Monochrome Gift Wrapping

Natural herbs have become my best friends! You can see how I've played with their delicate hues and intricate designs here and here. Now I thought of celebrating their beauty by incorporating them into a subtle gift wrapping in the same color. Here they are: monochrome gifts!

There are several ways you can apply the dried herbs while keeping a minimalist appearance of the gift wrap, as you can see in the photos below:

Just wrap the gift box in soft lavender and put the twig on top. Secure the gift with a single line of wool.

For the black gift wrapping I used a little bit of black washi tape to keep the berries on top of the box.

Or you can tie together two twigs with thread, then add a drop of glue onto the craft paper gift wrapping!

The monochrome gift wrapping is super-easy to make if you stick to these simple rules:

1. Choose your natural twigs and berries first, then find color-coordinated paper in similar shades.

2. Use little or no yarn at all (same goes for ribbon, tags or other embellishments).

3. Less is more - don't overcrowd the gifts. But you can be as creative as you can :) Enjoy!

Linking up to these lovely parties.

And some of them require a backlink in the actual post, so here they are:

http://adiamondinthestuff.blogspot.ro/   http://www.myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/   http://www.blackberryvine.blogspot.ro/   http://www.cedarhill-ranch.com/   http://diycraftyprojects.com

http://www.sew-much-ado.com/   http://www.elizabethandco.blogspot.ro/   http://thelifeofjenniferdawn.blogspot.ro/

http://www.houseofhepworths.com/  http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com   http://www.the36thavenue.com/

http://www.frommyfrontporchtoyours.com/  http://www.theartsygirlconnection.com/   http://www.somewhatsimple.com   http://www.commonground-do.com/   http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.ro/   http://www.funkyjunkinteriors.net/

http://www.redouxinteriors.com  http://www.myrepurposedlife.com/  http://www.alittleknickknack.com

http://itsahodgepodgelife.blogspot.ro/   http://www.504main.com/   http://www.atthepicketfence.com

http://www.shabbynest.blogspot.ro/   http://romantichome.blogspot.ro/   http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.ro    http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.ro/  http://thefrugalgirls.com/ http://www.remodelaholic.com    http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.ro  http://www.blissfulanddomestic.com  http://www.craft-o-maniac.com/  http://www.bystephanielynn.com/   http://diyhshp.blogspot.com/   http://makingtheworldcuter.com/  http://betweennapsontheporch.net/  http://www.delineateyourdwelling.com

Printable Bauble Gift Tags

Dear friends, here is a little gift for those of you in need of a breath of fresh air (and free gift tags). I'm sharing some care-free tags for some last minute casual gift wrapping. If you're overwhelmed by the invasion of free gift tags featuring cute Christmas trees, Santa, Rudolf and so on, or if you need a shift from tradition, you can use my alternative gift tags, based of my own photos from the blog. The tags are free to download here. 

My free gift tags are less conventional, but they still fit into the Christmas feel. I've made 10 different designs, each one shaped like a bauble ornament. So basically they can be printed and hung in the Christmas tree, why not?!  The tags come in different colors, so they can be assorted to many kids of wrapping paper.

For a neat look, wrap your gifts in solid color paper (or craft paper, I bet it would look terrific!) and hang the bauble gift tags by a piece of yarn in a matching color. I went the extra mile and wrapped my gifts in ombre shades of mint. The vivid colors of the gift tags will stand out from the crowd :)

Or you can go crazy and choose a busy patterned wrapping paper and some neon string. Hang a bunch of gift tags on the same present, instead of just one. It looks like fun!

If you're curious to discover from which of my blog posts I've taken the photos, take a peak here:

1. Orange and purple flowers from the Autumn Flower Ball tutorial

2. The inside of a crystal Chalk Paint Vase

3. The inside of a blue vase from my Sand, Sea and Sky shooting

4. Apple shaped gravel from What To Do?

5. Red peony petals from Don't Play With Your Food

6. A snowflake made of mini pegs in Winter Valentine

7. Hyacinth bulbs from How To Force Bulbs For Winter

8. Painted toothpics in the process of making Mad Hatter Cupcake Toppers

9. 3. The inside of a yellow vase, also from my Sand, Sea and Sky shooting

10. A snowflake of paper boats from my Origami Garland

 If you have any questions, just let me know. This printable is provided for personal, non-commercial use only. Enjoy!

Linking up to these lovely parties.

And some of them require a backlink in the actual post, so here they are:

http://adiamondinthestuff.blogspot.ro/   http://www.myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/   http://www.blackberryvine.blogspot.ro/   http://www.cedarhill-ranch.com/   http://diycraftyprojects.com

http://www.sew-much-ado.com/   http://www.elizabethandco.blogspot.ro/   http://thelifeofjenniferdawn.blogspot.ro/

http://www.houseofhepworths.com/  http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com   http://www.the36thavenue.com/

http://www.frommyfrontporchtoyours.com/  http://www.theartsygirlconnection.com/   http://www.somewhatsimple.com   http://www.commonground-do.com/   http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.ro/   http://www.funkyjunkinteriors.net/

http://www.redouxinteriors.com  http://www.myrepurposedlife.com/  http://www.alittleknickknack.com

http://itsahodgepodgelife.blogspot.ro/   http://www.504main.com/   http://www.atthepicketfence.com

http://www.shabbynest.blogspot.ro/   http://romantichome.blogspot.ro/   http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.ro

 http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.ro/   http://thefrugalgirls.com/  http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.ro  http://www.blissfulanddomestic.com  http://www.craft-o-maniac.com/  http://www.bystephanielynn.com/   http://diyhshp.blogspot.com/   http://makingtheworldcuter.com/  http://betweennapsontheporch.net/  http://www.delineateyourdwelling.com

A Simple Gift Wrap Made With Stamps

The best things in life are free! And this is my proof - look at the beautifully gift wrapped present I got from my friend Ana, the mastermind behind Uituka handmade notebooks. She chose to wrap the present in a simple crepe paper, yellow as the hot sun. Oh how I love the wrinkled texture of crepe paper! She also hand carved a heart-shaped stamp, which she used to personalize the wrapping paper. Thank you, Ana!

