Wrapping it up - with Shannon

You know my next guest from such classics as "the picnic collection,"  and the great "Yarn it all!" series of 2012, and over on her own blog, googiemomma, Shannon will wow you with her amazing room redo's, sewing INCREDIBLENESS, crochet prowess, and quilting insanity.  And she's got some stellar wrapping ideas for you today - because, after all, what's a great handmade present without some unique and creative outer skin??


hey boys and girls! i’m shannon, head writer and chief spam collector over at googiemomma, and i’m thrilled to be a part of kim’s gift it good! series.

when kim invited me to contribute something i immediately started brain-storming different gifts i’ve given or received in the past searching for ideas. then i stumbled across the idea of different ways to wrap gifts. because, obviously, once you've created all these awesome gifts from this gift it all series, you’re going to need appropriately awesome wrapping for them, right?

but there’s an issue. on one hand, my artistic hand, mind you (which is obviously my left hand) i love love love a nicely wrapped gift. i go bonkers for crisp corners and hidden tape, whimsical paper and coordinating bows. i’m drooling a little bit thinking about it now.

but on the other hand—my cheap penny-pinching right hand—i just can’t justify the extra money on PAPER! it’s going to be ripped off and thrown away! what’s the average life span of a wrapping paper—from coming off the cardboard tube to getting thrown in the trash? couple hours, maybe?

ugh! what’s a girl to do??? yes, yes…#firstworldproblems. i know.
fortunately there’s a happy middle--cool ideas for wrapping gifts that won’t break the bank and will still have people giving a split second pause—oooh look how pretty it’s wrapped—and then tearing it to shreds. and don’t even bring up dollar store gift bags. no. i just..no. i can’t even….
::cleansing breath::

(note: all photos are clickable and linked to their source, or my pinterest board if i couldn't find the original source)
so the first and probably most obvious: butcher paper. you can pick up a 140’ roll for about $11 at home depot (it's called brown builder's paper). 140 FEET. that's a lot, in case you need it broken down. and brown butcher paper? it’s like the ultimate hipster blank canvas.
add yarn:




or maybe a paper bow:

(this link for this pic on pinterest took me to a really iffy site, so i deleted it from my pinboard. if anyone knows the real source, please let me know!)

or if funds are really tight just go outside and grab some nature:



i’ve also seen it stamped, painted, stickers applied…really the possibilities for personalization are endless.

next up: the age old newspaper. it’s the poor (or unprepared) man’s timeless gift wrap. the key here is to really own it—if you’re wrapping your gift in newsprint, really commit to the paper 150%.
newspaper roses, anyone?



or maybe a big fluffy newspaper bow?



you can’t really deny that these take the newspaper wrapped gift to a higher plane.
along the same lines as the paper is this map-wrapped gift.



with everyone basically carrying a gps in their pocket these days, i think the paper map is becoming a thing of the past. so next time you have a gift to wrap go rifle around in your glove compartment. bingo.

how about fabric scraps? i may coughcough have a little bit of fabric laying around my place (shifty eyes). fat quarters go on sale for 99 cents all the time, and that kind of wrapping can be reused instead of tossed. or, if they don’t sew…maybe you can just ask for it back? and if you don’t sew…send it to me?



if you reallllly want to get fancy with fabric, would it surprise you at all to find out the japanese have an entire system of fabric wrapping for gifts? yeah, i didn’t think so. it’s called furoshiki, and seriously, how gorgeous is this?




finally, i’ve saved my favorite for last. a roll of simple black art paper and a white marker makes for an awesome wrapping paper.



a 2’ x 60’ roll of black paper will run you about $5 at a teachers’ supply store. add a white chalk marker and a roll of twine and you’re set for quite a while, and for any occasion! the “chalkboard” thing is all the rage, and this puts a clever spin on it.

thanks again, kim, for having me here!

Awesome!  I can't resist a beautiful on the outside gift, myself.  Wait.  Why would you resist ANY gift?  Well, you know what I mean.  

Be sure to check out our first guest post from Lisa, if you missed it.  And stay tuned for more awesomeness tomorrow!

*Be sure to check the right sidebar for all the fun parties I link to!