Gift Wrapping: Christmas 2015

I've been really busy at the store the last couple months.  I bought the yarn portion of a yarn and fabric store that was closing, so I spent much of October moving furniture, assembling displays, and unpacking boxes.  More on that in the next post!  In this post I want to talk about gift wrapping.

Many people don't know that all the gorgeous paper that I use for bookbinding can also be used as wrapping papers.  In fact, that is how these papers are marketed by the manufacturers.  This Christmas I decided to explore all the ways I could combine different papers and ribbons to have THE BEST wrapped gifts under the family Christmas tree.  (I am also giving fewer gifts this year, so I want to make them look extra special.)

 I started with some of the Christmas-specific papers.  My absolute favorite is the Fa-la-la Llama paper my paper source.  (It has puns and llamas, two of my favorite things!)  I paired it with a sheer red ribbon that looks darker any place it overlaps itself.  This is a fairly standard gift wrapping technique with a plain bow, but the silly paper and sheer ribbon really makes it stand out.  I wrapped another package in a red and white lokta paper from Paper Connection International.  This is another one where the patterned paper makes it stand out.  I could see using several papers in coordinating colors to to create a cohesive "look" under the tree.  And finally, a gift bag from Paper Source because sometimes you need a nice looking gift and don't have the time to wrap it.  Add some green tissue paper and you're done!

My next set of wrapped gifts used paper that is not specifically "Christmas wrap" for some interesting gifts that could be for Christmas, or any other gift giving occasion.  The red, green, and yellow paper is a 100% cotton paper from Black Ink.  I used a thin yellow ribbon and wrapped it around the corners to show off more of the paper's pattern, and tied a layered bow.  The package on the right is wrapped with an Italian paper that has script writing.  This one is all about the ribbon- a lovely hand dyed silk, with an oversized decorative key ornament tied into the bow.

For the last few gifts, I used Paper Source's plain rolls of red and green wrapping paper.  The plain paper is great because it is thicker than your average rolled wrapping paper, and it is solid colored on both sides, not just the front.  To make these gifts simple yet elegant, I tied them with contrasting silk dupioni ribbon from Midori.  The ribbon is two inches wide, and SO gorgeous.  Even a plain bow is just stunning!

I have so many gift wrapping ideas with this one.  I could see wrapping all the gifts in the same roll of plain wrapping paper, and tying a large bow around just one or two of the packages.  It would make your Christmas tree look like something out of a magazine!