Easy DIY Christmas Packaging Ideas

I love pretty little packages. I mean, what girl doesn't like a gift wrapped in cute paper and tied up with twine, ribbon and other little embellishments like buttons, stamps and doilies? As you can see from previous blog posts and my Facebook page, I've already been busy making some kits for my Etsy shop and market :-)!

With Christmas just around the corner (7 weeks and counting...), I thought it would be fun to have a post on some easy DIY ("do it yourself") packaging ideas you can use to dress up your Christmas or Advent gifts.

1. Use fabric instead of ribbon 

Using a cotton fabric, make a cut on the selvedge edge of a piece of fabric (the long side that is "bound" along the edges) about one inch from the edge, or however wide you want your ribbon to be. Tear the fabric from the cut all the way down to the bottom and pull off the extra threads.  Do both sides if you want it to look "shabby chic". Alternatively, use shearing scissors (the ones that have the zig-zag teeth on them) to cut the fabric piece to the size you want. Use in place of ribbon to tie around a box, envelope or package.

Here's an idea for packaging using a wide fabric ribbon
(this will be the packaging for my Child Apron & Baking Kits :-)!).

2. Decorative paper envelopes for gift cards

Use a template (you can find loads on Pinterest) or a Stampin' Up! Envelope Punch Board to make adorable little envelopes for gift cards. Decorate the outside with stamps, ribbon, doilies and top with a tag and small wooden clip. Here are some I made with the SU! punch board for my Etsy shop and Christmas market.

3. Brown Bag It

I love all the brown paper gift bags that I see popping up on Pinterest all the time. Who knew those brown paper lunch bags could be so cute!! You can stamp on them, print sayings or images on them (check out this tutorial I found on Pinterest), make the top edge scalloped using a punch, and then top them with whatever you have on hand, such as, scrap papers cut into flag bunting, punched Christmas trees or hearts, doilies, lace, tags and the list goes on and on...!!  Here are examples from three different kits I made for Christmas. Each kit includes all supplies to make 5 gift bags (one design per kit). As you can see on the bag on the right, I made my own fabric ribbon to tie the bag closed.

4. Scrap fabric & paper gift tags

Cut out tags using kraft-colored paper (I normally cut my tags to be 2 inches wide by 3 inches high, but you can cut them in any size you like). I have this tag punch from Stampin' Up! that works great for creating the tops of the tags. Then you can decide if you want to use scrap fabric or maybe you have a lot of scrap decorative paper from other projects...or use BOTH! Glue or sew onto the tags in a random way, add some text of your choice (either using stamps or printing off your computer) and voilà, you have a unique gift tag! Here are a couple cute ideas I found on Pinterest.

Adorable vintage flair paper and fabric tag from Love Stitching Red Blog

Check out these amazing Chrismtas tree scrappy tags from tracyBdesigns on Etsy

Pinterest is overflowing with ideas. Check out my "Packaging Ideas" board for loads of DIY packaging inspiration.

I hope this post has inspired you to get creative for the upcoming holiday season!

J x

DIY Gift Wrap Kits

Happy Bird-day!

Summer is over (it was over before it began in Zurich...rain, rain go away!!!), school is back in session and it is time to get back to work! I'm excited to be back in my office and working on some new DIY Gift Wrap kits to sell in my Etsy shop.

I don't know about you, but I just love receiving a gift that is in a pretty little package. There are so many amazing ideas on Pinterest that I am always pinning (see my packaging ideas board), so I decided it would be fun to use all the bits and bobs lying around my office to create little kits so you can also make beautifully packaged gifts for someone special in your life.

Here are a few of the packs I've come up with so far. I plan to have them in my Etsy shop by the end of the weekend :-)!  Each kit will come with the following:

• 5 handstamped paper bags
• 3 meters of twine
• 5 tags (of varying designs and styles)
• 3 wooden clips
• 3 white paper doilies
• 5 different buttons 
• variety of punches (butterflies, bunting flags, flowers)

A little bit of Paris

Sunshine on a bike

I'll post the finished packs once I get them loaded to my shop! 

Happy Wednesday and see you soon!

J xx

New Class on 4 April 2014: Simply Created Mini Album

Birthday craft morning

This year I decided that in lieu of gifts for my birthday, I wanted to do a little something special for my friends. So, we had a crafty brunch in the middle of the week! We enjoyed good conversations, homemade bircher-muesli and cinnamon-raisin buns, frothy cappucinos, and then a bit of creative time making tags and decorating IKEA notebooks with washi tapes, scrap papers, punches and whatever else they could find in my "goodie box". It was a great morning and I can't wait to do it again! I think we need to make it a monthly or bi-monthly date...! 

