Gift Wrapping - Added Touch

Want to Jazz up that gift presentation?

Have some extra craft supplies hanging around?

Taking an extra 2 minutes you can turn a simple gift bag or gift box into something amazing.  Take trinkets or embellishments you have laying around, arrange them on your container, and glue them on (the longest part of this process was waiting for the glue gun to heat up).

In additional to a wonderful (hopefully) gift, your friend may keep the wrapping container now as well to reuse for a long time coming.

A-Z Bridal Shower Theme

More of an unusual post from me, but I had a fun experience so I thought I would share the ideas with others.  This concept can also be applied to a birthday party or Baby Shower.

I created an ABC themed bridal shower.  For the online RSVP system each guest was asked to pick a letter, once a letter was chosen it was taken out of the list.  The letter had to be used when picking out a gift.  Creativity was encouraged.  P for pretty panties, or C for Cherry Candy Cup.  I don't remember what I listed but I hope the point was obvious.

When the guest arrive they were reminded of their letter picks with a simple sheet reminder, and given a necklace with the alphabet letter on it.

This is the first game, that no one was allowed to say the groom's name, and if they did they had to give up their necklace to the person who was first to catch them.  It's a really fun game!

It being a tea party, I made these little place card holders to tell each person where to sit.  It's a great way to mix people up with new people and ensure conflicting people are at different tables.

Here is a fun game I hadn't seen before and it was a hit.  Our tea party was on the balcony of my place, so using the window (to limit my cleaning to some simple Windex), I placed a photo of the groom on the inside of the glass, and made a gift wrap over the outside of the window.  I let the bride open the gift, to see that I'm gifting her with his groom ha ha, bad joke.  Now the real fun begins.  It's a take on the rules of pin the tail on the donkey.  But you've got lipstick and need to draw the big kiss on the groom.

Oh by the way that's Avalyn, and she did pretty good with ~kissing~ the groom.

 

Other games we had were the popular wedding dress out of toliet paper, or guess the answers to the questions from the groom.  As each game ended, the winner could pick a letter from the bride's name, in which they got that prize bag.  Each prize inside was associated with the letter.  I remember that S was a Star-shaped pancake ring.  

Hope these give you some fun ideas to create your own themed shower party.

Congrats Pillowboxes

Nothing says CONGRATS better than a gift that says CONGRATS on it!

I made these for two cousins when they graduated from college.

Guess what fits in pillowboxes really well... gift cards!

This is a really easy 5-minute craft.

1. Start with a pillowbox - you can buy them bulk at OrientalTrading.com.
2. Measure the width of the box and cut out a piece of decorative scrapbooking paper that is longer than twice the width of the box and not quite as wide as the box.
3. Wrap the paper around the box and secure with double-stick tape.
4. Decorate!
5. Insert a small gift, like a gift card or money and fold over the ends.
6. Tie a decorative ribbon to secure it.

Chocolate-Dipped Cookies

We have so many relatives that we see over the holidays it is just not reasonable to buy gifts for everyone! But it isn't too hard to mass-produce yummy treats! You could just buy some and wrap them in cute bags, but when you make them yourself and wrap them yourself it is a nicer touch that anyone will appreciate.

Every Christmas my mom makes chocolate-covered pretzels as gifts, so I made chocolate-dipped Oreos and graham crackers! And then added sprinkles.



Some turned out kind of ugly, but they were still TASTY!

If I did it again, I would just stick with Oreos; perhaps an assortment of Vanilla and Mint.



I found cute reindeer bags and added a tag, jinglebell and ribbon. To make the tags I just cut out the shapes from cardstock paper, punched a hole in the end for the ribbon, stuck a Christmas sticker on one side and addressed the other.

Pillowboxes for Any Occasion

This is one of those craft projects that can get addicting, and I have a box of 200 blank white pillowboxes ready to be decorated!

