Creative and Personalized Gift Wrapping Ideas

Although I do purchase ready-made gift wrapping materials from time to time, most often I prefer to use rolls of solid paper, craft paper bags, and plain gift tags that I decorate while keeping in mind each person’s style. You may recall the hand-printed gift wrap I made last year or the easy button gift embellishments I created quite recently. Both were a hit with the recipients. Perhaps it’s the decorator in me, but how the package is wrapped is almost as important as the gift inside.

As many of you know, wrapping presents is one of my favorite things to do around the holidays. I’m so fortunate this year to have a wrapping room (a project/storage room that has been taken over by wrapping materials), and I don’t have to haul everything up to our dining table, wrap some presents, and then pack it all up again so we can eat. It’s made the whole experience even more enjoyable, and I highly recommend having a dedicated area in your house for these kinds of projects if you have the extra room.

Wrapping gifts doesn’t have to be expensive. This year I found so many items around the house, as well as free printables online. As a result I only had to purchase a few gift bags and a bit of ribbon.

Creative & Personalized Gift Wrap Ideas

Button Gift Tags

While I was preparing for projects earlier this fall, I came across containers full of buttons I thought would be perfect for creating something for Christmas. Recently, while my husband was in Europe for work (so jealous!) and my son was snowboarding (again, so jealous!), I took advantage of the free time and hand made a series of gift tags for specific people on my list.

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Memory Candy Jar + Handmade Gifts Link Party

I always try to create a few handmade gifts every Christmas, especially for grandparents. Not only are they a budget-friendly alternative to purchasing gifts, they also add a personal touch that really shows someone you care. A few weeks ago, I shared how I plan for handmade gifts, including where I find inspiration, as well as the steps I take to make sure they’re all ready for Christmas. This year I followed the same process, but it took me a while to come up with something unique for my mom. I wanted to get all the grandkids involved to make it extra special for her, but I didn’t want it to be overly complicated or time consuming.

After pondering for a week or two about what to make, I finally got an idea after having dinner with a few family members at an Asian restaurant. Although I’m not a huge fan of eating fortune cookies, I do love reading the messages that come within. I was thinking it would be fun to make fortune cookies to give out at Christmas, but I’d substitute the dry cookie with something a little tastier. In my mind I was thinking fortune cookie meets Hershey’s Kisses, and the idea of a Memory Candy Jar was born.

 

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Easy Button Gift Embellishments + Gold Necklace Giveaway!

Welcome to the last installment of the One Item Project Challenge. We’ve had a lot of fun over the past few weeks getting creative with fabric paint and gold leafing. This week I chose buttons as the craft supply we all had to work with, since most of us already have some on hand and they’re relatively inexpensive. To me, there’s something beautiful about buttons, no matter how intricate or simple they are.

 

After going through my rather large supply of buttons, I immediately knew what I was going to do. As some of you already know, one of my favorite things to do is wrap presents. Throughout the year, I’m always on the hunt for unique paper, bags, boxes, tags and other wrapping supplies, as well as creative ways to use them. I see beauty in the details, and my heart always sings when I’m inspired by a simple and inexpensive idea for embellishing gifts.

 

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To create your own button gift embellishments, you will need a kit for covering buttons, scissors, assortment of printed and/or solid fabrics and elasticized ribbon or cording. I had all of these supplies on hand, except the ribbon, which is available at Michaels. Just look for “elasticized” printed on the clear film that covers the ribbon.

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Handmade Gift Planning + Upcoming Link Parties

On this week’s Holiday Countdown list, I encouraged you to make some gifts for Christmas instead of buying everything. Handmade gifts are not only budget-friendly, but they add a personal touch and really show someone you care. In my experience, what usually stands in the way of getting around to handcrafting gifts rather than purchasing them is careful planning. That’s why I always start no later than mid-November.

If you’re stumped about what to make grandparents, neighbors, friends or anyone else on your gift list, start by looking through magazines or websites for ideas. Some of my favorite sources are Style at Home, Chatelaine, Pinterest, Better Homes and Gardens, Martha Stewart, and other design blogs. Once you’ve found some possibilities, bookmark them or pin them to a board on Pinterest.

{Left to Right: Teacup Candle, Cowgirl Cookie Mix, Christmas in a Jar

After I’ve found some handmade gift possibilities (or at least some inspiration), I think about who the gift would be perfect for. For instance, my husband’s aunt loves sweets, so I always try to bake something to go along with her main gift. Some of my friends are avid readers, so I make something to complement a book. You get the picture…

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Holiday Countdown Series Recap {Week Three}

How was your week? I really don’t know where October went and I’m feeling the same way about November. Can you believe we’re already on week three of the Holiday Countdown? I’m so glad I’ve been able to stay on track, despite being distracted by so many other things going on in my life right now. I’m finding it hard to wrap my head around my son applying to universities and colleges for next year, and doing all the research and helping him make a decision about what he wants to do in this next stage of his life is a bit overwhelming. I don’t think I’m ready for this! Nevertheless, the fog always seems to clear, and I know he’ll find a good fit.

