All wrapped up...

The night before the night before xmas and I'm feeling a strange mix of quiet, organised calm and sheer, panicky terror. Oh, and utter exhaustion too. Limping towards the finish line indeed. I adore this time of year, and I'm loving being back in Australia for it, but I'd forgotten all the pre-xmas drinks and eats and general running around like a headless chook that being home for xmas entails. 

But - pretty much all my shopping is done and almost all my wrapping is done too, so I'm calling that a win. This year I had a hankering for a something shiny and traditional, red with lashings of gold. Like last year I got a lot of stuff from The Wrapping Paper Company (minimum orders mean it's a good chance to stock up on ribbons and belli-bands for the rest of the year). IKEA also had a heap of gorgeous gold xmas stuff in rather pleasing graphic designs. 

Anyhoo, no time to chat. I'm off to wrap the last of the presents, bake some meringues for our xmas day pavlova and check the wine fridge is well stocked. Hope things are merry and bright at your place! x

All wrapped up...

I love a good cohesively themed pile of wrapped gifts. I love it so much that not even doing xmas out of a box (or three!) was going to stop me from having one. Luckily I'd decided on this year's theme early on - black wrapping with white, silver and gold highlights. 

Aside from the odd rogue gift tag, all my supplies were from The Wrapping Paper Company. A Twitter friend put me on to them and I'm so glad they did - gorgeous products, timeless designs and made in Melbourne too! I especially love their 'belli-bands', and the calico and linen ribbon (and look at these lovely striped herringbone ribbons!). But be warned, they are mainly aimed at retailers so everything is sold in semi-bulk packs and you need a minimum order of AU $100 (very easy to do, believe me…). 

Anyway, I'm pretty pleased with how it all turned out - the black wrap adds a degree of classiness, yes? 

ps. I've already got ideas for next year - I'm thinking super bright pink and aqua with pops of gold, white and black. And polkadots, lots of polkadots!

All wrapped up...

What's the festive season without a bit of sparkle? I love a healthy dose of shiny metallics come xmas time, do you? Oh, and do click through on link number four for a whole bunch more gift wrap eye candy! 

1. Seakettle   2. Odessa May Society 

3. Mini-eco   4. Erinzam 

Well folks, this is the last inspiration post for all wrapped up this year. You can see all the posts here - hope you've enjoyed the ride!

All wrapped up...

Ahhh, kraft paper - my favourite! When I'm wrapping I can't go past the simplicity of kraft with some embellishment.  With a carefully chosen topper you can make it fun, pretty, manly, modern or girly. Here's a few ideas that caught my eye online - how great are those sewn star packages? (Very great, very great indeed!).  

1. Inspiration Ave   

2. Jeanne, the moon and a little star...   

3. The Sweetest Occasion 

I've got one more gift wrap inspiration post planned but I'm pretty sure I've already settled on my theme for this year (all will be revealed soon!), have you figured out yours?

All wrapped up...

Told you I wouldn't forget the traditionalists! Here's a little red and green wrapping inspiration for you (well, a little green and a lotta red really). Number two is made from cupcake liners - so clever! 

1. Eat Sleep Cuddle    2. Simply Sublime 

3. How About Orange    4. Fishly News

All wrapped up...

How do you feel about an injection of brights into your festive cheer? And how seriously great is that fringe gift wrap? (If you're more of a traditionalist never fear, I'll have some wrapping inspiration for you very soon!)

1. Willowday    2. Project Wedding 

3. The Sweetest Occasion    4. A Daily Something

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Here's another simple gift wrap for you - again, plain kraft paper plus lots of paper punches! I used several thin ribbons in different colours for the finishing touch, I kind of like that effect.

All wrapped up...

A little pom pommy inspiration for your xmas gift wrap! Which one's your favourite? 

1. The Gold Jelly Bean    2. You Are My Fave 

3. Smile and Wave 

4. Hello Sandwich    5. Domestic Fluff

All wrapped up...

Did you realise it's less than 70 days until that most festive of festive days? Yikes! Are you ready? Or maybe thinking about maybe getting ready at some point in the future? I think I would most definitely fall into that last category...

One of the things I am thinking about is what theme I'll go with for the gift wrap this year (you can see my wrapping from last year here, and from the year before here). So over the next month or so I thought I'd gather together some inspiration  - showing you some of the wrapping I've done for various birthdays throughout the year, and also sharing some of my favourite gift wrapping ideas from around the internets. 

Here's a fun but simple wrap I did for the youngest step-sons birthday - plain kraft paper, spot stickers and a paper punch or four - easy! 

All wrapped up...

The past few days I have been locked in my office surrounded by piles of presents, paper and ribbon, with the occasional trip out to stand in long queues at the post office.  Ah yes, the life of an expat at Christmas time!  

All wrapped up...

Even before I got back in to my crafting groove, wrapping presents would always turn me a little bit Martha Stewart, especially at Christmas time.  Each year I plan a theme and wrap all my presents using variations on that theme.  It is a little frightening how much joy I get out of seeing a big pile of co-ordinated presents under the tree (have I mentioned before that I am a little bit of a control freak?).

Last year it was all about stamps, this year it's paper-cut snowflakes and handmade tags.  And white, blue and silver (like this Etsy treasury I put together awhile back).  I was inspired by a few paper garland tutorials I've been eyeing off lately, like this one on Handmade Spark.

ps. one of the members of the fabulous Paper + Stationery Lovers group I help moderate posted a link to these gift wrap ideas - yowsers!  So much inspiration!  Next year I'm thinking I should embrace the step-sons 'more is more' approach - imagine these done in fluorescent brights!  Now that would be fun!

pps. the Paper + Stationery Lovers group is probably my favourite thing on Facebook right now. The members are so talented and friendly and post really great stuff.   So if you like paper goods, come join us!