Papering Presents

The supplies:

-wrapping paper
-tape
-stapler
-plastic knife
-Macy*s catalog
-green ribbon
-black pen
-used Williams Sonoma wrapping paper





The  handmade decorations

-2 Santa Claus name tags
-2 snowman name tags
-2 stocking name tags
-2 paper bows


In the interest of aesthetics, I decided to put a little more effort in gift-wrapping this year. By making adornments by hand, I saved myself some money and a trip to the store. One of the paper bows was made using a page from a Macy*s catalog and several staples, using instructions from the Crafster community. The other was made with one continuous strip of leftover wrapping paper and a grand total of one staple.

The small Santa Clauses were made using instructions from Origamitube. It's simple enough that I was shocked that someone would try to charge $1 per Santa. The profit margin for that should be at least 50% for one Santa and higher if mailing more than one. Perhaps she is capitalizing on laziness or lack of time. People will sell anything, I suppose.

The stockings were a modified version of the ones found on Leah's crafts and doodads. I'm not a big fan of the colored piece at the end, as it reminds me of a steel-toed boot. In order to create contrast with the red wrapping paper, I inverted the colors of the folded stocking and  used pictures of jewelry from the Macy*s catalog as "stocking stuffers."

I got the idea for the snowmen from Joseph Wu, but I added an additional snowball to the body and modified the folds so that there wouldn't be any "webbing" where the snowballs join. I also made each of the body parts different sizes to avoid something that resembles a totem pole. The hats were created through some experimentation with leftover wrapping paper, since I wanted something that looked a little more whimsical and a little less like a dunce cap. Lastly, eyes and buttons were drawn on. I don't have the patience to apply glue to tiny paper cutouts with a toothpick today.

Noteworthy Find:

As I looked online for homemade gift-wrapping ideas, I stumbled upon joybucket's blog, where she has instructions for "Reusable Gift Wrap." It's a relatively easy sewing project using pretty fabric and ribbon. The result is gorgeous and much more reusable than wrapping paper will ever be. Give it a look!