Crate Paper

It's a Wrap! :: September

Hello Crate Paper fans! Tara here today to welcome you to another month of "It's a Wrap" as we say good bye to the month of September and an enthusiastic hello to October! With so many birthdays celebrated throughout the month of September, I have a few thank-you gifts now to send along to our friends and family. One such gift, to my sister, leans towards being more of a craft/scrapbook gift which is perfect for this gift-wrap post! 

Even while being stationed in Georgia, my sister still finds the time to write to us about her experiences and my kids look so forward to receiving a letter from Aunt Dana. To help her out a bit, I've created a bundle of correspondence supplies, everything from notebooks, a handmade mini journal, stamps, pre-addressed envelopes, even a few photos of her own puppies! With the help of our Story Teller Collection & some repurposed embroidery hoops, I was able to create a few simple handmade gift-tags! 

While looking for something a bit different and even unique to use as a base for my gift cards, I came across some all-but-forgotten embroidery hoops. Being a very big collector of vintage fabric, this gave me the opportunity to not only repurpose the hoops, but also to showcase some of my favorite vintage linens! 

The gift cards are a series of Story Teller: Accent Cuts, Chipboard Accents, Clothes Pins, and the Epoxy brads. Because her gift was made up of a few small packages, I was able to create a little gift tag to adorn each bag/envelope.

* I think everyone can always use a mini journal! *

Here's a tip for building layered gift tags, but also keeping the layers separate. I like to use  foam dots and instead of peeling the paper off of the back of each dot, I always leave the paper on the foam pop-dot that touches the gift-tag. This way, when the gift is unwrapped, all of the layers come cleanly apart- and no sticky residue!

 

I layered all of the packaged together and since her gift is being slipped inside a bubble-envelope, I opted to wrap it up in a newspaper printed tissue paper and some fun vintage pom-pom trim! I could also see the embroidery hoop and gift tags being added to a traditional box-gift with neutral wrapping paper and a pretty torn fabric bow! 

If you need a simple gift-wrap idea for the next gift you give, look no further than the Story Teller collection and a few embroidery hoops! Thank you so much for joining me once again for our It's a Wrap post and please join me next month here for an all new gift wrap theme! 

It's a Wrap! - August

 

Hello Crate Paper fans! Welcome to another installment of "It's a Wrap" as we say good bye to the month of August. (Where did this month go!) I have a very good craft friend coming to visit us tomorrow and I've been trying to decide on a small welcome gift to present to her upon her arrival. Just a little something that says "welcome friend! It's so good to see you again!"

 When it comes to my craft & scrapbooking friends, I like to give away gifts that I would like to receive! I originally thought that the idea or concept of a little welcome craft themed basket would have been super cute, unfortunately my search efforts for a small-ish type basket turned up nothing useful. Now, I'm not one to let go of an idea once it settles into my head, so I decided to rethink the whole basket idea.. keep the welcome gift concept and just change the container! 

What about a glass jar? I have, at any point in time, upwards of at least 3 dozen glass jars in various shapes and sizes, surely I could find one that would live up to my creative vision. The idea of being able to see through a jar and it's contents being visible made the idea even more playful! Yes, I believe I'm sold on a glass jar! 

After I decided on a medium sized jar with a lid, it was time to think about what to include inside. Knowing that my friend Jessica had already requested something along the lines of a travel kit with the colors: grey & coral, I set about my craft room to create a collection of found, vintage and handmade embellishments! Again, I thought about what type of scrapbooky things I would like to receive and it made the process of putting together this 'Welcome Jar' incredibly easy! 

Here's a few ideas for items to include in a (Craft) Jar:

• buttons
• handmade flowers
• trims, lace, ribbon
• tags, flashcards
• beads
• stickers
• chipboard pieces

 

After collecting everything I could find, I carefully filled my jar to the top!

Don't forget to make a gift-tag! I took my inspiration from the jar itself and created this mason-jar tag layered with chipboard pieces, (from the Pretty Party Collection) a couple of handmade flags and a little row of sparkly rhinestones! 

