That's A Wrap: Holiday Packaging Ideas

I’ll admit that it’s happened to me before: a very merry GIFT BAG Christmas.

When I’m wrapping the gifts in the back of a moving SUV while my husband speeds down the road towards family Christmas, I know I’ve waited a wee bit too long. In those instances, a number of gifts inevitably find their way inside of a lazy man’s wrap job…shoved into a gift bag and buried under a fistful of wrinkled tissue paper.

“Santa’s elves must have run out of wrapping paper this year,” I’d suggest offhandedly to my nephews. In reality, the damn elves had nothing to do with it. Desperate times call for desperate measures. It was this gift bag, or simply handing out the naked gift, which feels like it fell off the back of a truck.

I guess it could always be worse.
Photo courtesy of www.eryen.com 

In anticipation for another season of wrapping, I finally got myself together - and with a few supplies and an easy-to-follow theme, I came up with 2 wrapping styles anyone can follow or make their own.

Rustic

The more neutral the color palette, the better. Keep it simple with shades of earthy tones – tans, browns, greens. To achieve a rustic look, it’s more about texture than color. Burlap is back, and it’s easy to find burlap ribbons and other natural fibers at your local craft store.

This box is finished with a chalkboard gift tag I found at a big box
discount home store.

Woodsy

Channel flannel here. Use a neutral base –brown parcel wrapping works really well – and wrap with textiles from your closet or the local thrift shop. Snip and tear scarves, pants, ties and other interesting fabrics into ribbons and wrapping bands for your boxes.

I'm gonna pop some tags...and got a pile of scarves for $5 at the thrift shop.

Overlap small pieces and tie up with a neutral ribbon for
an interesting & easy bow.

If you really want to capture the great outdoors – like, say, “Eddie-Bauer-photo-shoot-on-a-mountain” woodsy – stick fresh or fake greenery, pinecones, feathers, twigs and other outdoor accoutrements in the homemade ribbons.

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 However beastly or beautifully it’s wrapped, I hope you get everything you want this holiday season.