The halls are decked, and the house smells like gingerbread, which can only mean one thing: It’s Christmastime! And if you’re still trying to decide how to dazzle your giftees with fun and festive packaging, have no fear because today marks the start of Wrapping Week 2015. That means five new wrapping ideas, five days in a row. Woo hoo!
This year’s wrapping came together entirely with things I already had around the house and initiated my newfound obsession with pom-pom making and paper-straw crafting. The materials are super simple, but I think the overall spread is pretty fun and cohesive. Hopefully there’s something for everyone, from the I-hand-make-my-own-ornaments-thank-you-very-much crowd to the just-hand-me-a-marker-and-let’s-do-this-thing kind of wrapper.
First up is one of my personal favorites, largely because I spent a good many hours watching Christmas movies while making bow after bow to glue atop packages. You can take or leave the dots I suppose, but really, isn’t everything better with polka dots?
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Dots and Bows
What you’ll need:
- brown craft paper
- baker’s string
- mint-colored paint
- glue
How to do it:
To make the bows, take the baker’s string and wind it around a few of your fingers lots of times, depending on the size you want your bow (I wound it around four of my fingers 50 times each for the bows pictured above). Carefully slide the wound string off of your fingers so the loop doesn’t come unraveled. Then take a separate piece of string, and tie it tightly around the center of your loop. Make sure it’s snug and as close to the middle as you can get it. You should be left with a figure 8 sort of shape. Finally, use scissors to cut the new smaller loops on both sides of the string you just tied in the middle. Fluff the ends of the bow, and you’re done!
Wrap your present in brown craft paper, and wrap a few separate strands of baker’s twine around the package. Use hot glue to stick the bows along the strings in whatever pattern you choose.
To finish it off, use a paintbrush (or pencil eraser of Q-tip) to add dots of mint paint on top of the package.
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XO,
Katrina