your template to a printing store and they will print it for you.  If you aren't painting or doing much decorating to your print, regular printing paper should work just fine :)

Looks pretty good so far, right?!  

Next I wanted to spruce up my print by filling in the letters with watercolor paint.  I (obviously) like the effect of watercolor paint,  as it creates a lovely, hand-painted quality to the work.   But you can use whatever art medium you would like to spruce up your print.

Once all the letters have been painted, let the paper dry. 

Once dry, you can add glitter or whatever fun decorations you would like.  If you would like to add glitter around the letters like I did, just paint some mod podge around the letters and then throw a hefty amount of glitter on top of the glue.  

Let your lovely sparkly print dry, and then place it in a mat and frame for the lucky recipient :)

Are you making any handmade gifts for others this holiday season?  If so, feel free to share some of your awesome DIY gifts ideas here!

Jennifer