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!

Movie Night Gift and a Popcorn Recipe

Today I thought I would share our gift for a 'Favorite Things' couples shower that we went to last weekend. The invitation instructed us to think of something that we truly loved or was a favorite item of ours--like a favorite kitchen gadget, favorite restaurant gift card, favorite type of food, etc., and give it as a gift to the bride and groom-to-be. I thought it was a really cute idea!

Bryan and I are big-time homebodies and love to spend our evenings watching movies and eating popcorn. We have a favorite homemade popcorn recipe that I make ALL the time, so I thought it would be cute to turn this favorite date night of ours into a gift.

First, I made a recipe card and attached it to a bag of popcorn kernels. I originally got the recipe from The Nourishing Home (great site!)--but since we like a lot more fat and salt (shame), I have revised it quite a bit and have a few techniques of my own to prevent it from burning :). 

We are total popcorn snobs, but this popcorn is AH-mazing and really does taste like it's from a movie theater! It's super easy and quick to make too, which is a plus. We haven't used bagged popcorn since we first started using this recipe (which is really saying something).

I bought most of the ingredients (with the exception of butter sticks) and put them all in a giant popcorn bowl. I couldn't find one that was really cute and inexpensive, so I settled for a plain black plastic one.

I also got a Red Box gift card online, printed it, and stuck it in there with everything else. (5 movies for $6 or something crazy cheap like that!)

After everything was assembled, I topped the whole thing off with some tissue paper (Target) and managed to make a cute little leopard print bow using some wrapping paper and hot glue. 

Of course, a lot of people like movies and popcorn so there were different variations of a movie night gift...including an actual popcorn machine. HA! I'm not kidding, though. :) 

For anyone who may want to print this recipe card, all you have to do is click here to download. You can thank me later. After you've eaten the entire bowl in 20 minutes.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Fabric Flower Bows

Hi everyone! As you know, Bryan and I will be getting a NIECE in April. Alisha (my sister-in-law) has asked me to be the official bow-maker for little miss Hensley, so I spend a lot of my time trying to find different ways to make cute bows.

Before Christmas I learned how to make standard hair bows, and thought they were so fun to make! (I will post more about these soon).

But I really wanted to make some sort of flower bow--more than just buying a fake flower and gluing a hair clip to it. I was so happy when I came across these fabric flower bows--I just had to try them! AND I used fabric that I already had, so this project was FREE! I also found 2 other ways to make flower bows, so I plan on trying those in the next few weeks!

What you'll need:

-1 strip of fabric (2inches wide, 2 feet long)
-Hot glue gun
-Bow clips, alligator clips, pins, headbands....whatever you want to attach it to
-Wax Paper
-Buttons or bling (optional)

First, cut out the strip of fabric (I cut out several strips here, because I was making a cluster of flowers)

Next, take your strip of fabric and begin to wrap it into a "cinnamon roll" shape, twisting and bunching the fabric as you go along. Add a dot of hot glue every once in a while to hold it in place.

Once you have an inch of fabric left, hot glue it to the back of the flower. Clip your hair clip (I used alligator clips) to a piece of wax paper and put hot glue on top. Attach flower and wait for it to dry.

Remove the bow once it is dry and add buttons, bling, or leave it plain.

I chose to add green buttons to this one!

I also made a huge white one and I'm still debating whether or not to add a button or leave it plain...

Decisions, decisions.

Here's a few more pictures of the 3 I made:

Here's one of the back. I actually put an extra layer of white backing on it just to hold everything in place.

You can even use these as a pretty cute purse clip!

That's it for now!

I've decided to try these link parties, so go visit the The Shabby Nest for more crafts and decor :)