Here's where I got into an epic debate with myself no less: to wrap or not to wrap? Ordinarily, I'd say always gift-wrap a present - it's the icing on a cake. (and afterall, this series of posts was named after my love of giftwrap!) But, I think in this case the answer is: unwrapped. I love all of the little bits-n-bobs that went into the glass jar and to cover it all up would take away from the whimsy of this gift. So, I'm leaving it unwrapped!  

This welcome jar idea could easily translate into other themes too; a child's birthday, new home, welcome baby, best teacher in the world.... all you need is a jar and a little imagination! Thanks for joining me today and I hope you enjoyed this month's It's a Wrap post! Have a wonderful and creative weekend!

~

It's a Wrap! - June

Hello-hello to you and happy last day of June! It's Tara here with you this weekend and we've reached the last day of the month which can only mean that it's time for another installment of It's a Wrap! - where I get to share with you one of my gift-wrapping ideas! Today, I thought I would talk about a super simple way to give a gift-card by using a pillow box and some little extras. 

I know giving a giftcard isn't exactly high on the list of creativity however the way in which you can present a gift can certainly make up for it! I think pillow boxes are almost ingenius in their design because it opens at the top and this allows you to layer on as many textured layers and pretty embellishments as your heart desires! 

When I start pulling materials to use for giftwrap, I always think it terms of a common color scheme (in this case; black, white, aqua and yellow) but also in textures. I started with a plain white dollie and then added 2 handmade sewn garlands made from left over Crate scraps on my desk. 

I loosely wrapped the garlands around my box add secured them with a small glue dot to hold them in place. To make a quick gift-tag, I used one of the Story Teller stickers and backed it with paper, this way I could use it as an actual tag instead of just an ordinary sticker!

I found a snip of sparkly vintage sequin trim to tie my gift-tag to the box and punched a small butterfly onto the bottom of the tag. I love to add one element to gift wrap that's a might be a little unexpected - I thought a playful black pom-pom attached to the top would be a fun accent topper! 

There are so many fun possibilities when you combine Crate Paper, giftwrapping and a small pillow-box together! What can you wrap up today? 

Have a wonderful weekend and thank you for joining me again! 

 

It's a Wrap! - May

Hello - hello! It's Tara and I know what you're probably thinking: "It's not the last day of the month, she's late!" Which technically I am but what better way could there be in starting a brand new month than with a few gifts? May was the month for birthdays around here just as I had predicted ~ I believe we had a birthday party to attend every weekend, which equals lots of pretty wrapped presents! For me, shopping for gifts is just as fun as wrapping them, so I can't really complain either way. I do enjoy birthdays! 

I thought I would share how I went about wrapping up the little baby book I created last month using Crates new Little Bo Peep collection! As I was playing around with different ideas for Haley's presents I was determined to create a tiered gift that resembled a festive piñata or even a frilly birthday cake. With a little trial & error (yes, I'll admit it, it took me 2 or 3 tries in order to get the technique perfected!) and various colored tissue paper Haley's presents were already for her first big birthday party! 

The actual baby book is tucked away into the middle, medium sized box. Baby clothes are folded into the bottom box (any excuse to be able to purchase cute baby girl clothes!) and a few small toys fit snugly into the very top box. As for the actual mechanics of how-to re-create the piñata inspired look: I took long strips of tissue paper, carefully sewing the delicate layers together, making tiny cuts every inch or so with scissors and finally taping the sewn tissue strips to the lid of the box only. This way, the lid could easy be taken off without having to tear the tissue papers. Actually, it was made very much like how a typical piñata would have been constructed! 

True to form, I created another small bundle of gift tags to adorn the top of my gifts paired  along with a handmade flower and pretty pink butterfly.  I really love anything layered, this goes back all the way to being a child and I don't think I'll ever grow tired of the look! 

