A Handmade Wrap Job

It was a busy busy weekend with a birthday party, errands, and a lot of stitching to be done. I'm prepping for the art fair I'll be participating in this July. I tend to worry about events and over-prepare. So although I don't feel all that ready I do have a growing number of flowers, hearts, and birdcages accumulating in various areas throughout my house.

On Saturday morning, as I was wrapping the birthday present, I thought it was looking kind of cute so I took a couple of pics to share with you. It's amazing how good a couple of paper grocery bags can look with just a little ribbon and paint added.

A few months ago I decided I'd rather spend more money on the present and skip the expensive wrapping papers and committed to using recycled materials or materials I had on hand whenever I can. Every thing I used for this wrap job was something I had here around the house.

I've also begun doing tags instead of cards, as the kids usually just skip the card opening and go straight for the present anyways. To make it cute I used a scrapbooking paper folded in half and then cut into a tag shape. Next came the grommet- it came with my crop-a-dile and is SO easy to add. Then a little stitching, and Voila'. Simple and easy. Of course you could skip the grommet and the stitching.

The time it took to do this was WAY less than you would think AND much quicker than making a run to Target for the supplies. Plus, I think it looks kind of cute. :)

For more ideas for wrapping with paper bags check out the pics here and here.