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!

I’ve been pretty lackadaisical about getting our Christmas decorations up this year.  We normally decorate for the holidays over Thanksgiving weekend, but because I was working on stenciling our bathroom, it didn’t get done.  Our weekends since then have been jammed with soccer practice, visiting Santa and trips to Home Depot, so the decorations got pushed to the back burner.

Much to Zack and Emma’s delight, we brought home a tree this weekend.  It’s lovely and tall and full – and it needed more than just white lights and our collection of favorite ornaments.  I didn’t want to buy anything new to add to the tree, so I dug around in my craft room until I came up with an idea.  I gathered some burlap in natural and white, along with some bleached and unbleached muslin, and created a DIY, no sew, use what I had, knotted Christmas tree garland.

The garland could not have been more simple to put together.  I began by tearing my fabric into strips about 6 inches wide and ranging in length from a yard to 3 yards or so.  I alternated the fabrics in a random pattern and joined them by tying simple knots.

I really love the way the different textured fabrics look when they are joined together.  I also had some beige tulle in my craft room, so I tied some of it into the garland to add a bit of shimmer and even more texture.  I think it’s a nice contrast with the rough burlap.

If you still haven’t put your tree up or think it needs a little something extra, raid your fabric stash and see what you can come up with.  You, too, could have a no sew, use what you have Christmas tree garland.

Also joining The Nester and The Shabby Creek Cottage in their Holiday Tour of Homes.