I think the Pretty Party collection coordinates effortlessly well with the Little Bo Peep collection! Here, I've mixed a few journaling tags and chipboard accents from each line to create a series of gift tags. (I even created a small paper envelope within the baby-book to collect the gift tags from all the presents!) 

Well then, this concludes another month of my 'It's a Wrap' posts! I'll be back next month with a whole new theme and a few more ideas for you! Have a wonderful and hopefully very creative weekend! 

Happy creating! ~ Tara

It's a Wrap! ~ April

Hello all you Crate Paper fans! It's Tara here today to share our third installment of It's a Wrap ~ where we wrap up the end of each month by playing with a different gift-wrap theme! The theme this month wasn't one that took alot of deciding upon. We've been celebrating many birthdays this month and May is looking to be just as full with festive birthday celebrations! 

I also thought a Birthday theme would be a wonderful reason to share a gift that I just wrapped up for my good friend Erica! Erica has reached a milestone birthday and we are ready to celebrate in grand style next weekend which meant that her gift could be a little over the top... I like to call it fanciful! 

  

Erica's gift ended up being on the larger side, so in order to bring balance to a large square gift, the gift topper had to be circular and colorful, as I had wrapped her gift with simple white wrapping paper. I decided on making a very full pom-pom for the top, it's very bright and very whimsical - just like my friend Erica! I will admit that it was much larger when I first created it but after a few snips here and there with my trust scissors, I was able to create a better proportioned pom-pom. It's attached to the gift by using a few foam pop-dots reinforced with a little tacky glue. 

By now you may have noticed that I'm a huge fan of tags in place of cards when it comes to gifts. I love taking a small group of tags and arranging them into  pretty layers. Mix in a few textured elements, like a flower and maybe a few clothe-pins and the bundle of tags are complete!  

As an extra layer I created a couple of frayed fabric tassels in coordinating colors to match my gift wrap. I chose to attach this very soft dove-grey tassel to the back of my little tag bundle. 

 

Now for my gift tags! If you can keep a secret, I'll let you know what I got Erica for her birthday ~ one of the tags will make more sense knowing what the gift is! I purchased a new record player for my friend and to carry the music theme into the gift wrap, I used a music-note flashcard and typed a little note about shopping for vintage records.  

Since I tend to save all of my scrap paper, even the tiniest of pieces, I'll often use a paper punch to punch out shapes and then I can create petite sewn garlands like the one I used on Erica's Happy Birthday tag. It's a great way to recycle and reuse pretty paper! 

Another fun idea for reusing tiny paper pieces? Use a hole punch to create your own confetti and pour into a small glassine envelope. To attach the envelope to the gift tags, I used a mini clothespin, from the Story Teller Collection, to clip into place. I think fussy, sometimes simple details, like confetti, are a cute extra to add especially since Birthdays are a day to celebrate and what's better than sprinkling a little confetti around?

 

To make this edition of It's a Wrap even more special, we're giving away a Pretty Party Collection prize pack to one of our lovely readers.

We'd love to know what the best, or just the most creative, gift you've received as a birthday present!  

Leave us your comment in the comment section of this post and I'll be back this Friday to choose a lucky winner. Make sure to have your comment submitted by Thursday, 8:00pm Central Time - Good Luck & Happy Monday!

 ~ Tara

It's a Wrap - March

 

Hello Crate fans! It's Tara here today to share the second installment of It's a Wrap ~ where we wrap up the end of each month by playing with a different gift-wrap theme!  In deciding the particular theme of this month, I decided to go the route of House Warming. It was an easy choice too because not only have we recently moved but we also welcomed new next door neighbors earlier this month! 

Moving has taught me many things; to make peace with the fortress of cardboard boxes that resided in the living room for a short time, that sometimes you need to rearrange your furniture 3 and 4 times to make everything fit just so and you will most likely be visiting a home-improvement store multiple times a day for the first few weeks after a move. With those things in mind, I've concluded the best house-warming gift were those wonderful gift cards to Home Depot! (Ok, so maybe that gift card to a local restaurant was a very close runner-up, after all sometimes it's just nice to let someone else make dinner and do the dishes for you!)

