Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Last year I shared some eco-friendly ways to add some flare to Christmas gifts - this year I'm back at it, making sure my Christmas gifts look great while also being sustainable and not costing a bomb.
Just as I did last time, this year I'm still always using brown paper for my wrapping. Not only is this paper easy to recycle and customise, I seriously think it looks better. This year, I went for a patterned brown paper from IKEA. They have some fabulous designed brown paper in IKEA, but I especially loved the simple white print for this year.
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S T A M P E D L A B E L
Using my miniature stamp set from Flying Tiger, I added a little 'Merry Xmas' to a piece of card, not caring too much for it to be perfect - I think the rustic look is gorgeous for this. I then simply carefully tore the card, added some holes with a hole punch, and threaded some red string through it. Tie and tape the string at the back, then arrange the lines to look nice and neat (don't worry about any crossing over at the back).
Obviously, for this one, you can add your own flair to it wherever you wish. I chose red string to match my colour scheme and added a little personal note for the gift receiver on the inside of the card.
It really couldn't be more simple but really does turn out looks sophisticated and full of thought.
W A X O R S C R A B B L E
Or both! Whether you have a wax stamp in your craft draw (which, I admit, not everyone does) or maybe just a few old scrabble letters knocking around - they can definitely be added to your wrapping! I loved the idea of using the wax stamp for the end of the string - it was a little bit tricky but with the addition of a teeny little bit of glue, I managed to keep the string end held down while prepping the stamp.
It was also nice to add a bit of different coloured string; I love the black-white with the brown and white paper and also reckoned my red wax would go better with this one.
Of course, you guessed it, the J is significant for the giftee which I think is a great way to add another personal touch.
M I N I P I N E C O N E S
This has to be one of my favourite designs I've created! I got my hands on some mini pine cones (but you could also find and use acorns, twigs, or leaves) and threaded the string around the bottom wings, knotting it securely.
I placed the cones a bit off from the centre, just to add some dimension then looped the rest of the string around the package. With this, I love the deep red in combination with the dark wooden pine cones - I think dark green or gold would also be a beautiful combination.
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Adding simple touches to your Christmas gifts can be sustainable AND beautiful - I hope this has definitely inspired you to forget about glitter and ribbon this year. Try something new and wow your family.
At this time of year, I love to get creative. There's something so magical about Christmas that makes me want to make and give. Whether it's handwriting Christmas cards, gathering together a pamper hamper, or making the gift wrap look wonderful - I'm always down for a good go at it.
This year, I not only wanted to share my own ideas and inspirations for sprucing up presents, but I wanted to make sure I could do it in an eco-friendly way. Admittedly, my use of synthetic fabric ribbon does let my side down a little here but there definitely are alternatives out there as well as the possibility of reusing the fabric ones. Nevertheless, I simply wrapped all of my gifts in recycled brown paper and added my own personal touches. Here's what I did:
P O T A T O S T A M P I N G
I've got to admit, I was very excited to try this one because potato stamping is something I've never done before. The inspiration for this one came from this article but I put my own twist on it, using black ink instead of white and allowing for a more rustic-style shape. I adore how it turned out too!
If you plan on doing this, all you need is a basic potato with a steady hand for cutting. I opted for a Christmas Tree shape as it was pretty easy and quick to do but still looks festive and fab. I can't urge how careful you must be here though - please remember that potatoes can be quite soft and a slip of the knife can be nasty, perhaps wearing gloves and sitting in a calm, well-lit place would make this easier.
In terms of colour, I used a basic black ink pad. Of course, you can use paint for this too and the colour possibilities are endless. I reckon this would look wonderful with gold ink/paint. Similarly, you can do some doodling on top of your designs. I was going to add some white stars on my tree but decided to keep it simple.
G E L P E N D O O D L E S
I'm surprised that this one turned out well, to be honest. I laid the paper flat with a white gel pen in my hand and just went in for some doodling. Being the perfectionist that I am, I expected to look back and think it looked rubbish but, I actually really enjoyed that rustic, doodle style that I'd achieved. The inspiration for my design was from this Pin and ended up being so quick and easy to do.
If you want to give this a go, I recommend that you measure out your piece of paper, for the item you mean to wrap, then doodle across the whole sheet. You might feel as though some of your doodles will be wasted in the folds but it does end up giving a great effect when the drawings curve around the item seamlessly.
