Fun Gift Wrapping and Tag Ideas

Wrapping gifts for the holidays often gets funneled into the Dreaded Tasks of Christmas for some people, but in all honestly, turning on a Christmas movie and wrapping presents is one of my all-time favorite things to do. I don't consider it stressful at all, actually; I love the repetition and the exactness of it and the creativity it involves while thinking of the person who is going to receive the gift (and really hoping they will like it).

Hopefully I am not alone in this? There are so many things at Christmastime that are "off the beam" for me (that was a Jen Hatmaker reference), and I have no problem at all letting most of them go (Elf on the Shelf was never even a thought in my mind: too much), but I do think that if you really enjoy something even at a busy time like the holidays, there is nothing wrong with pouring some time and love into it. (Gift wrap lovers, raise your hands high!)

Today I wanted to share a few fun tips on gift wrap. I'm a fan. And a bit of a hoarder. Need a pretty designer wrapping paper? Some cute scalloped tissue? A million feet of ribbon? Have no fear! Katy is here! I also have about 250 baby boy gift bags if you need them as well, but that's another story. (The story is that I had two babies and both were boys and now I have a lot of blue gift bags. ;)

My favorite thing about super-trendy things these days is that they look very homemade and thoughtful, and also--classic. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I do believe there is no better combo, style-wise.

Brown paper packages tied up with strings....

(You're welcome. May your days be filled with voice of Julie Andrews.)

Alright, so enough rambling. A few key points:

1. You only need a few patterns of paper to keep the "underneath" of your tree looking well-dressed. I would say 2-3.
2. Keep the colors and styles similar for a cohesive look, but please, for me, throw in something that contrasts, like gold or greenery (or both) for interest.
3. You know those frustrating too-small strips of wrapping paper that you've had to trim off but can't use? Yes. Well, use them as an accent band on another gift. Fold and tape. Favorite!

4. I love fresh greenery clippings as much as the next home decor lover, but let's be real: that's a pain, especially on gifts. Find a real-looking faux-greenery garland (I got mine at Jo-Ann for $7) and pick off the sprigs to tuck into the ribbon.
5. Speaking of ribbon: Use it. A lot of it. While I love good ole' curling ribbon (fun!), classic satin, linen, and grosgrain will give a much more classic and yester-year look.
6. Don't stop with ribbon! Yarn, twine, sequin/lace/pom-pom trim, and basically anything else you can string and already have works great, too.
7. Berries, pine cones, cinnamon sticks, and even feathers are you BFF's. Glue, tape, and tuck-- just use them well.

8. Don't be afraid to top your gift with something unexpected like these adorable paper roses that are so easy it's ridiculous.
9. I love a little gift on a big gift. Think cute glass ornaments or a homemade ornament from your kiddos. This can serve as the gift tag as well.
10. Speaking of gift tags, I love to cut mine to match from card stock that I already have sitting around. I'm a fan of the pennant flag and the standard price tag look. Use fun stickers or stamps to label your tags.
11. Using initials or letters as the gift tag is super cute and adds some interest.

12. I also think that using a photo for the gift tag is genius. Do you know how easy it is to print photos these days? Go through your Instagram feed, select, click order, and BOOM, they will deliver them to your door. (Also....that photo of Hayes. GOODNESS.)
13. Use wash tape as accents on your tags or to cover up obvious scotch tape on the sides of the gift.
14. None of this needs to be expensive. Buy a few things and then mix, match, and layer, layer, LAYER.

So that's what I have! I got all of my supplies at Jo-Ann and will be talking more about these babies today on KAMR at 4:00.

What are your favorite things to do when wrapping gifts? I'd love to hear!

DIY Faux Marble End Table

Guys, I loved doing this project! It's definitely one of my favorite DIY's that I've ever done and I'm excited to share.

I've been seeing a lot of marble and gold legs on end tables and coffee tables that look so chic and can still be mixed in with every day casual decor. Here are a few of my favorites...

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And here is my version...

Woo-hoo!

Of course, end tables were about the last thing on my long list of things to buy for the house, but I was walking through Ross and came across this great little end table for $40 that had the wiry gold frame that everyone is getting these days. It was sturdy, but had a plain black top that was covered in scratches.

(I promise the scratches are there ;) Also ignore our crooked knobs, I've been meaning to tighten the right door.)

I didn't want something so stark so I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to attempt a faux marble on the top. I figured that in the worse case scenario, it would look awful and I could just spray paint it black again. Plus, the table was like half the price of others I've seen even at Target and World Market so it seemed like a no-brainer to at least try.

I followed this tutorial very loosely, but it is for countertops. I decided to go for the honed marble look instead of polished, so I didn't do a glaze on top or anything like that. 

Here are the supplies I used:

-Primer (a no-sand one)

-White paint (I just used our leftover cabinet paint--satin)

-Foam roller

-About 1/8 cup of three different shades of gray paint. Again, I just mixed our leftover cabinet paint with some leftover black paint in different variations and put the different shades in disposable cups. I also added a bit of leftover green paint to one of the mixtures to add more interest.