 Today's focus will be about wrapping a gift card as a house-warming gift!

 

A simple idea for wrapping up a gift card, is finding a small scale box. I love to wander down the baking isle of craft stores to find a variety of dainty confection boxes! I find them to be the perfect size for small gifts and gift cards! With this particular gift wrap theme, I wanted to include items that were relevant to the house theme.  Local driving maps of the area (although I didn't have any on hand, I did happen to find driving maps for Brazil!) were used to wrap up my petite box.

 

 

A tag from the Story Teller collection was used to write a short message and I even included a couple of old keys (thanks to my Grandfathers collection) as an accent to tie the whole home theme together! 

When wrapping your gift look for items that would match well with your overall theme. I think including a few paintbrushes, maybe a small potted plant or even a candle can be a sweet add-on in addition to the gift. With just a few extra steps, you can turn an ordinary gift card into a pretty wrapped House Warming gift!

I also wanted to share an idea I had for sending out change of address cards! Remember when I mentioned that fortress of cardboard boxes I had accumulated? Well, I was able to put a couple of them to good use! 

After breaking down a few boxes, I carefully cut the cardboard to the size of a postcard. With a little help from a die-cut machine and Story Teller alphabet stickers, I created these We've Moved postcards to hand out to our friends and family!

After cutting each piece of cardboard down to size, I used a bit of sandpaper to lightly distress the edges and to help peel and remove a little of the paper. I love the worn look that sandpaper can create! 

It's a fun take on the traditional card, plus I really like being able to reuse those boxes! I hope you enjoyed this month's It's a Wrap post! I'll be back next month with a whole new theme and a few more ideas for you! Have a wonderful and hopefully creative weekend! 

Happy Housewarming! ~ Tara

It's a Wrap - February

 

Hello there! It's Tara here to introduce Crate Papers newest monthly post "It's a Wrap!" We wanted to devote the very last day of each month to showcase a new gift-wrap tip, trick or just a simple idea - accompanied by a few pretty photos. I can't think of a better way to wrap up the month! 

When it comes to gift-wrap my motto is always: I want the gift recipient to feel special when I hand over their gift. 

I think when we spend extra time choosing the perfect present for a loved one that the gift-wrap (presentation) should deserve just as much of our time. Gift-wrap, in my mind, is very much a part of the actual gift that we are giving.  

 

Getting Started

 Just like gathering scrapbook supplies for my color-challenge, I typically gather my supplies for gift-wrap based on a color combination. This time I went with soft Spring inspired colors; white, creams, light pinks, sparkly golds and a pop of coral red. With the help of some vintage trims mixed with re-purposed papers and a couple of StoryTeller journal tags, I was able to create a trio of gift-wrapped boxes perfect for a fanciful baby-shower.

 

 

When attending a baby shower, I love wrapping small gifts into multiple boxes. I like the look of smaller stacked boxes.... it reminds me of a 3-tiered cake! A cozy baby-blanket fits into a box wrapped with vintage tissue paper, petite onesies are placed inside a box wrapped with weather/atlas pages and a few baby toys find a home inside a box wrapped up with textured wall paper and over-the-top embellishments. 

 

I try to choose one main accent to adorn the gifts, here it is a cream silk yo-yo and plastic leaves covered in gold glitter. These StoryTeller tags were a perfect match for the top of my gifts! I used a typewriter to type a greeting and left a larger tag for a handwritten sentiment, I tend to pair different size tags together for visual interest. Plus, the map print ties into the atlas pages I used to wrap with! 

Lastly, to securely keep the gifts together, I used tulle wrapped around the gifts and tied into a bow at the top to ensure easy traveling to the party!

I hope you enjoyed our first installment of It's a Wrap! I'll be working each month to bring the Crate Blog a new and hopefully exciting way to wrap those everyday gifts! See you next month ~ Tara