Guest Blogger: Rebecca Luminarias

Hello!  It's Rebecca here again, talking all things packaging.  Typically in June, we start to think about weddings, and some of us even have 2 or 3 or more weddings happening throughout the pleasant summer months.  I've had a few requests to cover wedding gifts in a Packaging Ambassador post, and there's no time like the present…(sorry about that awful pun:)

 

Wedding gifts come in all shapes and sizes, and I've tried to cover that today…however, because I'd never get to absolutely every size and style, I've done my best to provide a few tips for "going larger" along the way.

 

With each gift, I want to show you that you can use so-called "ordinary" craft items to complement your designer stamps, tools, paper, and embellishments.  This is a great way to stretch your stash and add a lot of different textures to your projects.  (If you haven't caught on yet, I LOVE texture!)

 

Let's begin with a small box, about 4" x 4"–perfectly sized for a gift card, cash, or personalized keepsake for the happy couple.  (I have a bigger box in the next segment, so stay tuned for that…) In addition to my PTI supplies, I've incorporated cupcake liners and doilies into the design.  You can find both items in craft stores or online restaurant-supply stores.  Both have multiple uses in paper crafting and they've become staples in my studio.  I also used a little tulle, again, inexpensively purchased from a craft store.

 

I started by flattening out the cupcake wrappers by turning them upside down on my desk and running my hands over them a few times.  They don't need to be perfectly flat–a little dimension is always welcome.  I then adhered the circular items on top of each other, starting with the largest layer (the teal, regular-sized cc liner), then the 4" gold doily, and the 4" white doily.  Laying down a thin line of glue, I gathered about 9" of lavender tulle over the stack.  The tulle layer is larger than all of my circular products, but it's so light and sheer, that it's not disproportionate to them.  I added a gold mini cc wrapper over the tulle.

 

In coming up with my stamped design for the package, I decided that I wanted to attach the entire gift topper to the box with a brad.  I'll show you how I did this in just a bit, but I've had this ampersand fabric brad sitting in a little dish on my desk for months and months.  So often, this is how I choose random embellishments such as this–they're just within arm's reach and happen to be the right color and/or theme.  Being that the ampersand is the recognizable symbol of coupling, and I had chosen a color palette of cool colors for all of today's projects, it was perfect.

 

I die cut the Splits: Best Wishes design out of Stamper's Select White cardstock, and then stamped the coordinating floral pattern in Dark Indigo.  (I know, I used a lighter navy blue last month—Enchanted Evening–but I'm loving this hue at the moment for it's sophistication and willingness to work so well with every other color!)  Instead of pairing up the stamp with the sentiment it came with, though, I chose to use the Mr. / Mrs. stamps from Grand Ampersand so I could incorporate the brad.  I stamped them in Lilac Grace, leaving ample room betwixt them for the brad.

 

Returning to the box, I used my paper piercer to poke a hole in the center of the lid.  If you have an awl, that tool will work a little better, but I made the piercer work in a pinch.  I suggest taking your brad and pushing it through the hole at this point, to widen it slightly.

The next thing I did was line up my die cut/stamped piece to my cc liner and doilies, and poke a hole in the center of the stack.  Work the brad through gently so you don't bend and tear your gift topper; remember, it's got a few layers to work through, including the tulle.  Once you've got it positioned, attach your handmade embellishment to the lid or your box, and spread the prongs to secure the brad in place.  It's all set!

 

*As a precaution, I wrapped washi tape around the sides of the box to secure the lid and bottom.*

 

Let's move onto a larger box.  With most couples' wedding registries, there are large gifts and small gifts–dishes, linens, appliances, tools–and the larger the box, the more effort it takes to wrap it.  I'm still not going HUGE with this project, but with a few tweaks, you can apply these same ideas to dress up much larger boxes.

 

From the basics–tulle, doilies, cupcake liners, and wrapping paper–to the decidedly un-basic–a sprig of flowers, the handmade tag, and white satin ribbon–this is a classic wedding wrap.  I chose paper with a sophisticated print–this one with gold roses on it is really pretty, and I got it at Joann's several months ago.  My idea was to pair it with stamped images in Dark Indigo and Mint Julep, though, in the end, I went with a different idea than a stamped sentiment.  However, I worked in the mint through tulle and another standard-sized cupcake wrapper.  The wrapper is also from Joann and is a shade somewhere in-between Mint Julep and Vintage Jadeite.

The color palette here still applies–navy, mint, white, and gold–yes, please!  After wrapping the gift, I adhered a 5" white doily and the mint cupcake liner to the center of the box.  I then wrapped a length of shimmery mint tulle and a length of PTI Fresh Snow Solid Satin Ribbon around the box.  (I didn't measure, but I would say I used approximately 1.5 yards of each; the tulle has a 6" width.)  This was admittedly the longest part of the wrapping process because I wanted everything to look even and untwisted.  I took the extra time to straighten out the sides, tied the bow, then re-tied the bow, and smoothed out and plumped up the loops.  I tied the tulle bow first, then tied the ribbon bow around it so the ribbon came out on top.  I also stuck a small spray of pale gold flowers through the knot when I tied it off.