-A lot of crinkled up plastic grocery bags

-Damp rag (key player)

-Very small short-bristled paintbrush (like cheap-o watercolor)

-Fine grit sandpaper

I had all of this on hand, so the total project was $40 just for the cost of the table.

I had to put about 5 coats of primer down and two coats of white paint to cover all of the black. Once that was dry, I put some of the lightest gray paint on my scrunched up grocery bag and began sponging it very lightly on the table top. At first, it looked awful....BUT the damp rag is key in this project--after each sponging round I would go back and sponge with the damp rag and even "wash" the table very lightly with it to smooth everything out.

After I did the lightest gray, I moved on to the medium gray using the same method. I went back over the really patchy areas by sponging and ragging with white paint. Here is what it looked like after about 5 coats of sponging/ragging:

Not too bad! I think I added more white after this photo, before I added the veins.

The veining was the hardest part. Bryan said I had "crazy eyes" while I was doing this step. Truth. I was having flashbacks of every art class I took in high school and college and the imaginary teacher was scolding me for "painting what I think I see, and not what's really there". Maddening, I tell you.

The key to the veining step is to feather with the brush instead of just painting a line (basically smoosh the bristles down in all different directions and make tiny zig zag movements). You barely need any paint for this part. I used the darkest gray for the veins and really should have taken an action picture, but I forgot amidst my crazy-eyed daze. Here is what it looked like when I was done feathering and had let everything dry:

It's not completely perfect, but I'm just so happy with how it turned out that I can't stop looking at it! Those are the  best kinds of projects. :) Of course, in true Katy fashion, I still have not sanded out the last few bumps, but maybe one of these days I will. Maybe.

I styled it really quickly and love it even more! I want to put this in our living room but unfortunately we are getting ready for a garage sale so the living room looks more like a storage unit than anything else, which all bloggers know is no good for photos, so for now it's sitting by itself in our bedroom.

The best part of this project is that it boosted my confidence enough to do faux soapstone counters in our kitchen. (Basically the same method but in black and you finish it off with paste wax.) Yep. I'm excited! 

So there you have it! Now go grab something from a thrift store and turn it into marble!

Our 2012 Christmas Mantle.

 

 

It's the most wonderful time of the year! And I love our mantle. Again. It didn't change much at all from last year, but here it is for all who want to see it:

 

 

 

 

Obviously, we painted our house, which I LOVE. I moved the stockings over to one side and added a mirrored ball thing that I got at TJMaxx a few years ago, as well as another apothecary jar that normally sits on a dresser in the corner of our living room (our tree is there right now). The last new addition this year are a couple of wired baskets filled with grapevine balls and ornaments.

 

 

 

 

This year I decided to jump on the bandwagon and buy some real greenery to mix in with my ever-faithful faux greenery. I like the look, but not the mess, and definitely not the rash that it gave my hands! And it made me wheeze. I am a loser.

 

 

 

 

 

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So here is our mantle last year:

 

 

(OH my gaaaawsh. I pulled this up and yelled "Peach Crayon!" How did I stand that color for so long? I really need to do a updated home tour with the new paint color--sorry about that.)

 

And here is our mantle now:

 

 

 

Ahhhh, pretty much the same, but SO much better. :)

 

 

Linking this at Ten June and The Lettered Cottage!

 

 

 

Our Fall Patio Decor

 

I thought I would share our outside fall decor before it's too late and I've already put up our Christmas decor. (which  I am soooooooo excited about!)

 

I spruced up a wreath that I made about 2 years ago with a burlap ribbon from last year's Christmas wreath and some fake fruit that my crafty mom gave me. Thank the Lord for hot glue guns.

 

I made some cute, easy, and most importantly, cheap pumpkin decorations with tulle fabric and JoAnn ribbon. I love love love love these. Love. I smile every time I look at the patio. Thank you again, Pinterest.

 

AND. And, I finally purchased some burlap fabric and cheap pillow forms from JoAnn's and whipped up some outdoor pillows that I think will match our decor no matter the season. Don't look to closely at the seams though---it's definitely not my best work.

 

 

I need to look at other people's fall decorations! That is on my to-do list. I have been absolutely terrible at reading blogs lately. And blogging. But I guess there are bigger problems in life ;).  



Quick Fix.

Hi there! First, thank you all so much for your well wishes on our third anniversary yesterday! It is truly crazy how fast time flies.

A few days ago, I shared how we lined the binds for privacy in our guest bedroom and nursery. Yes, they work great, yes it was cheap to accomplish, BUT there was one problem with our "After".

Our new "blackout" blinds weren't exactly the prettiest things to look at from the outside. Whoops :). (Don't mind the sprinkler--just keeping it real!)

My OCD self had to figure out a solution...SO I headed to the fabric store, bought some clearance outdoor fabric (ticking stripe baby!), and did a little hemming....

A little ironing....

And then staple-gunned my blind-covering concoction right on to the top of blinds...

Side Note: Don't you just hate when you finish a project and in all of your "I'm Finished!" happiness are bummed to realize that you need to take it down and fix something? That is the downfall of all DIY projects in my opinion.

...And re-hung the new and even more improved project for the outside world to see.

