GIFT WRAPPED // STENCIL DESIGN

Alright, let's get this started. You can see the "rules" here, but basically I asked 5 of my creative friends to come up with an easy and effective way to wrap gifts. Matt is a graphic designer, so naturally he got fancy with a stencil. 

W H A T  Y O U  N E E D :
- Brown recycled wrapping/packaging paper
- Craft Knife
- Paper/card
- Pen (if you're drawing your own stencil)

T H E  E X T R A S :

Paint

1 x sponge

Obviously this is a very straight forward process, but you can make it as simple or as detailed as you want depending on how long you want to be cutting the stencil out for.

First you must decide on your artwork. You can make something simple on a computer or you can draw it by hand. If you make it on the computer you will have to either use paper as the stencil or you could stick that paper to card so the stencil is sturdier and will hold it's shape better. Just keep in mind the simpler the artwork the less work you will be creating for yourself.

Now it's time to cut out the stencil. Because I am a crazy person, I weirdly enjoy this part, but for most people it will probably be a tedious and lengthy process. Depending on how detailed the stencil you are making is, and how careful / particular you are when cutting it out, this really can take quite a while. So be prepared to get cramp in your hand for holding that craft knife for too long. 

All done? Great! That last 5 hours of that stencil just flew past. Now to paint. If you haven't done already, wrap you damn present. and I probably should have mentioned to create your stencil so it fits nicely within the shape of your present. My bad if it's too late.

HINT : I cut my sponge into 4 smaller sponges to make it easier to dip into the paint without having to use the whole giant sponge.

Put the paint in a container of some sort, lay the stencil on the present, and start painting. If you want you can stick the stencil down with a bit of celotape but usually this paper is fairly unrelenting and doesn't like adhesive tape being pryed off it once it has bonded so be careful. I just hold my stencil in place, which usually goes pretty well.

Apply the paint as you wish but I just slowly dip the end of the sponge into the paint and tab it over the stencil. Gives it a bit of a stamp effect, but do as you wish.

Viola, you're basically done. Now just let it dry and clean up your mess you slob.

Haha! Matt, your instructions were awesome, and of course so was your gift wrap idea! A stencil is such a good idea, and I love that you can come up with any design you like!

 

you can see the other great ideas here

G I F T W R A P P E D x 6

GIFT WRAPPED // EARTH & FLORAL TOPPER

Alright, let's get this started. You can see the "rules" here, but basically I asked 5 of my creative friends to come up with an easy and effective way to wrap gifts. Laura got creative and used outdoor elements for her gift wrap idea! 
 

W H A T  Y O U  N E E D :

- 2 x coloured paper, one brown and one pink.
- Sewing machine thread in pink
- Scissors
- Tape

T H E  E X T R A S :

1 x fake flower - this could be real, or another type of topper)

1 x stick (from outside) 

First things first is to get the stick down to the correct size that you want, I wanted mine to be contained in the length of the wrapped present, so I popped the stick on top of the present and guestimated how much to break off. I did this with my hands to keep the earthy feel, but you could trim it with secateurs or a good pair of scissors.

Start wrapping your thread around the stick. This bit is a bit tedious if you are wanting to perfectly wrap your stick in thread, or have certain parts wrapped. I went for a ‘rustic’ or more lazy approach and just did what felt and looked right. I definitely think it looks better when the thread is up and down rather than on an angle - but each to their own. When you’d achieved your desired look on the stick, double knot the thread and cut to trim, to ensure the ribbon stays put.

Using the second coloured paper I made a makeshift ribbon for the box. I cut a 1.5 inch thick strip and folded each end in to create a thinner straight ribbon from the paper. I simply taped the ends to the bottom of the present.

Place the stick and flower on top of the paper ribbon to find out how you might want the end result to look. Get creative! 

Eddie decide he wanted to get creative with me ;)

Grab some more thread and overlay it in your hand so you get a few strings of it. Put it under through the paper ribbon and tie over the stick and flower to secure into place.

And you're done! Thank you for sharing your idea with us Laura! I think it's so great. And awesome because you could change up the topper and colours to suit anyone. 

you can see the other great ideas here

G I F T W R A P P E D x 6

GIFT WRAPPED // TISSUE PAPER FLOWERS

Alright, let's get this started. You can see the "rules" here, but basically I asked 5 of my creative friends to come up with an easy and effective way to wrap gifts. I'm loving the paper flowers that Tillie came up with! 

Tillie's idea is super easy and super cute! What I love is that you you could use any kind of paper that you want! It would be fun to add patterns in as well. 