Thanks, ladies!! You are the best!

J xx

December is here!!!

Happy 1st of December everyone! It is so hard to believe that today is the first day of December and this is the last month of 2013...this year flew past a lightning speed!

I had two incredible groups of ladies at my house on Wednesday to participate in my Christmas tag workshops. One very special lady even got on the train from Geneva at 4:56AM (yes, 4:56 in the MORNING) to come to the morning workshop - THANKS, MARIA!! It never ceases to amaze me how many times I hear "I'm sooooo not creative" or "I can't make that!" from people at my workshops. And I always tell them they are WRONG! We all have imaginations and the ability to make things, it just takes the right tools, the right atmosphere and the right frame of mind to do it. Well, we had all those factors and then some on Wednesday. The ladies made 25 tags each and had fun sharing their ideas with one another - "OOOOHH! So pretty! I'm copying that one!" was a favorite phrase I heard around the table.

Here are a few photos of the workshops!

The lovely Maria - still smiling in spite of getting up well before the crack of dawn :-)

Thanks again, ladies, for a wonderful day!

Have a wonderful start to December! In this month of giving, let your creative spirit out of the box and make something special for family and friends instead of fighting the crowds for a gift that anyone could buy!
J xx

Creative juices are flowing!!!!

I don't know about you, but I love it when the creative juices are flowing!! This generally happens to me more when I am under a bit of pressure...like having less than two weeks to go until the Christmas market....! YIKES! I've been a total machine this week, sewing drawstring bags and totes, making gift bags with a mix of paper and fabrics (stamped and appliqued), stamping and gluing lovely papers onto notebooks, creating altered clothespins with scrap papers, sandpaper and a bit of brown ink to make them look aged....and the list goes on! I only wish my body could keep up with my creative side :-)!

Here's a few pics that will hopefully get your creative juices flowing to get crafty for Christmas and also to join me at our market on 23 November!

Totes out of plastic tablecloth fabric:

Gift bags - paper with fabric and reusable fabric drawstring bags

Altered clothespins - you never know when you need something pretty to clip on a gift or hold something special!

Scrap fabric paper doll kits similar to this post

A few of my favorite notebooks made from IKEA notebooks, lovely papers and quotes from "100 Gathered Thoughts (For My Beautiful Child) & Papers for Brilliant Ideas and Laundry Lists", an awesome collection of quotes on old-fashioned looking lined paper.

Happy crafting!
J xx

Vintage Christmas Tags

I've been having fun with my Christmas stamps making tags for the upcoming market. As you can see above, the cute little vintage postcards I used on some Christmas cards also found a home on some tags. I just love them!

It's been very busy in my office this week, so I'll try to post more during the week to show you what else I will be selling at the Christmas "Around the World" market on 23 November!

Hope you are having a good weekend!
J xx

Christmas card and tag kits

Today I made eight Christmas card and tag kits for my upcoming Christmas market and thought I would share them with you! Each kit contains:

- 4 colored cards & envelopes,
- 3 cream tags,
- 5 sheets of decorative paper,
- red & white bakers twine,
- 4 Christmas stamps, and
- a roll of washi tape.

No two kits are the same as I used different papers, stamps and washi tape in each one. I think they would make a great gift for a crafty child, teen or friend! What do you think?

Tied with a bow and ready to go!

Hope you are having a good start to the week!
J xx

Burlap and vintage post cards

I don't know about you, but I love things that have a vintage look and feel to them! I found the cutest holiday vintage post cards at an antique market in Paris and just had to use them for some Christmas cards! In order to be able to use the image multiple times, I scanned it and reprinted it in duplicate on cardstock. Here are the first two designs I made with them (I'm sure there will be more to come, too!).

 
I also made some burlap gift bags for my upcoming Christmas market using bits and pieces of fabric, velvet ribbon and vintage lace. I love how they turned out!! The big bags are about 9"w x 11"h and small ones are 4.5"w x 5"h.

Hope you are having a good start to the week!
J xx

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

...all around my desk! Since I had out the Christmas stamps to play with the tags I posted earlier today, I thought I would get busy making some cards for the upcoming Christmas market! AND....I made 30 cards - YIPPPPEEE!!

Here are a few of my favorites :-)!

     

      

         

... I even had to make some with my favorite bike stamp!

And this is what I get to wake up to in the morning as I am too tired to clean up tonight.... (actually it is what I wake up to every day since I am notoriously messy when working!).

And to all ... a good night!
J xx