Ahhhhh, so much better. My OCD-ness can calm it's little self down now. ;)

Are there any projects that you have had to re-do to make them more functional for your lifestyle and space?

We are headed to the airport to pick up my sweet mother-in-law for a weekend of fun and baby-kissin'! Have a great day.



The Cheap-o Way of Lining Blinds

Hi, everyone! First, I want to say THANK YOU for your responses to yesterday's post. I mean really, ya'll are awesome and encouraging and I am so happy to have gotten to know many of you through your kind words and sweet emails. This is the reason that blogging is pretty much the best thing ever. :)

Anywho, a few months ago, I mentioned that we lined our cheap-o bamboo blinds with some blackout fabric from JoAnn and many of you asked me how....so today, I'm showing you! Now, heed my warning--at the time we did this I wasn't planning to show a how-to, so you will have to bear with me.

To begin, let's take a trip down memory lane. I purchased these blinds from Overstock.com about 2 years ago. I got them for every window in the house, and I still love, love, LOVE them. They seriously changed the way our house looks. The only problem was that they weren't great for privacy because they weren't lined. I could have upgraded and gotten some more expensive lined bamboo blinds....but I'm too cheap :). So...when the time came to decorate the nursery and guest bedroom (the only rooms that have windows in the front of the house) I knew we had to figure out a solution to our no-privacy problem.

Enter this fabric from JoAnn Fabrics. It's a flame-resistant blackout fabric in Ecru. Originally $10.99 a yard, but we got on sale with a 40% off coupon.

We measured the blinds that needed to be lined beforehand so we knew how much black-out fabric to buy. Once we brought it home, we cut the fabric to fit the blinds (leaving about an 1/2 inch of exposed blind all the way around).

(I got lucky and found ONE picture of my mom lining the blinds back in January!) Score.

We bought some upholstery spray adhesive at JoAnn's (they have a ton of different brands), sprayed it on the blinds, and then placed the fabric on top. Make sure you have a drop cloth underneath the blinds just in case any of the adhesive tries to seep through. We smoothed out all of the wrinkles and then very quickly lined the edges with hot glue (that's right - hot glue).

After the blinds were dry (we waited 24 hours), we hung them back on the windows and held our breaths to see if they would actually fold up. It took some finagling--a lot at first--but after we guided the blinds to fold correctly a few times, they went up and down without a problem!

Now creepers can't spy on us! I'm happy to say that we accompished this for less than half the price of many of the pre-lined blinds I've seen on the market. AND they still work perfeclty six months later. Oh, happy day!

Have a wonderful, wonderful weekend, friends. :)

 

Bulk Shopping and Kitchen Organization

I always love reading posts about how people run their homes, and especially how they keep everything organized. Maybe I'm just a nerd like that, but I need all the help I can get, so today I thought I'd share my recent kitchen organization overhaul for those of you who are interested :).

Bryan and I recently bit the bullet and got a Sam's Club membership since we will be in need of a massive amount of diapers in a few short months (!). We decided to take a little walk around the store and our eyes were opened to wonders of buying in bulk. How did I not now that I can stock up on food items that we eat every month for much less than I pay at the grocery store??? This prompted a massive shopping trip earlier this week (by myself---lesson learned to NEVER do that again....my back still hurts), which then prompted a total re-organization of our kitchen in order to store all of our new, shiny bulk purchases.

At first, the kitchen exploded.

Exhibit A:

(Sidenote: My husband eats like a 12-year-old, hence the sugary cereals and Little Debbie snacks)

Exhibit B:

I am happy to say, however, that I eventually (after about and hour and a half-yikes) got it all put away. I started out by dividing the large amounts of meat and bread that I bought into portions for two people, and froze most of it for future use.

 

(MONSTER HAND!!!)

I even took a risk and bought a HUGE lasagna (I'm a Stouffer's girl all the way) and thawed it to cut into four separate meals. I was nervous that this wouldn't work, but was very happy to find that our first 1/4 of it turned out perfectly (I made it that same night) after I baked it in a foil covered baking dish. Score!

I even divided up all of our chips and lunch snacks into baggies so that we can just grab them as we're running out the door.

Then I moved on to the pantry and fridge. Now, I forgot to take before pictures (BAD blogger...but I did show you my messy kitchen so give me a break), but here is the "after":

I finally put the storage shelves and bins that I bought at Target a few months ago to good use! Go me.

In the fridge, I threw out a TON of disgusting, molded (truth) food and actually washed all of the fruit and veggies that I bought in advance (who knew!) to remedy the problem of not eating them and letting them go bad because I still have to wash them. :) Yes, I am that lazy.

Same story in the freezer. I made sure to bag everything up in portions for two so that I will actually take the time to make it! Genius, I know.

And that's about it. I know....riveting. :) But I do feel like a can breathe a little easier when I'm making meals in our kitchen now.

So, tell me, how do you keep your kitchen organized? Do you have any great tips for buying in bulk and storing everything that I don't know about?

Have a great Thursday! We are almost to Friday, Friday, Gettin' down on Friday, Fun, Fun, Fun.... and now that song should be in your head for the rest of the day. :) You're welcome!