 

The last piece was the tag, which is cut using the Fillable Frames #9 die.  From the Fancy Foliage stamp set, I stamped two small branches in opposite corners.  As I mentioned, I was going to stamp "wedding wishes" from the same set in Mint Julep on the tag, too, but then I had the idea to use the Inspired: Love die cut in gold glitter paper instead and I think it makes the tag look very elegant.  (Also, I'm so happy I did it this way because it produced a fun idea for the tag on my last project!)  I used jute twine to attach the tag.

 

You can purchase most tulle by the spool or by the yard and it's generally inexpensive–purchasing by the yard is cheaper than buying a spool, generally.  If you have a very large gift to wrap, tulle is a great fabric to use.  You can buy doilies in sizes from 3" to 14", and cupcake wrappers come in mini sizes, which is roughly 3"x3" / standard, 4.5" x 4.5" / and even larger, if you look for specialty baking supplies.  You can also use coffee filters for this trick–and don't be afraid to dye them with PTI Ink Refills to achieve your desired colors.  (**Down the line, I'll be showing you how to dye all kinds of different packaging products with those!**)

 There are always ways to make larger tags–even if you don't have a specific die for it, a basic tag is super-easy to make in any size you need!  And the small sprig of flowers I used was cut from a larger stem, so go big and use the entire thing if your gift box is large enough.  I hope you never feel stuck or at a loss on how to wrap larger gifts–you just need to look around for a few larger items to make your gift pop!

 

Moving onto gift bags…I've used a small one here, but if you haven't already caught on to going a bit larger, I'll help you out with some suggestions.  Decorating a gift bag, for me, often follows the same ideology each time: a tag (or set of tags), and lots of trims.  I love to layer and stack, in case you couldn't tell, and layering scraps of ribbons, fabric, and specialty trims are no exception.  Here, I've just taken 3 lengths of those–aqua seam binding, navy lace, and silver dotted fabric–and layered them together.

 

I'm sticking to my cool color palette (with some added pale pink from the bag), picking up a little Aqua Mist by way of the seam binding and embroidery floss tassel.  I also have a tassel to match the Dark Indigo.  (I used DMC colors 3813 [AM] and 823 [DI]. )

 

I die cut another tag from SS White cardstock and stamped "Best Wishes" in DI ink.  Remember in the last project I had a glitter "love" die cut?  Well, I took the negative pieces from the loops–the tiny petal or leaf-shaped parts that drop to the floor or are simply discarded most of the time–and made a 3-piece embellishment with them.  Truth be told, I love shapes like this, and they're easily overlooked and forgotten about.  But let's use them this time and make a pretty flourish with them on the tag!

 

I tied everything onto the handle of the bag with some silver shimmer twine, then, because I had a sample leftover after last month's post, I adhered a die cut sprig underneath the embellishments.  Like last time, I cut it from printer paper and vellum.  This piece adds so much interest to this little bag!

 

If you're going larger, use more/wider/longer lengths of trim.  Make larger tags, or stack larger tags underneath this smaller-sized one.  If you're doing a larger tag, and like the idea of the 3-piece flourish, you'll have room on your tag for more than one, or PTI has loads of leaf and flower dies to create a similar, larger, embellishment: Try Bloomin' Cute or Peonies On Parade, among others.

 

I hope you enjoyed the packages today…weddings are always fun to create for, and using a combination of "basic" craft supplies and PTI products with wedding sentiments and images, you can wrap all sizes of wedding gifts!

 

I owe you a tassel tutorial, and I promise it's coming!  This month's post had several projects in it, though, and got quite lengthy, so I have to push the tassels to July.  My apologies for that, but know that it's on deck!

Again, I want to thank you all for your encouraging and kind-hearted comments.  I always find myself blushing slightly after reading them–the good kind of blushing, because you've made me feel warm and fuzzy 🙂  As I said last month, you're also giving me so many awesome ideas for future topics, and that's a tremendous help!  Please keep your suggestions coming so I can focus on what you'd like to see in this space on the 6th of each month! Gift cards, card packaging sets, pet treats, clothing sized/shirt boxes (hopefully this post gave you a few ideas for those–simply adjust your colors/sentiments for the occasion–but I'll work on some new techniques for larger boxes, too)…I can't wait to meet back up with you in July!!

Enjoy your June!

Papertrey Ink:

Stamp Sets:

Fancy Foliage

Splits: Best Wishes

Grand Ampersand

Dies:

Splits: Best Wishes

Fillable Frames #9

Inspired: Love

Branching Out

Ink:

Dark Indigo

Lilac Grace

Paper:

Stamper's Select White Cardstock

Stamper's Select Vellum

Other:

Fresh Snow Solid Satin Ribbon

Rustic Jute Button Twine

Outisde sources:

Embroidery Floss – 3813 (Aqua Mist), 823 (Dark Indigo)

Fabric Brad – Crate Paper

Glitter Paper – American Crafts

Tulle, Cupcake Wrappers, Wrapping Paper, Fabric, Lace, Gold Flower Sprig – Joann

Gift Bag – Target

Seam Binding – Etsy

Doilies – Paper Mart