Creative Gift Wrapping // Fabric Scrap Ribbons

Aside from finding the perfect gift for someone, wrapping those gifts is my absolute favourite thing about the holidays. Even from a young age I was all about matching paper to ribbons (and I ALWAYS preferred ribbons over those stick-on bows) and trying to make my gifts the most beautiful ones under the tree. It got to the point where I often wished I had more people to buy gifts for, solely on the fact that it would mean I would have more presents to wrap.

As Pinterest entered my life I became aware of a gift wrap world beyond shiny printed snowman paper and curling ribbons. I saw stunning glittered gifts, simple plain paper, baubles, florals and more. To say the gift wrap obsession increased may be an understatement. I began wrapping gifts in classic dotted kraft paper wrap, tied with twine and topped with jingle bells. And last year created my own stamped paper patterns.

This year, in the midst of tackling my overzealous stash of basically useless fabric scraps, I was inspired to utilize what I already had and make some fabric ribbons.

Perfect for seamstresses who have offcut hems, homemade bias-tape gone wrong, selvage trims and other long strips of fabric, this gift wrap inspiration is for you! If you are sewing gifts for people, use the scraps of that project as the ribbon! It’s a subtle hint of what awaits inside.

You’ll need:

• Wrapping paper
• Fabric Scissors
• Fabric scraps, cut into strips
• Accessories!

It’s perfect if you already have fabric scraps cut into ribbon-like strips, but if you don’t, there are a few ways around it. For smaller segments that don’t quite reach around your gift, just sew the ends together and hide the seams on the bottom of your gift. Or if you can transform short, wide shaped pieces by using the zig zag cutting method (pictures explaining that here).

I had quite a bit of my kid’s craft easel paper left over from last year to be a blank canvas underneath. Once I chose my fabric for the ribbons, I used metallic Sharpies to doodle simple designs. This way, the paper complemented my fabric, but still let it be the star.

Really inspired by the use of greenery this season, I accessorized my gifts with gold dipped branches, frosted pine, teal florals and sparkly ornaments. Take a trip to the dollar store (or outdoors!) for some fun branches and baubles to elevate the whole presentation.

Even if you aren’t able to hand make each of your gifts this year, a custom, creative wrapping just adds that personal touch.  It’s such a joy to receive a beautifully wrapped present. Your friends may not even want to open them!

Enjoy the hustle and bustle of the week ahead and happy gift wrapping! Merry Christmas!

Creative Gift Wrap // Custom Stamping!

Tis the season to get crafty! My general crafting output goes up 500% as Christmas approaches as there are always little opportunities to try something new and make things more personal. Gift wrap is one of those places where the opportunities are endless; you can try colour blocking, play with ribbons & accessories, add pieces from nature and scraps from your craft bin.

Last year I opted for polka-dotted kraft paper and dainty strings and jingle bells, and while it was very lovely and darling, something new was in order this year.

Almost a year ago, I carved myself some custom stamps to make stationery with and decided to revive them for the holidays.

Instead of getting the  expensive white ‘gift wrap’ paper from the store, I wandered into the kids section, grabbed some ‘easel paper’ for twice the size at half the price. It pays to think outside the box sometimes.

I considered pre-stamping my paper for all-round patterns, but thought it would be fun to create designs that corresponded with the shape of the gift, so I wrapped everything up first and went stamping away!

I used flowers for snowflakes, made candy cane stripes, used my triangles for trees and did a duo stamp with both red and green for some really festive hearts.

If you are quick enough you can dust a little glitter on your fresh-pressed stamp before the ink dries and it’ll stick!

Once you are all stamped and dried, add your tags, stickers, ribbons, pom-poms and other details to complete the picture. (Warning, cats WILL eat those yarn poms. It’s just inevitable…)

This was such an easy and fun way to add a little extra something to the gift wrap process. Stamps are so easy to find or make you can easily make something that works just for you.

The crafting couldn’t stop there though, as I finished up writing my cards as well, I needed some envelopes! Using pages from magazines I have stashed for far too long, I made custom envelopes (tutorial here). I had fun matching the images to the people I would be giving them too. 

I still have a few gifts left to make and it’s coming down to the wire! Here’s to a whirlwind few weeks and loving every minute of it!