In the world of the e-card and Facebook birthday greetings, the art of giving is getting lost! Too often people grab a gift card –at my grocery store I can get a gift card for a toy store and a steak place–and call it good. Don’t get me wrong-I like plastic money as much as the next girl.  However, when someone takes the time and the effort and the creativity – it means so much. So very much.  It can be a little inexpensive sentimental thing – wrap it in a bow and WOW!  It becomes a true gift.  So today, let’s focus on some presentation of the present!

My idea today was to use the cheerful, bright color scheme of orange, yellow and turquoise in my wrapping.  May Arts has a plethora of ribbons in this palette.  For the wrapping on this package, I used a regular box, tissue paper, double stick tape and my May Arts ribbon.  The Flower Loop Bow  was glued to the top of the ric rac band onto the present.  When wrapping take time to use a bone folder or a credit card to crease your paper. It gives your package an extra sharp, clean edge.  The tissue, bow and wide ric rac can all be recycled for another project.

Ribbons used:

• 330 Orange ric rac

• DD 5/8 Grosgrain dots

• 333 Grosgrain/horizontal lines

An inexpensive paper mache box can go from this:

to this:

I only used scraps and bits of paper from my scrap pile.  I began by selecting any paper  that fit my color scheme.  No new sheets of paper were harmed in the wrapping of this box. Using white glue and a paint brush, I collaged hand torn paper onto the sides of the boxes. For the top and the base, I traced, cut out and adhered paper.  A little bit of coordinating orange paint was used for the insides and edges. Tie a few bows, edge the box in ribbon and you have a wonderful container that can actually BE the present!

Ribbons used:

• Orange sheer C28

• Orange sheer ruffle edge 350

• Turquoise/white solid 340-04

For the next gift box I reused a box that had held soap.  The box had silver on the edges and I loved that look.  So after applying paper, I decided to emboss silver over the top to mimic the original box.  I colored on paintable paper with  water color pencils, cut the flower and embossed the edges.  I used tacky glue to adhere the flower and then embellished it with glossy accents and decorative pearls.  I made a 2 loop bow and knotted the center with silver and turquoise ribbon I placed a band of grosgrain ribbon on the top side of the box, and a sheer on the base.  I also added the pearls to the circles on the grosgrain ribbon.

Ribbons used:

• Grosgrain/ circles XJ

• Orange sheer C28

• Turquoise/white solid 340-04

• Silver  348-14-30

For my final wrapping assignment, I used a shoe box.  Yep.  I distressed the box, painted it, covered parts in scraps of paper…little sandpaper…little more paint!  CRAZY EASY!  The bow was the fun part.  I adapted the rosette bow using hot glue to layer the bow. 

Ribbons used:

• Orange lace NQ

• Yellow sheer jumbo dot 345

• Turquoise stripe 369

• Orange webbed weave WQ

• Yellow fuzzy Pom pom 346

Blog Posted By:  Leah Farrar-White

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