improving paper packages

Hi everyone, It's Andee from Bearing Fruit. I'm so excited that Mollie invited me to share a tutorial with you! When I'm not visiting here at Wild Olive, you can usually find me at my sewing machine, or out and about having an adventure of some sort. And I am usually blogging about it all! Some of my recent fun is pictured above: 1. burp cloths, 2. gift wrap, 3. birthday bunting, 4. lullaby baby blanket, 5. planting seeds, 6. sweet tea towels

But for today, I'd like to share an easy gift wrap tutorial with you.

Ever get home with just the perfect gift only to realize that you forgot a box or gift bag?  Fret no more!  Here's my go-to gift packaging.

Materials needed:

kraft paper or other gift wrap paper of your choice

tissue paper

scraps of decorative paper (I like scrapbook paper)

stamps or markers

glue stick

glue dots or tape

scissors

sewing machine & thread

(or you can hand sew)

computer & paper (optional)

1.  Take your kraft paper and cut a rectangle.  Mine is 14.5" x 19 "

2.  Fold, leaving a 3" flap.

3.  Sew sides, stopping before you reach the 3 inch flap.  I don't backstitch & I like to leave a bit of thread hanging.

4.  Create a "label."  This is the expressive part!  If it's a birthday, maybe you want to write or stamp "happy birthday" on a rectangle of colored paper.  For mine, I stamped the word "love" on white paper and then glued that to some scrapbook paper. My finished rectangle "label" is about 2" x 4".  But play with it.  See what you like.  You can stamp words, handwrite them or print them out from a computer.

5.  Glue label in the center of your envelope.

6.  Wrap your gift in tissue paper and stuff it into the envelope.

7.  Tape the under side of flap at sides and center.  I like to use the glue dots or zots dots (I find them in the scrapbook section of the craft store.)  But you can use scotch tape on the inside too.

8.  Head off to the party with your fab package!

Enjoy your new gift wrapped surprise.  Thanks for having me over Mollie!

xo 

Andee

Andee is the author of Bearing Fruit, a blog about trusting God, loving life, and making things by hand.