Elegant Christmas Wrapping

On one of my pre-ankle Christmas shopping expeditions, I found these silver heart Christmas decorations. 

As soon as I saw them, I knew they needed a Christmas wrapping moment.  That moment came when I teamed them with some white and brown patterned gift wrap, white curling ribbon and some pearl bead bling I cut off a Christmas sprig.

A simple brown gift tag completes the look.

Christmas Gift Wrapping ideas - Birds

One last gift wrapping hurrah before Christmas, using birds as a theme.  I don't have any Christmas-related bird stories, but I can tell you about Sylvester.  When I was about 5 years old, a baby Senegal dove fell out of its nest and into our backyard.  We rescued it, and I named him Sylvester after Sylvester the Cat from the cartoon Sylvester and Tweetie Pie.  It made perfect sense to me at the time.  We kept Sylvester in a lined box in the laundry and fed him barley and water.  Every day, my Mum would take Sylvester outside for flying lessons, which involved putting him on her arm and waving it up and down.  One day, he flew off, and we never saw him again, much to my devastation.  To this day, my family still refers to Senegal doves as "Sylvesters", to the extent that I had to phone my Dad this morning to ask him "What kind of birds are Sylvesters?".   

I like to use decorations when wrapping gifts, and I found these metallic bird decorations at a craft fair earlier in the year.  For this gift, I've used red tissue paper and hemp twine for a minimalist, slightly Japanese look. 

For this gift bag, I've suspended the bird mid flight using red and white twine.

Another way to feature birds in your gift wrapping is by using decorative ribbon. This ribbon is cotton twill, which always looks good against brown paper.  The ribbon on the bag is glued on using all purpose craft glue.

Red and light blue is such a classic colour combination, and this red and cream ribbon really pops against the glossy blue paper.

Not strictly gift wrapping, but I made these cards using decorative paper to complete the theme.  For this card, I used a Christmas decoration as a template.

The card on the right featured in my 13 November 2011 post on Christmas cards and gift tags.

If your relationship with birds is more Tippi Hedren than Sylvester, you may find using birds as your Christmas wrapping theme quite cathartic.

Christmas Wrapping Ideas - Matryoshka dolls

In 1978, my family flew to Hong Kong on Christmas Day for a holiday.  As a child,  I remember being very excited at receiving a foam snowman decoration with my in-flight meal, courtesy of Cathay Pacific.  I also remember being pretty excited by the break in family tradition.  Up until this moment, we had been a turkey, roast vegetables and Christmas pudding kind of a family, and it felt like we were doing something really radical.

In Hong Kong, we did all the touristy things, and a few non-touristy as well.  On one of our shopping expeditions, we came across a Russian shop where Dad bought me this Matryoshka nesting doll.

As a consequence, I've always associated Matryoshka dolls with Christmas.  And it seems others do too as lots of different Matryoshka products are now available.  Building on my last two posts, here are some Christmas gift wrapping and gift tag ideas using Matryoshka dolls as the theme.

Matryoshka au natural
 
As you already know, I am a big fan of brown paper and twine, and stamping brown paper with a Matryoshka doll in red ink screams Christmas.  

The gift tag is a luggage tag covered with brown paper, and is stamped with a smaller Matryoshka.  I've tied it all together with some navy blue paper twine.
 

Here I've used brown paper and a teal blue decorative ribbon.  I've made the gift tag by cutting out a Matryoshka doll from some recycled gift wrap.

Red and blue is always a bright combination for Christmas.  Here I've used gift wrap, which is made from recycled paper, in two ways.  The cylindrical gift has been topped and tailed with some blue grosgrain ribbon.

Matryoshka cute

Pink, green and white is always a really popular colour theme for Christmas.

This Matryoshka themed Christmas paper looks good when paired with some green ric-rak as the accent colour. 

A Matryoshka embroidered ribbon works well against glossy, white paper.

For the gift on the left, I've used pink sheer curtain fabric to wrap the present and create a thick bow.  For the gift tag, I've cut out one of the Matryoshkas from the wrapping paper and stuck it to a white luggage tag.

