Monday, November 10, 2008

Brown Paper Packages...

Photobucket

We have had a house full of visitors the past week or two, and it has been so much fun! (Well minus the cold that Avery has been afflicted with.)

But now that things have slowed down a bit...for a few days at least, I am busy busy working on some Christmas gifts. But I can't show you photos of
those.

I can show you photos of the wrapping though...which to me, is almost as good as what's inside.

Growing up, my mom went to special effort to wrap presents beautifully. It was so fun to walk past the tree and admire the gilded papers and yards of fancy wired fabric ribbons tying them. Yeah, Meier and Frank had nothing on her! It was something that started first thing in December and we got to enjoy all through the month. You could always tell which gifts were purchased and wrapped early in the Christmas season, and which were quickly done the night before, by the fanciness of their wrapping.

I love to make things look beautiful. I love giving gifts, because it means that I get to think about how I am going to wrap them. I love using real ribbon, and pretty tissue paper, and most often a plain brown or white box. I love crafting a note card. And it is all kind of silly and fleeting...but that's what makes it special I guess. Anyway, I love wrapping gifts, and I hate waiting until the last minute to do it.

This year I am reprising an idea I had three or four years ago
. I lived in Omaha, and the great thing about Omaha (yes there are some) is that folks still think their junk is junk, and don't realize the wonderful repurposing potential. Their yard sales, and thrifts stores were a trove of crafting goodness.

Photobucket

I found these gaudy costume jewelry earrings at a yard sale and bought the lot. Then I just broke the post off the back and glued a pin in its place (although in retrospect...I could have just kept the post on...but who wants weird ear gunk on their ribbon?). Then I wrapped the gifts with simple plain paper, tied with a pink, brown, or blue velvet ribbon (LOVE velvet ribbon!), and finished with a sparkly jewel.

Honestly it was hard for me to part with them, so if you received one, I really love you. Funny thing is that I remember exactly who I gave which jewel package to, and what color of ribbon went with it, but I have no memory of what gift I gave them.

I kept at least one of each pair of jewels, and I might just part with them this year,

...unless I decide to put the posts back on and actually wear them. I am kind of tempted.

11 comments:

  1. I love this idea! Love love love it! Thank you for posting about it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a great idea, I may have to steal it. If I got a package like that I would probably be more excited about the package than what was in it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I hope you do use this idea...that is the whole point of the post!

    ReplyDelete
  4. K I do the same but most the time I really wear the earrings. I love the way your mind thinks!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. i love you!



    and your creative trappings.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Danielle, you have great style.I love that look .XO,MOM

    ReplyDelete
  7. So beautiful!

    Also, I nominated you for a "blog award" (see my blog). I'm not really into chain-email-type-things (which this reminds me of), so I'm not beholding you to anything by nominating you. You can pass it on or not, but I thought you'd like to know . . .

    ReplyDelete
  8. My mom always wrapped with brown paper package wrapping too! She made the most elaborate bows! I loved the beauty and anticipation of Christmas more than actual Christmas because everything was so glittery and beautiful! You make everything gorgeous Danielle, and your head is full of wonderful ideas!

    ReplyDelete
  9. OK--You are SOOO talented! From "whipping up" amazing costumes to creating baby blanket ladders to making junk into gorgeous creations...WOWY WOWY WOW WOW! Avery is perfect, by the way.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow! I think it would be hard to open that package at all wrapped like this! And of course I'm a big fan of Kraft paper... Thanks a lot for sharing this great idea with us!

    Linda // paperphine.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. So pretty! I love this. Thanks for the idea and for sharing.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...