Holiday Countdown Series on Satori Design for Living

 

This past week, I’ve been busy considering some furniture pieces for our basement (need to order very soon!), as well as getting my craft on with a few small projects for the One Item Project Challenge. On Sunday, my husband put up the Christmas lights, since it was rather lovely outside. We won’t be turning them on until the end of the month or beginning of December, although some of my neighbors have started already.

This year I’ve decided to use the same decorating scheme I did last year- silver, white, smoke and turquoise, but I’m thinking of adding some gold. Of course, I’ll still be mixing in natural materials, such as pine cones, birch, greenery, etc. I love how the natural and glam look side by side, and mixed metals-ooh la la! I can’t wait…

 

{via}

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Holiday Countdown is On! {reader round-up}

Christmas is almost here and I’m happy to report that aside from a few dishes to prepare, I have everything ready to go- Yippee! As mentioned throughout the Holiday Countdown series, getting ready isn’t about perfection. However, in my experience I always feel better the more prepared I am. I try to keep in mind that most likely something will not go the way I hoped it would. Perhaps our family cards getting lost in the mail somewhere between the US and Canada would’ve frazzled me a little more had there been a mountain of other disappointments. I can honestly say at first I was flustered, but now I find it kind of amusing that I started thinking about our cards way back on week 2 and now they’re going to be late!

I want to extend a big shout out to all of you who followed along. I enjoyed your emails and comments and I’m so happy to share what some of you have been up to over the past couple months. Pretty fantastic stuff!

Elaine from Visual Meringue created these adorable party favors:

 

Nikki from Nikki in Stitches made these simple, yet beautiful ornaments:

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Gifts {Almost} Too Pretty to Open

Did you know there are only eleven days until Christmas Eve? Doesn’t it seem like December is flying by! If you’ve been following my Holiday Countdown, you know that I set out to be more organized and prepared this year. I’m happy to report that the anxious, stressed-out response I have often felt this time of year has been replaced with that magical feeling- you know the one you had when you were a kid. I owe it a lot to being prepared and really immersing myself in joy of the season.

One thing I really love to do is wrap presents. I always have, and as a kid my mom used to take advantage of this (in a good way). I like gathering unique items throughout the year to add that extra detail to gifts. Some people have a thing for shoes. I have a thing for beautiful stationery, papers, gift bags, ribbon- the whole kit ‘n caboodle (well, and perhaps for shoes too)!

{via Poetry Collection}

Oprah always says, “Love is in the details” and I happen to agree. I know that when I receive a beautifully wrapped gift, my friend or family member was really thinking of me. I don’t even need to open the gift to feel loved and appreciated.

This year I encourage you to wrap the gifts you are giving from your heart. Really think about matching the gift wrap to the personality of the individual it’s intended for. There are many easy and cost effective ways to do this.

Although I have some beautiful papers I purchased on sale in January last year, I wanted to do something new to add to the mix. On Etsy I found several hand printed papers that were lovely, so I decided to try making some of my own (although I am a huge supporter of Etsy).

Here’s what I did:

I started with a roll of plain brown craft paper, a medallion stencil, sponge applicator, acrylic paint tube in robbin’s egg blue, a small plastic container with lid and paper towels (all available at Michael’s and Wal-Mart). I covered my table in a drop cloth and rolled out the paper. I then squeezed a generous amount of paint into the plastic container, placed the sponge in the paint and took some of the excess off by dabbing it on the plastic lid a few times. Holding the stencil down firmly with one hand, I stippled onto the paper with the other.

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Yummy Handmade Gifts {You May Want to Keep}

Every year I try to include at least a few handmade items to give as hostess gifts and add-ons for friends and family. As I was looking for ideas to make for this Christmas, I must’ve been craving baked goods because that’s all I seemed to be noticing. Over the years I’ve tried new recipes and some have been hits- like last year’s chocolate caramel pecan pretzels that were so easy to make. Others have been disappointments and find their way to the bottom of the deep freeze.

A week ago I was going through some of my recipe books and came across a recipe for cookies with chocolate, toffee and coconut. It sounded like the perfect combination to me. Let me tell you- these cookies are divine. Not only does the house smell heavenly when you’re baking them, but their chewy goodness is the perfect pairing with a glass of ice cold milk!

Chocolate Coconut Cookie Recipe in a Jar {Satori Design for Living}

These cookies are so good that I want to share them with family and friends this holiday season. Or do I? I have a few bakers on my list so I’m going to do up some jars filled with the mix. For those friends who rarely open an oven door, I’m going to bake them and wrap them up in a pretty package before my family gets a hold of them.

Mix Instructions

Chocolate Toffee Coconut Chews Mix

1 ½      cups semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips (divided)

1 ½      cups medium flaked unsweetened coconut

1            cup toffee baking pieces (skor bits)

¾         cup packed light brown sugar

½         cup all purpose flour

¼         tsp. baking powder

¼         tsp. salt

1 ½      quart jar or container with lid

Items to decorate jar (I used fabric, ribbon and bells)

Label (for instructions)

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