W H A T  Y O U  N E E D :

String

Scissors

Brown paper

Sellotape

T H E  E X T R A S :

Crepe paper

Cut 3 long pieces of tissue paper and plait them together. This makes a nice little ribbon substitute. Then, it's just a matter of assembling your flowers. I basically took the idea from those tissue pom poms that are all the rage at the moment. I took a length of tissue paper and cut it to about 10 centimetres wide. Then I did a tight little accordian fold, tied a piece of string right around the middle and then scrunched the tissue paper around in a circle to make a flower shape. I repeated this with a few extra colours of tissue and used a bit of sticky tape to adhere them in a little pattern. Boom! There you have it. A beautiful and quick little gift wrap for someone special.

you can see the other great ideas here

G I F T   W R A P P E D   x   6

GIFT WRAPPED // LACE & FLOWERS

Alright, let's get this started. You can see the "rules" here, but basically I asked 5 of my creative friends to come up with an easy and effective way to wrap gifts. Here is Zenica and her lace and flower idea!

I absolutely love what Zeni has done. It's such a sweet idea and you could use any flower that you have in the garden. 

W H A T  Y O U  N E E D :

Twine

Scissors

Brown paper

Sellotape

T H E  E X T R A S :

Lace

Flower

Here's how you do it. 

Wrap your gift however neatly with the brown paper, and fasten with tape. I have been known to use masking tape, duct tape, electrical tape, or even no tape and have relied on the string to hold the paper together. If you just go with what you have, and make it look purposeful, then you'll be able to make it work! 

Wrap a length of lace (or ribbon, strip of material, etc) around the width of the gift and fasten with tape on the bottom or tie with a knot on the top. 

Tie the string as many times around the width and length of the gift as you'd like and tie with a bow on the top. Tie in a flower or two to add a thoughtful touch (fresh or dried lavender looks and smells beautiful with this gift wrap).

And there you have it! A beautiful but simple idea that will definitely make any present shine!

you can see the other great ideas here

G I F T   W R A P P E D   x   6 

GIFT WRAPPED // KUMARA STAMP

Alright, let's get this started. You can see the "rules" here, but basically I asked 5 of my creative friends to come up with an easy and effective way to wrap gifts. Let's start off with Eva and her kumara stamp idea!

Eva decided to get creative and make her own stamp using a kumara! Pretty clever if you ask me. This DIY gift wrap idea is definitely something you could do using bits and pieces around the house.

W H A T  Y O U  N E E D :

1 x pencil

1 x craft knife

Patterned paper

1 x twine/ribbon/string

T H E  E X T R A S :

1 x kumara (or potato)

Black paint/ink

This idea is great because you can make any design that you want into a stamp! All you need to do is cut your kumara (or potato) in half, draw on your design, and cut out the space that you don't want stamped. From there, you can stamp the design wherever/however you like! Eva used a map print to wrap and I love it! Such a great idea and adds a bit of contrast with the simple stamp design.

you can see the other great ideas here

G I F T   W R A P P E D   x   6

GIFT WRAPPED x 6

A little while ago, I was thinking about what aspects of my life could do with a bit of a creative spruce up. Being a graphic designer gives me a bit of extra creativity I suppose, but I find that I don't always make the most of it. However, not having a lot of money is definitely a good motivator to get me thinking outside of the square.

One thing that I am pretty lazy about is gift wrapping. I know it seems like a pretty silly thing to worry about, but I feel like half of the fun of receiving a present is seeing it first. Seeing that lovely wrapping paper with the matching bow. I'm not saying you have to go all out! But I do appreciate a nicely wrapped present. When Rob and I have been in a rush, we've bought a cheap $2 gift bag and a $5 card and shoved the gift inside. This is going to change. I'm going to do my own gift wrap. And I'm going to love it! 

I thought about doing a little "round up" of my own ideas, to help me (and you of course) create some easy and cheap "looks" for gifts but I had a better idea! Instead of me coming up with ideas, I figured if I got 5 of my creatives to come up with some ideas, we'll have a lot more variety and something to suit everyone!

I was going to give them free reign, but that seemed a little bit too easy (and we all know how much I love my challenges.) I've given them a list of materials that each of them are able to use. This way you'll will hopefully have whatever they use at home, and if not, you should!

And here is the fun part. Each of my friends can pick 2 other materials that they want to use. It can be anything! I thought about everyone having to use the same stuff but I think half the fun is finding random things around the house that you can use.

I'm really excited to show you all what they came up with. I'm so lucky to have such creative friends. I'm planning on sharing them all over this week, so tomorrow, we'll be starting with Eva! She got fancy with a kumara, it's definitely a technique that I plan on trying myself.