Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Wrap It Up! (Christmas Eve)

     "It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
It came without packages, boxes, or bags!"
{How The Grinch Stole Christmas - Dr. Seuss}

     This may be a bit late, as (I hope) most of you already have wrapped your Christmas gifts and maybe even put them under the tree.  But in case you still need to wrap a few gifts, here are some fun ways to add a simple creative, DIY twist to your gift wrapping.
     I realize that I must be breaking some kind of 'blogger code' by posting so much all at once after hardly posting at all for several months.  But, I am taking all of the free time I can get to blog and do other fun and creative things that I couldn't make time for during the school year.
     In the past, I have used whatever wrapping paper we happened to have around the house and added a gift tag and maybe a bow.  However, in the name of creativity, I decided to step outside of my box and try something different.
   
     For the homemade gifts I gave to my friends (DIY post coming soon!), I started with plain paper bags.


     Then I gathered the necessities for the bags like:
  • Scissors
  • Tape
  • Sharpies (gold + silver)
     The rest of the supplies I also brought to make gift tags.


     After that, I scrounged up all of the scrap ribbons and washi tape I could find.


Then, going off of some modern trends in gift wrapping such as lettering on the paper, I wrote lyrics from Christmas carols on the bags with the gold and silver sharpies.  Also, to some of the bags I taped a fun ribbon or piece of lace.  



Next came the really fun part--gift tags.


     There are a lot of free printable options for gift tags, including some cute chalk board ones.  Unfortunately, our printer does not print card stock or with colored ink.  So, I improvised. (Meaning, I found another blog post to make look-alike chalkboard tags.)

     Here is what you will need:
  • Heavy black paper
  • Scissors
  • Chalk
  • Gold/silver pens



Design the shape of your gift tag and decorate with the metalic pens.  I added some glitter to mine to make it more festive.  Then rub a piece of chalk over the whole paper to give it that chalkboard look.




And here is the finished product: bag + tag


     Now for the family gifts!  

For these I used:
1. Wrap the gift.
2. wrap a section several times with twine, yarn, or a thin rope


3. Add some greenery to the string and attach the gift tag.


For my gift tags, I used the free printables (listed above), cut them out and pasted them onto a colorful piece of card stock.







Don't forget to put up a sign so no one accidentally peeks in on you! ;)


     I was blessed tonight to go to my church's Christmas Eve service where a few families sang Christmas carols, read scripture, and led the congregation in worship.  Every single part was both beautiful and worshipful.  What a perfect start to a day when we remember the birth of Christ.

     I'll leave you with the lyrics to this beautiful carol.

"I heard the bells on Christmas day

Their old familiar carols play

And mild and sweet their songs repeat
Of peace on earth good will to men

And the bells are ringing (Peace on Earth)

Like a choir they're singing (Peace on Earth)
In my heart I hear them
Peace on earth, good will to men

And in despair I bowed my head

There is no peace on earth I said
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men

But the bells are ringing (Peace on Earth)

Like a choir singing (Peace on Earth)
Does anybody hear them?
Peace on earth, good will to men

Then rang the bells more loud and deep

God is not dead, nor doth He sleep (Peace on Earth, peace on Earth)
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men"


Merry Christmas!




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