Makely

Let's Make Life Awesome

  • Home
  • Decorating/DIY
    • Create Your Decor
    • Decorate Your Home
    • Paint Your Walls
    • Transform Your Furniture
  • Healthy Living
    • Essential Oils
    • Family Wellness
    • Household Care
  • Project Gallery
  • Contact
You are visiting: Home » Decorating/DIY » Create Your Decor » Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String

Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String

by Lindsay Ballard on December 15, 2011 14 Comments

I am the world’s worst gift wrapper.  I see beautifully wrapped gifts all over the internet, and then I look at my sad little gifts wrapped in paper I picked up at Target.  You would think that someone who thrives in creativity, such as myself, would be super excited to wrap a whole room full of gifts.  Instead, I see it as a chore, and I’m pretty sure my wrapping reflects that – this is the first year that I’ve actually tied a ribbon around the gifts!  I’m telling you, my gift wrap leaves A LOT to be desired.

As I was taping and cutting and folding last week, I began to think of ways that I could make this easier on myself.  I decided that a few big rolls of brown kraft paper would be the way to go, since I could be creative in the way I embellished each package.  That seems more crafty and fun to me than the boring way that I traditionally wrap gifts.

I sought out some creative gift wrap options using brown kraft paper, and here are five of my favorites:

1.  Felt Embellishments – I can’t decide which of these embellishments I like more, the holly topper, the scarf wrap or the Santa stache.  By Lisa Storms of the Fiskars craft team.

2.  Christmas Tree Silhouette – Leave it to Martha to come up with such an ingenious and simple embellishment.  By Martha Stewart.

3.  Toothpick Flag – Toothpick + Fabric Scrap + Kraft Paper = Awesome.  By Sally Shim.

4.  Hand Drawn Design – Talk about quick and easy!  This designer recommends using a pencil to first draw your doodle if you are too nervous to just go for it with a silver pen.  By Kate at Mini-Eco.

5.  Raid Your Craft Supplies – Jessica used felt, glue, yarn, thread and pom poms to create these embellishments.  She says they are so easy that even your kids can help wrap.  By Jessica at Two Shades of Pink.

How are your wrapping skills?  Are you already a wrapping pro or could you put some of these ideas to use?  Personally, I’m feeling a little bit better about the rest of the gifts I need to tackle!

About Lindsay Ballard

Lindsay Ballard is a former college mascot turned political geek turned roller derby playing, DIY fanatic.

Lindsay chronicles her projects, design ideas, and lifestyle tips here at Makely, where she shares tutorials and inspiration. Her DIY designs are bold and graphic, while her spirit is fun and full of color.

Lindsay lives outside of Austin, Texas with her husband (Tom), children (Zack and Emma), and dogs (Duke and Jill). She plays roller derby for the Rockin' City Rollergirls out of Round Rock, Texas.

« The DIY, No Sew, Use What You Have, Knotted Christmas Tree Garland
Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad {Color} Wolf? »

Comments

  1. Jen @ A Touch of Lovely says

    December 15, 2011 at 8:57 am

    Cute finds! I did a similar post last week. I’m trying to make it my mission to wrap all (adult) gifts in brown paper and craft it up this year. We’ll see how I do considering I’m Queen Procrastinator!

    Reply
  2. Jen @ a place 2 call home says

    December 15, 2011 at 9:13 am

    I totally buy target paper too. These look adorable though, but I’m not sure I could pull off all these cute embellishments like you did. They are beautiful! Maybe I can start during the year so it’s not such a challenge for me!

    Reply
    • Lindsay says

      December 15, 2011 at 2:39 pm

      Oh, I totally didn’t do this. Mine are super boring! This is what I *wish* I could do. Maybe next year. LOL

      Reply
      • Jen @ a place 2 call home says

        December 15, 2011 at 2:46 pm

        Lol i love it. We’ll get it together eventually. My priority this year was to have my shopping done around thanksgiving and have the gifts wrapped, not for bonus points or anything but just so I didn’t have to shop the malls with a 1 year old at this time of year. So I’m just proud that we accomplished that, and now we’ve really just been enjoying stress free.

        Reply
  3. Jessica says

    December 15, 2011 at 11:16 am

    I am with you! I actually do my best to do these beautiful fancy wrapped gifts, coordinating paper and prints and tags and it when it’s done it just looks..bad. My aunt has determined that she is going green and wrapping all her presents in newspapers, and if I didn’t have 7 rolls of Target paper, I’d probably be with her on that one! She has a point, she pays $200/ year for the daily paper, she is going to get her money’s worth!

    Reply
    • Lindsay says

      December 15, 2011 at 2:40 pm

      Love that! Wrapping paper is so expensive, so that saves that expense AND uses what she already has. Smart!

      Reply
  4. Jenny T. says

    December 15, 2011 at 1:07 pm

    I have done the brown kraft paper for a couple of years now, and love it! I am so very bad at making packages pretty and most important—I don’t have the time right now. In order to teach my kids (now 5 and 6) that they can be involved in the process of helping give away gifts….and not just receiving, I get out some crayons and ask them to decorate the presents after I have wrapped them. (To be honest it also gets me out of having to think of ways to make it look attractive too). It makes for some very interesting packages, but that’s the fun of Christmas with kids! Have fun wrapping and a merry Christmas. 🙂

    Reply
    • Lindsay says

      December 15, 2011 at 2:40 pm

      GREAT idea! Love that.

      Reply
  5. Jackie Paulson says

    December 15, 2011 at 11:19 pm

    I have done this method before in a very creative way. Martha really does take the cake at coming up with ideas for the holidays. She is one I admire as well.

    Reply
  6. Barbara aka Pink Overalls says

    December 16, 2011 at 7:12 am

    I don’t seem to have the gift wrapping knack either. I usually count on fancy ribbon to save the day, even though I’ll never win the bow-making prize. This year, my favorite ribbon-substitute was tulle. You can buy 25 yards of it and it will become your best friend. Even a plain ole knot looks like a bow when you use 6-inch wide tulle.

    I love your choices. Love kraft paper.

    Reply
  7. Jeanne says

    December 16, 2011 at 10:22 pm

    Those packages are delightful. I only use gift bags and tissue paper. I have quite a collection for every occasion. Merry Christmas!

    Reply
  8. Meagan says

    December 18, 2011 at 12:02 am

    I have Target paper too, but it looks like brown Kraft paper with Christmas designs printed on it, to give it an almost handmade look. This year I used yarn in place of ribbon/string and bows. I love the effect!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Weekly Six: 12.14.12 | Six Different Ways says:
    December 14, 2012 at 1:47 pm

    […] 2 – Cute ways to spice up your holiday wrapping. […]

    Reply
  2. Weekly Six: 12.14.12 | Furniture Clue says:
    December 15, 2012 at 6:44 am

    […] 2 – Cute ways to spice up your holiday wrapping. […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

About Makely

Lindsay Ballard is a former college mascot turned political geek turned roller derby playing, DIY fanatic.

Lindsay chronicles her projects, design ideas, and lifestyle tips here at Makely, where she shares tutorials and inspiration. Her DIY designs are bold and graphic, while her spirit is fun and full of color.

Lindsay lives outside of Austin, Texas with her husband (Tom), children (Zack and Emma), and dogs (Duke and Jill). She plays roller derby for the Rockin' City Rollergirls out of Round Rock, Texas.


Archives

Categories

PRIVACY POLICY
Copyright © 2009-2019 Makely School for Girls | All Rights Reserved | Posts may contain advertising content or affiliate links