First Come Flowers
Good friends of mine just adopted a newborn baby girl. I was attending a celebration party for the new arival and wanted the gift to be and look special.
Her mom loves to read so I decided to get baby Lia a stack of books. I also included a book for the parents.
I didn't have much time to wrap the gift, so I relied on my collection of interesting papers, ribbons and embellishments. I was in such a rush that I neglected to include a flower. Imagine that.
Yes, I know I could have gone to the store and bought a baby shower shopping bag. But to me, that wouldn't have been special enough. And even when I cave in an buy a ready-made gift bag, I nearly always replace the "handles" with my own ribbon, embellishment and tag.
If I'd had any idea, I'd be posting on this, I would have taken pictures showing each step. Anyway, here's what I did:
Creative Gift Wrapping Using Your Own Stuff
1. I wrapped each board book in different yet coordinated colored papers. One of them was a tiny multi-colored print so I used it as my inspiration. It's the same process I often use when I'm designing a flower arrangement.
2. I tied each book with an interesting piece of ribbon. Why bother if the books are going to be stacked? Because I wanted each little gift to be a piece of joy. Gift wrapping creatively for others is something I love doing. I like making people feel special. It's not just about the real gift for me.
3. I embellished some of the books with hand-made paper. I make these papers out of paper towel, scrap paper, paint, glue, glitter, water and other stuff lying around not moving. But, that's for another post I think.
4. I stacked each wrapped book on top of each other. To make it a bit fancier, I sort of twisted each book a bit so they weren't lined up in a neat pile. Why? It's just how I roll. Always on the hunt for the unique twist. No pun intended.
5. I wrapped this twisted bunch of books with a wide, mocha colored lace. I had no idea why I bought this lace, but knew it would come in handy some day. Prior to arriving on this approach, I must have tried using 10 or 12 different ribbons of varying textures and widths. Grosgrain, velvets, double-faced satins. Each of them stood out too much and actually took away from the overall look of the package. But, when I tried this tulle lace it looked right with the vintage style of the gift tag.
6. I made a vintage-style tag. I found a black and white photo of a baby. I glued it to several layers of paper and backed it with some cardstock. I hot-glued a tiny tulle bow onto the baby's dress. I could have substituted a little millinery flower here. The leopard paper is actually a little paper bag. When I realized it was open on the right side, I cut a piece of cardstock into the shape of a tag and wrote this little message on it:
"If you believe, you will receive, whatever you ask for in prayer."
Matthew 21:22 NIV
It was a lot of funny assembling this baby shower gift. I hoped they liked the wrapping as much as I did. Oh yeah, and the books featuring one of my all time favorites, "Good Night Moon." A pleasure both the parents and baby will enjoy for many years to come.
Gift Wrapping Links:
Elegant Gift Wrapping
Beet Dyed Gift Wrap Tutorial
How To Make Flowers For Gift Wrapping
Make Your Own Gift Bag Tutorial
Do you fuss over gift wrapping or do you just throw it in a bag with tissue paper and keep on going? Please let me know in the comments below.
Gift wrappingly yours,
Mimi
