Wrapping Week 2013: O Tannenbaum

Well, we started the week with Beany’s favorite wrapping project, and we’re ending the week with Jared’s, though I’m not sure whether it’s his favorite because he loves how it looks or because he had a hand in the process. I originally planned to break pencils into small pieces, glue those together to make the tree shape and then wrap that in twine. Of course, that would require me to break loads of pencils into lots of pieces. Evenly. All the while trying not to get pierced by pencil shards or covered with lead. I was in my watch-me-use-my-super-strength-to-snap-this-pencil-in-half pose when Jared suggested I cut some cardboard into triangles and use that instead. The man is a crafting genius.

I must say, the little twine trees do make me pretty happy every time I look at them, but then again, I suppose that’s in their job description. Christmas trees are natural happiness makers, and never have I seen one that I didn’t instantly love. Twine wrapped or not, they’re certainly good at what they do.

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What you’ll need:
• a few scraps of cardboard
• twine
• decorative twine or ribbon
• small red pompoms
• hot glue
• gift box
• white or brown craft paper (optional)

How you do it:
If you’re planning to wrap your package with craft paper instead of adding trees straight to the gift box, go ahead and do that first. Then cut your scraps of cardboard into four small and one slightly larger tree-shaped triangles (make sure that, when wrapped with twine, they’ll fit on the top and sides of your box).

Use a dot of hot glue to attach the twine to the back of your first cardboard triangle, down at the bottom. Once that’s held in place, begin wrapping the twine tightly around the triangle so as little cardboard shows through the front as possible. Add a few dots of hot glue on the back along the way so the twine stays tight. When you get to the top, cut the twine piece and secure it at the back with a last dot of hot glue. Repeat with the remaining four triangles.

To add a little something extra to the bigger tree for the top of the box, wrap a decorative piece of twine or ribbon around the triangle a few times. Secure it at the back with hot glue.

With your present wrapped and/or gift box closed, use hot glue to attach your twine-wrapped trees to the top and sides of the package. Finish them off by gluing a small red pompom to the top of each tree.

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That’s  a wrap on Wrapping Week 2013! I hope you found some inspiration to make your holiday gifts just as fun and special on the outside as they are on the inside. Happy, happy wrapping to all!

XO,
Katrina