I decided to make a bunch of pillowboxes that could be used for almost any occasion, like a birthday or Mother's Day. It is nice to have these on hand when you need to come up with a gift on short notice. Have I mentioned how well these hold gift cards? They are just the right size!

There is no end to the way these can be decorated to fit the occasion, whether with paper and ribbon or perhaps fabric and twine or even a felt wrap with a button closure.

As of the time I am posting this, I have already used every single one of these boxes as gifts already. MUST MAKE MORE!!!

Favors with a Message

A fun way to do party favors is to make the favors part of the decor by using them to spell out the reason for the celebration! I made these favors for a baby shower (if that wasn't obvious).

Each gift is associated with one letter so each guest can pick which letter they want.

Monograms are all the rage now! Even if your name doesn't start with B, it's still cute.

I also made a couple of brown-wrapped packages for game prizes.

Materials:
Fabric - soft light blue cotton fabric with a tight weave that doesn't fray easily on the edges
Ties - raffia strands
Paint - gold fabric paint
Favor Gifts - small scented votive candles in glass

Tools:
Paint brush - flat square edge with nylon bristles
Fabric shears
Scissors
Pencil or chalk and the means of creating a circle (large bowl, pin and string, etc.)

Instructions:
1. Determine how large of a circle you need to wrap each favor.
2. Trace circles onto your fabric with white chalk or a pencil.
3. Cut out the circles carefully with fabric shears - they don't have to be perfect circles but the edges should be smooth, without notches or frays.
4. Steam press the fabric circles.
5. Wrap each favor by placing it in the center of a fabric circle, gathering up the edges and securing with a strand of raffia, tied with an overhand knot and then a simple bow.
6. Trim the edges of the raffia strand with scissors.
7. Hand-paint letters on the front of each favor with fabric paint.

Pillowboxes!

Err... what's a pillowbox?

They are boxes... which kinda look like pillows once you pinch the sides and pop them into shape.

They make great wrapping for any occasion, such as wedding favors, baby or bridal shower favors, or other small gifts like candy or gift cards. You can purchase plain white pillowboxes in bulk at a craft store or OrientalTrading.com.

One piece of 12x12" scrapbook paper was more than enough to decorate two boxes and I used some of the scraps to create coordinating gift tags. Ivory satin and organza ribbon leftover from my wedding added the finishing touch.

Materials (for 2 boxes):

- 2 Blank white pillowbox

- 1 sheet of 12x12 scrapbook paper

- Satin ribbon about 1" wide

- Thin organza ribbon or string (to attach the gift tag)

- Scissors and ruler or a paper cutter

- Double-stick tape

- Standard hole punch

Instructions:

1. Measure the length and width of the pillowbox. Cut a piece of scrapbook paper so that the width is about 1 cm less than the length of the pillowbox and the length of the paper is 1 to 3 cm greater than twice the width of the pillowbox. Measurements do not need to be exact, just close. From the leftover paper, cut a second piece the same size for your second box and hang on to the leftover scraps until step three (3).

2. Wrap the decorative paper around the pillowbox lining up one edge with the edge of the box. The box should be completely wrapped, plus a little extra. Crease the paper in two places where the pillowbox is creased, then secure the paper in place with double-stick tape. The extra lenth on one end should be taped underneath the opposite edge which is aligned with the pillowbox edge. Repeat this for your second box.

3. From the paper remnants cut two pieces of paper which are about 1.5" x 3". Fold each in half and punch a hole in one of the corners near the fold.

4. Thread a piece of thin organza ribbon through the hole in the gift tag and tie a knot to join the ends in a loop. Repeat on the second gift tag.

5. Pinch the pillowboxes into shape and fold down the curved edges. Insert gift card or candy (or other surprise!).

6. Tie a wide satin ribbon around the pillowbox to secure the ends. First tie an overhand knot, then slip the looped ribbon on the gift card over one end of the satin ribbon. Finish tying the satin ribbon in a bow or double-knot. Repeat for the second pillowbox.