I love embellishing plain packaging to make it look more special and often times just a few minutes, and a little ribbon, can totally change the look. Around the holidays I took a plain paper bag, typed a sentiment on a doily and wrapped it with several different ribbons, EX31, EX61, RJ14. It turned out so pretty and took hardly any effort!

And of course there are the goodies to give that time of year too. Here I whipped up some cinnamon pecans for our neighbors and because I couldn't leave the jar plain added RJ14 and RG46. A tag and pretty embellishment from American Crafts topped it off.

And then there are all those gifts bags we seem to get, that I know for me pile up unless I use them!  Take this bag I received for Christmas:

Nothing is really wrong with it, but I wanted to jazz it up…and I wanted to use it for a birthday gift instead of for the holidays. Enter in May Arts ribbon and some scrapbooking stash to the rescue!

I decided on a bright, cheerful color scheme since it was for a birthday…and also because it has been overcast and cold here–I wanted to see some bright,happy colors and flowers!

For a little extra contrast I added some sewing between the two patterns to anchor them together, as well as some dimensional adhesive to place one flower on top of another.

The SM09 Burlap/String was perfect for tying the cardstock heart around the sentiment tag. Some flowers were added to tie in with the larger floral patterned paper.

Here you can see the bag in it's entirety…a much different look than before! I cut off the handles and replaced them with 368-15-18 Faux Linen ribbon, which if you have not held in your hands you must! It is so pretty and has a soft texture–definitely one of my favorites.

Now you are ready to give that special gift. My littlest guy had to check it out

 and was totally bummed to not find a present inside!

So before you give a great gift in plain packaging, consider giving it a “re-do”!

Blog Post by: Lexi Bridges