Matryoshka luxe

This is handmade paper from India (which I happened to buy in Seattle), and the colours and design give it a real luxe quality.  I've paired it with with some olive green grosgrain ribbon and black ric-rak for two different looks.

For this luxe look, I've stamped and embossed some black tissue paper using gold embossing powder.  I've finished the look with a sheer gold ribbon, thick black glossy 'twine' and a gold wooden heart.

Matryoshkas are iconic and, so it seems, multi-purpose.  Here they are enjoying some well deserved down-time.

Christmas Gift Wrapping - General tips

I have been meaning to mention the C-word for the past couple of weeks.  Christmas.  Is coming.  Soon.  Fruit mince pies and panettone, Christmas decorations and cards have started to appear in the shops.  Fortunately, Christmas carols haven't so it is still possible to shop in peace and quiet until the madness starts for another year.  Don't get me wrong, I like Christmas carols.  In fact, on Christmas Day, I like to add a bit of festive atmosphere by playing the Frank Sinatra Christmas album, much to the horror of my family.  Frank does a good carol, but I'm not ready for them just yet. 

I do love Christmas as, if you are a crafty/baking person, it is your time to shine.  People love homemade gifts, beautifully wrapped presents and the once a year baked goodies, like shortbread and fruit cake.   Over the next few weeks, I will be posting some ideas on Christmas gift wrapping, card making and baking.  This is very organised for me as I don't start thinking about Christmas until a couple of weeks beforehand, and usually in a panic-stricken state.  I know I am not alone as each year I see people like me walking around shopping centres at an unnaturally fast pace with fierce looks of determination.  I like to add to this stress by baking until all hours of the night.  The nights in Australia are pretty warm by this time, which adds to the pressure cooker atmosphere.  Whether you're a last minute person or an organised months in advance person, I'm hoping these posts will give you some tips and ideas for making your handmade Christmases a bit easier. 

I thought I would start with some general tips on Christmas gift wrapping:

1.  Choose a theme - A theme establishes the framework from which everything else, including cards and decorations, will flow.  A theme makes shopping so much easier as it allows you to remain focussed and not be distracted by shiny non-theme related objects.  Presents wrapped in a coordinated theme also look good under the Christmas tree. Some themes to think about include red and white, contemporary, minimalist, Scandinavian, and Arctic winter.  Here is an example of a minimalist theme I used a few years ago.  Its a simple sprig of decoration on a white, glossy background.

2.  Use Christmas decorations to accessorise your gifts - I like to use Christmas decorations to add colour, contrast and texture.  The post-Christmas sales are good for picking up decorations at half-price which can be re-purposed the following year.  I used reindeer decorations from Ikea last year for a contemporary Scandinavian look.

3.  Use plastic wrap to glam up plain paper - If you like to wrap your presents in plain paper, one way to add a touch of elegance is to wrap the present again in thick plastic wrap, and finish it with a fabric ribbon.

4.  Use fabric ribbons to add interest - Whether you prefer plain or patterned gift wrap, an interesting ribbon can really take your gift wrapping to the next level.  Here I've used ric-rac which, together with a wooden decoration, adds contrast and texture.

5.  Use paper bags, boxes and fabric to wrap odd shaped presents- Gift wrapping should not have to involve the laws of physics.  If you need to wrap an odd shaped present, put it in a gift bag.  You can spruce up plain paper bags by using decorations, quirky ribbons, and stamps.  Fabric is also very forgiving and is particularly good for wrapping round and oval shaped presents.  Boxes, especially noodle boxes, are good for wrapping baked treats.

6.  Iron your wrapping paper - If you're using folded paper rather than paper from a roll, iron it first to remove the crease marks.  Use a low setting and a light touch.  It is worth the effort.

7.  Keep craft glue handy - Sticky tape does not stick to all paper and sometimes glue is required.  I use an all purpose craft glue.

8.  Under no circumstances use Christmas themed sticky tape - Enough said.