Planning for Christmas 2017 - Packaging for gift items and parcels
If you are going to be making your own preserved items or baked goods for friends at Christmas (and craft goods as well) you really want your present to look as good as it can.
Some of the things that I do at this time of year is source baskets from the Charity shops and then recycle them. You can leave them natural, give them a coat of gloss or paint them and then spruce them up and then pop your finished item in and wrap with ribbon and cellophane.
I also keep my eye out for cellophane you can never have too much of this. I try and look for it reduced throughout the year and stash it as it comes in extremely useful. Also tins, boxes paper see through bags, lolly sticks, gift bags, wine bottle covers, small interesting bottles and corks, ribbon, fabric tops, all can be made to look fabulous. You can also theme your baskets to the individual so for a keen cook say, a recipe book, some wooden spoons, oven gloves, some chutney, sauce, jam etc. oh and a new pinney and a pack of fabric tops to decorate home made jam etc.
I have a pinking wheel for my rotary cutter which I intend to make a stash of pretty fabric tops out of utilising a saucer and the wheel. I can get pretty fabric off the market for £2.99 a metre so can source the fabric cheaply enough and just have to invest a little bit of time and effort. You can always package your own sweets in a jar, create your own label and then give a fabric top. Even better if home made sweeties.
There are in several craft books templates for creating your own card boxes. Probably a good way to utilise the card from cereal packets and with a bit of time and effort creating your own gift boxes which would be ideal for sweeties a scarf, some hankies, etc.
There are in several craft books templates for creating your own card boxes. Probably a good way to utilise the card from cereal packets and with a bit of time and effort creating your own gift boxes which would be ideal for sweeties a scarf, some hankies, etc.
When I say lolly sticks I am talking about the ones that used to be used for children's sugar lolly pops (penny pops I think they used to call them) as I have some recipes for making these at home. They are on the list to do for the littlies this Christmas.
Last year I bought two wooden crates which I did not get round to using and I am hoping that I will be able to locate some more this year. I have found some wicker ones in The Works but I am not sure that they are really what I am after. They look good and I think it is £7 each or two for £10 or something along those lines.
Why not also make your own paper and make your own wrapping paper utilising flowers and leaves. Now is a good time to do this as the leaves are starting to dry and fall. Or make the paper plain and then give them a paint job using leaves covered in paint and then pressing them into the paper like stamps. There is always something you can be doing.
The meanie in me also collects ribbons and strings and some paper if it is in good nick for recycling throughout the year. So if I can recyle it I will all in the name of waste not want not.
I also buy brown wrapping paper from the pound shop and use flower ribbon or proper ribbon and embellish it with a stringer (or the back of a knife) which makes the ribbon go all twirly or the version which shreds it or I make pom pom toppings to give it a bit of fancy and some glitz. I have a machine which helps with this, which I have had for quite some time which I think initially came via QVC so I am not sure whether they are still available. I also use natural foliage and fir cones, acorns star anise etc as well as other paper decorations.
I am very lucky in that I have a Big Shot and I have developed a habit of buying any interesting dies - most of them Christmas related but a lot not as well as embossing plates which can then use to embellish plain paper. However you can also make paper wreaths, packaging labels and there are lots of options with this. I have some cracker dies one a small one ideal for little Christmas crackers for the Christmas tree and also a medium sized one which is also ideal for using as a wrapping for a Christmas present.
And of course you can with the aid of a paper shredder create your own packaging to pad little gifts and can use plain paper or coloured paper or tissue paper You can often get packs of tissue paper for wrapping gifts in before adding the Christmas final paper quite reasonably. I still have some that I bought from Lakeland quite some time ago.
You can also give a gift of some fabric to a needlework friend by wrapping another smaller present in the fabric and embellish with ribbon this way on you have no waste and the present is entirely practical.
And then there are the covers for bottles of wine or drinks. You can make these out of paper but you can also make these out of fabric and embellish them. Might be a good project for my embroidery machine in due course. We will have to see what I can come up with. Most people know by the shape what something is but if it has a little bit of fancy on it makes them feel more special. Besides the bags can also be used to store other things in although I fancy Tartan as it always looks so cosy.
There are lots of things that you can do often it is just down to playing with the resources you have and finding another way as to how to use them. There are lots of ideas out there and sometimes it is just a matter of thinking out of the box. Break the rules things don't have to be used in one particular way and that is that. Experiment and play and make Christmas packaging what you want it to be rather than just buying stuff off the shelf ready made with no part of you in it and just the same as everyone else, which I find particularly boring! So the packaging for me is just as important as the present itself.
Catch you soon.
Pattypan
x
Why not also make your own paper and make your own wrapping paper utilising flowers and leaves. Now is a good time to do this as the leaves are starting to dry and fall. Or make the paper plain and then give them a paint job using leaves covered in paint and then pressing them into the paper like stamps. There is always something you can be doing.
The meanie in me also collects ribbons and strings and some paper if it is in good nick for recycling throughout the year. So if I can recyle it I will all in the name of waste not want not.
I also buy brown wrapping paper from the pound shop and use flower ribbon or proper ribbon and embellish it with a stringer (or the back of a knife) which makes the ribbon go all twirly or the version which shreds it or I make pom pom toppings to give it a bit of fancy and some glitz. I have a machine which helps with this, which I have had for quite some time which I think initially came via QVC so I am not sure whether they are still available. I also use natural foliage and fir cones, acorns star anise etc as well as other paper decorations.
I am very lucky in that I have a Big Shot and I have developed a habit of buying any interesting dies - most of them Christmas related but a lot not as well as embossing plates which can then use to embellish plain paper. However you can also make paper wreaths, packaging labels and there are lots of options with this. I have some cracker dies one a small one ideal for little Christmas crackers for the Christmas tree and also a medium sized one which is also ideal for using as a wrapping for a Christmas present.
And of course you can with the aid of a paper shredder create your own packaging to pad little gifts and can use plain paper or coloured paper or tissue paper You can often get packs of tissue paper for wrapping gifts in before adding the Christmas final paper quite reasonably. I still have some that I bought from Lakeland quite some time ago.
You can also give a gift of some fabric to a needlework friend by wrapping another smaller present in the fabric and embellish with ribbon this way on you have no waste and the present is entirely practical.
And then there are the covers for bottles of wine or drinks. You can make these out of paper but you can also make these out of fabric and embellish them. Might be a good project for my embroidery machine in due course. We will have to see what I can come up with. Most people know by the shape what something is but if it has a little bit of fancy on it makes them feel more special. Besides the bags can also be used to store other things in although I fancy Tartan as it always looks so cosy.
There are lots of things that you can do often it is just down to playing with the resources you have and finding another way as to how to use them. There are lots of ideas out there and sometimes it is just a matter of thinking out of the box. Break the rules things don't have to be used in one particular way and that is that. Experiment and play and make Christmas packaging what you want it to be rather than just buying stuff off the shelf ready made with no part of you in it and just the same as everyone else, which I find particularly boring! So the packaging for me is just as important as the present itself.
Catch you soon.
Pattypan
x
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