First Come Flowers

8 Last Minute Elegant & Eco-Friendly Holiday Gift Wrapping Ideas

Been seeing some beautiful eco-friendly gift wrapping ideas around the web. Thought you might want to see some lovely examples you can make with simple recycled paper .

Hold on to ribbons, yarn, string and interesting little items that can be used to embellish your gifts. I keep junk mail items that have pretty patterns ot typefaces to make cards and tags.

 

 

Dear Lillie

1.  Make embellishments using stencils  on cardstock.- Use an old office folder or piece of cardboard from your pantyhose. Trace the stencil on it and cut it out.

 

 

 

Elizabeth Heier

 2.  Collect string and yarn from friends and family - Tie it on your brown paper packages or whatever kind of packages you have. If you stay within a certain color palette, your gifts will looked pulled together and gorgeous.

 

 

 Handmade and Heritage

 3.  Stamp on plain paper - Use your decorative stamps to create your own design on brown paper. Trader Joe bags work well. 

 

Liebesbotschaft

 4. Jingle that bell - The addition of the letter and the single jingle bell gives this package a sophisticated look. Look for embellishments like letters in the craft section of your favorite store. Often these items get marked down making them dirt cheap. 

 

Elizabeth Heier

 5. Add  a folded element - My sister taught me how to make medallions lst year. She has a special board for making paper creasing easy. I have tons of them at my shop. Okay, maybe not tons.

 

Liebesbotschaft

 6.  Reinterpret old ornaments - The embellishment on the package above is not eco-friendly, but it is cute. It's a way to recycle old Christmas tree ornaments with paint.

 

 Whimseybox

 7.  Embellish with found stuff - Buttons, brads, whatever you have can be used to decorate your gifts.

 

via Bradbourne Farm

8.  Break out the pastels. - Use those pale ornaments to embellish gifts no matter the season. These would be lovely for a birthday party.

Hope you try some of these lovely gift wrapping ideas.

Mimi

 

5 Secrets For Elegant Gift Wrapping For Valentines Day

Just because it's Valentines Day doesn't mean your elegant gift wrapping has to be red, pink and white. Valentines Day is your opportunity to break out of the box and declare your love in any color you like. I probably wouldn't wrap a gift in black though.

Here are 5 secrets for elegant gift wrapping:

 

via A Gift Wrapped Life

1) Don't be cheap with the ribbon.  Splurge and buy ribbon made out of satin, velvet or grosgrain. Make it wider than you usually do. It should be at least 1.5" wide. That immediately says elegant. You can sometimes pick it up at the Michael's  $1.00 rack at the front of the store. Or buy it from a fabric store.  It may cost you $3.00 per yard, but that's still cheaper than the Valentines Day card.

via Bahraini Diva

 2) Shake things up with color. You don't have to buy the printed Valentines Day paper. It often looks cheap anyway. Besides, what are you going to do with the rest of it?  Save it until next year?

Instead, buy a nice solid paper that can be used again for another occasion. Use a nice colored ribbon to go along with it. If you stick with solid paper and real ribbon, you really can't mess it up.

 

Whimsy  Wrap

3) Try an elegant patterned paper. You'll often find individual sheets of printed paper hanging over a rack in nicer stationery stores.  You'll find paper with interesting textures, colors and designs.

You can also get some newsprint and decorate it yourself with stamps or small paint brushes. You can make polka dot paper by dipping a new pencil eraser into acrylic paint and stamping it onto your paper. Use a color that will match the nice ribbon you bought.

 

California Academy

4) Use real or fake  flowers to decorate your gift. Read "How to Gift Wrap Using Fresh Flowers" and "How To Gift Wrap Using Fake Flowers."

 

So  Crafty

5) Go neutral in your gift wrapping. Note how elegant this camel colored satin ribbon looks on the ivory paper. What could be simpler and more beautiful?

 

Do you think Valentines Day wrapping must be red, white or pink? Why? 

Mimi