Christmas Gift Wrapping!

I recently had an opportunity to do a little presentation on how to wrap your Christmas gifts for the Divine Dessert Night at my church.  I thought I'd give a little summary here of the ideas I shared.  Of course, the ideas are not my own (although the wrapping job is) - bet you can't guess where I went for ideas!  (Pinterest of course!)  

It's not too hard to add a little extra love to your wrapping this year!  

Tier it up with pretty paper:

Pick one print and use it everywhere (see how I did this for my gifts last year):

Use nature - pine cones, cedar branches, cranberries (or cinnamon sticks!):

Just go crazy with the curly ribbon (note: shipping paper is the most inexpensive way to wrap, and easy to accessorize!  Plus, most shipping paper rolls have double the amount of paper as a regular roll of gift wrap):

Paper snowflakes (hint: iron it out on low to make it nice and smooth!):

Leftover lace/tulle:

For smaller gifts - old sheet music!  (and if you can't bear to rip out a page, photocopy it!):

Eco-Chic magazine wrap with matching bow:

I received lots of comments on this one!  Cut paint chips into shapes as gift tags (bonus: it's free!):

Make yarn pom poms (you can find lots of tutorials online if you search around - so simple!):

So there you go!  Happy wrapping :)

all wrapped up.

Now that you're finished your Christmas gift buying (hopefully!), it's time to wrap them up! This part makes me excited because I start to imagine the look on people's faces when they open up their gift. Plus, it's another opportunity to get creative. If you're looking for inspiration - here's a few ideas!

Find 3 kinds of paper with the same colour, but coordinating patterns. I chose plain brown shipping paper and red/off white patterned papers.

Sometimes the best isn't the most obvious or expensive. Why not use a roll of twine for $1 instead of fancy shiny ribbon? It fits with the look, and goes alot further too. I added a little pinecone that I had leftover to one of these gifts.

I was inspired by the Sound of Music - the "brown paper packages, tied up with strings".

I jazzed up this plain brown bag with a strip of gift wrap down the middle. I also added some leftover decor berries to this one. This gift was the hardest to wrap at first, but I kept adding more details - now it's my favourite!

Ta-Da!! Happy wrapping! I hope you find more joy in giving this year, than ever before :)

winter favourites.

I'm not a big fan of winter (specifically the driving), however, there are a few things that make me excited for the season. Here's a few of the latest things I've been loving...

Burl Ives and "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas". He was in one my favourite movies of my childhood, and I love hearing him on the radio during Christmas time.

Stomping through the snow in my big warm Sorels.

A freezer full of goodies ready to be given away (and eaten!) I made these Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Truffles. Beware, they even taste good straight out of the freezer.

The Cinnamon candle at my front door. From my coworker, Debbie, who showed up one morning with this gift for me. Smells amazing!

What are your current favourite winter things?

Decorating for Christmas!

As a first time home owner, I'm sooooo excited about decorating :) Here's a few things I did for Christmas (for very little $$)...

There's nothing like a real garland wrapped in lights. This is the extra that Bryce's dad had after he finished his own garage. We even had enough to double it up! The lights are borrowed as well :)

Homemade window boxes. The boxes were 6.99 at Belgian Nursery, and I got a bunch of spruce? (sorry, I don't know my trees very well...) for 6.99 as well. The little berries were half price at Michael's. So for 2 window boxes (I have one on the other side of the door as well), I think I spent $25? Maybe not even. Oh, and the twigs are from a tree on our yard.

That 6.99 bit of evergreen stuff went a long way...I even got a (wreath? what do you call this?) out of it as well! And I attached this stick/pinecone/straw thing from Dollarama to it with a piece of wire. Added a few more dollarama berries to the top. It's just hanging by a piece of wire to a door wreath holder.

I also had some trimmings from the garland + more evergreen stuff (I told you it went a long way!) + some left over from the Divine Dessert night that Bryce brought home for me = centrepiece. I just laid little pieces on a dinner plate, got a few tealights for the centre, and a few more of those dollarama berries. My table is the same width as a roll of wrapping paper, so I cut a piece of polka dotted paper, and laid it on top, then I cut a runner-width out of the other paper. This is my favourite :)

HAPPY DECORATING!

wreath time.

I thought I'd share these unique wreath ideas I saw on Martha Stewart's website - so fun! Of course, instruction included. I'm especially excited because this is my first Christmas in our new house, and I'm looking forward to decorating!

Paper doilies...

Gift boxes...

with matching garland...

3 in a row...

And my personal favourite...the Christmas card display! How fun is this. I'm seriously considering it. It's easy too!