Christmas Gift Wrap: Snowflakes And Pompoms

Following my recent neon Christmas inspiration post, I took out an old neon wrapping paper and my snowflake paper punch and got to work. This is simple to do and beautiful to look at. As I was putting together the finishing touches on the first Christmas package, I felt like there was something missing. A third dimension. So I got to play with some white pompoms and the gifts were ready to present.

Lo SWAP delle ZUCC-ONE

The best part of being a blogger (I am still in my first year, so I'm a fresh one): the bonding! Can you imagine that my friend Anna from Tulimami has painted this awesome little fellow for me? And sent it to me, over seven seas and seven kingdoms, like in a modern fairy tale? I feel .......................... still speechless!  Thank you, Anna, I loved you from your happy yellow dots in the entryway (I wonder why:))))) and your gift is sitting pretty by my bedside. My room mate would try and steal it from me, 'cause she loves it, too! I've started the pics with the way I received my precious little zuccone, simply wrapped in a happy patterned cloth, so that you can feel what I felt by unwrapping my beautiful gift. Mille baci, Anna!

Autumn Gift Wrapping

This kind of Autumn gift wrapping would be perfect for Thanksgiving presents, I guess. I actually made it for my mom, who is born in October. I spent one and a half hour shopping for her in my favorite bookstore (she is an avid reader and I wanted to surprise her) and only 10 minutes making this simple gift wrap, inspired by Fall. I chose natural items already in hand, like the gray yarn and the seabuckthorn branch. For a little extra bling, I went with a silver wrapping paper, although I don't normally use metallic decor. But I love the way the silver brings out the boosting color of the seabuckthorn :)

For those of you who never heard of seabuckthorn before, let me tell you that you can find it near the woods and it's pretty common here in Romania. Careful with those thorns, if you wanna pick it yourself! The seabuckthorn has a gigantic quantity of vitamin C (ten times more than oranges), as well as minerals and beta carotene. It is a powerful antioxidant and we use it to make a sweet-sour tea, to fight the cold.

Also, may I present my lovely assistant Anais, who is a tremendous help when it comes to wrapping gifts. She always gathers the materials needed for the job and sits on the wrapping paper, to keep it warm. Then, she makes sure that the yarn ball is properly confused, by spinning it around for a bit. Thank you, Anais, I am counting on your talents, now that we must prepare for Christmas gifts!

Click here to see more gift wrapping posts :)

YAY! The simple Fall gift wrap has been featured at Homework, Destination: Craft, Organize And Decorate Everything, The Blackberry Vine, JAQS Studio, Ginger Snap Crafts, Little Inspiration, Blueberry Craft And Hobby Time and Clean And Scentsible. Thank you so much, Carolyn, Kathryn, Jami, Ginger, Angie, Ewa and Jenn -  it means so much to me :)

        

     

Handmade notebook

So I made my first notebook ever. For my friend Ana (and she taught me how to actually do it). I hope she will write and draw tons of stuff on it and that by Christmas, the whole notebook will be completed. For what is a notebook without the notes and doodles inside it, to call your own?
And a little update: you can find many more handmade notebooks on our Etsy shop L'ateliera!

To make this present, I used colored paper (mint for the notebook body and turquoise for the inside covers - Ana's favorite colors) and an old skirt with a lovely dotted - psychedelic pattern. A touch of happy yellow never hurt anybody, but don't stare too long at the fine lines or you will get a mighty headache!

Quick tutorial:

1. You will need: a piece of fabric in a playful pattern, hard cardboard, colored lightweight paper, liner, cutter, scissors, glue, waxy string, a needle and an awl for piercing everything.

2. Cut the strips of paper twice as big as the final size you want for your finished notebook. Fold every paper in half along the sewing line (where the stitches will be) and make 7 sheet sets.

3. Pierce every set  of paper, using a guiding template (to make sure the wholes are even on each set of paper).

4. Cut the covers and carefully glue the fabric on the outside. Tuck the corners in.

5. Glue the inside cover over the fabric corners and pierce the covers, using the same template.

6. Sew every set of paper - this is impossible to explain properly, but there are plenty of web tutorials out there. To be honest, it was Ana who taught me how to make the stitches... because handmade notebooks are her hobby!

Hip Hip Hooray! I've just been featured at Clean & Scentsible, Social Salutations, JAQS Studio, Simple Home Life, Homework, Alderberry Hill, It's So Very Cheri, Cherished Bliss, Get Outta My Head Please,  Cabin Fevered Gem, My Uncommon Slice Of Suburbia and Petite Hermine and also got pinned on Romance On A Dime. Thank you so much for the feature, it gives me the power for more projects :)