Rebecca’s Tips | Packaging Gifts for Dad

Hello from the Ink to Paper blog!  I’m still covering packaging fun each month and today we’re celebrating DADS.  I’m not sure I’ve ever done a packaging post that’s 100% dedicated to the men in our lives, which is terrible on my part, isn’t it?  Well, I’m changing that today because this is ALL about them!

I don’t know about you, but the men in my life are so hard to shop for!  My dad is pretty simple and has a few different hobbies–especially reading–but I’d never dare buy him a book because he’s probably read it (and he works at the library so does buying books for him even make sense?).  My husband is a tech gadget guy, but again, I wouldn’t dream of shopping for him because I know I wouldn’t buy the right component.  He’d probably love that bottle of whiskey Ashley featured in her recent post, but since she already covered that, I’m taking the easy route and giving gift cards this year for Father’s Day.

I’ve used some packaging products and tag dies from Papertrey Ink, mixed with stamps and dies from Ink to Paper. It was hard not to be inspired by the mountain die in the new Simply Sweet: You set and of course, the World’s Best Dad stamps! I revisited an idea I shared during the holidays for decorating cloth gift bags, pulling out some masculine colored felt and cutting the mountain image from them. I adhered the shapes to the bags, adding 1 or 2 extra embellishments to each bag and finishing off with some simple tags.

One way to punch up the muslin bags is to add some subtle color to them with ink and a blending brush.  I chose the smallest bag–sized just right for gift cards!–and created a sky behind my mountain range with Blueberry Sky ink.  (It’s a bit hard to see in the photographs but you can see the upper half of the bag is slightly darker than the lower part, which is from the blue ink.)  The mountains are cut from Blueberry Sky and Classic Kraft felt, with a tiny heart from Pure Poppy felt.

I used the scrap of felt from which I cut the heart to add to the tag set, which includes Skinny Mini tags trimmed from matching cardstocks.  On the kraft tag, I stamped a Loosely Woven background in WaterMark ink; on the blue tag I stamped “#1 dad” in Enchanted Evening.  It can be tough (for me) not to add a bunch of ribbons or something glittery to a project, but when it comes to the guys, I have to make myself tone it down!  This is simpler, but that doesn’t mean it has to be boring; hence the subtle details like ink blending, background stamping, and the red felt piece.

The next little bag is a linen bag, found in the PTI shop.  The small size is perfect for holding gift cards and I paired this up with brighter colors, while maintaining a masculine feel.  I cut 2 mountain ranges again, this time matting Tropical Teal felt on top of Ocean Tides.  Matting them offers a sense of depth and allows for more color.  These are adhered with Fabri-Tac, but if you’re adept with a needle and thread, they’d be just as nice stitched on.  I added the sun shining above the peak in Summer Sunrise felt (really fitting–that!).

The tags are kept simple as well, both are the smallest die in the Essential Tag set–one from Tropical teal and the other from white cardstock.  On the white tag, I stamped a portion of the largest paint stroke from Watercolor Textures: Brush Strokes. To achieve the soft color, I inked up the stamp with Tropical Teal ink, stamped once on scratch paper, and then stamped again on the tag.  It was the exact color I wanted.  ‘World’s best papa‘ is stamped in normal TT ink.  I stitched the tags to the bag with black thread.

My final Dad-approved project is a cardstock giftcard holder.  Papertrey Ink has lots of awesome dies for creating these, but I have a fun idea for turning tags into receptacles.  I started by cutting out 2 the largest tag from the Scalloped Tag die collection.  I used Classic Kraft paper and simply stitched the two pieces together.  I used a gift card as a stitch marker to ensure proper fit, tracing a light line around the card with a pencil.  After stitching was complete, I erased the pencil marks and inserted the card.  It was easy and just a little something different.

I decorated the outside of the ensemble similarly to the gift bags, using mountains cut from Ocean Tides and Dark Chocolate felt.  I used the sun imagery again but stamped and embossed the image this time.  I like the subtle shine of the gold against the kraft–it’s not too glitzy!

I cut a couple more Skinny Mini tags in white and Dark Chocolate, stamping my message on the white tag in Enchanted Evening ink, and adding a couple of Pure Poppy felt hearts.  I clipped it all together with a small wood clothespin, securing the tags, as well as the gift card.

I’m ready for Father’s Day now and hopefully you’ve been inspired to get ready for it, too!  Thank you so much for sharing this time with me today–I’ll see you back here in July!