I used the Pilot Choose 07 white gel pen for my drawings which I believe gives great pigment but, with the brown paper being like a blank canvas, you could almost use any and every colour.
F E S T I V E F O L I A G E
The last one is something that I've seen being done a hella lot on Pinterest, including here, here, and here. Adding foliage to things seems to have been all the rage over the past few years and we all know that I'm certainly not shy of plants. They give this natural, minimal look to everything they appear on and it certainly works well with the brown paper.
I gathered a few leafy twigs from our outdoor conifer and just tucked them behind the label on my gift - it's as simple as that. This foliage could easily be added to any of the previous designs too, especially as it carries on so well with the green ribbon.
For my other gifts, I think I'll try adding some different types of foliage too, such as eucalyptus and pine leaves. What other plants would you add?
D I Y L A B E L S
When we came home one day, started wrapping, then realised we hadn't purchased any labels/tags for the gifts, I had to resort to making my own. Luckily, my first one turned out great so I kept making them on and on.
I cut these labels out of brown craft paper after creating my unique designs. For each design, I will write something Christmassy in my own typography style. For all of my calligraphy, I tend to use the Tombow Brush Pen which I adore (!) and completely swear by. It's such a trusty piece of stationery which would also be a good gift in itself for any of your bullet-journalling friends.
If you don't have the time to make your own gift wrap or find some foliage in the garden, you can opt out of plastic-coated card this Christmas by adding your own DIY labels to your gifts.
I'd love to know what ideas you all have for gift wrapping this year!
Let me know in the comments...
I've gone many years as a blogger joining in with the 'product advent calendar' craze. Opening the cardboard door on Instagram stories, googling my eyes at the minature bottles in my hand, and being very tempted to open the next door a day early. This year, however, I'm not going to follow the Piper and I'm finally going to give into my judgements and say 'no' to the advent calendars. Here's 3 reasons why:
Do I really need all that stuff?
Opening a door everyday for 25 days means that you're highly likely to be presented with something that won't quite be as useful as the rest (unless it's cheese, of course). I remeber opening doors over the past few Christmases to things such as bright blue glitter lip-liner or minature hand creams that, quite frankly, smell more like the plastic they're kept in that the 'strawberry' they're supposed to smell like. After the Zoella-Christmas gate of last year, we all know well enough now that a lot of the big companies will search high and low for their cheapest products to put into these advent calendars before slapping a big price tag on. And, to be honest, it's stuff that we just don't need and half the time, didn't even want. Of course, I'm speaking for myself here, but I'm sure I'd rather have useful gifts from my family than 25 minature gifts that will be stashed away and never really be used.
They cost an arm and a leg.
Carrying on from that point, these advent calendars come with some pretty heafty price tags. While almost everything in calendars such as the Lacome and The Body Shop ones are minatures, they're still both priced at around £80-85. Nevertheless, I'm sure a great deal of these advent calendars do have a lot of value for their price but, when it comes to spending £320 on a Diptyque Advent calendar or a mindblowing £999 on a Whisky Advent Calendar, I certainly won't be queing at the doors. If the whisky advent calendar flies off the shelves, I might just be Michael Jackson.
There's a LOT of waste materials.
Seeing as though there's been an influx in awareness of waste, specifically plastic waste over the past year, I thought it was extremely revelvant to pick up on the sheer amount waste created from these advent calendars. Not only do the huge plastic boards - those used for creating the structure of the calendars - make it difficult when it comes to recycling (if they're recylable, that is), but usually, by the time your all done with it, you're left with a bunch of celephane wrap, tiny plastic tubes, bottles, and whatnot. This christmas, I'm going to save the space in my recycling bin and give the sea a rest by stepping back from the advent calendars.
Despite the fact that I've just moaned on about these advent calendars for a short while, I can't deny that they are super cool and I do understand how exciting they can be for others. If you're going to be grabbing an advent calendar this year, do make sure to giveaway anything you don't need to someone else who may find it of better use and don't forget to do your best when it comes to organising waste.
Otherwise, you could just grab a minature stocking and get your friends and family to fill it with a chocolate treat once a day. I reckon that might be what I go for this year.
What are your advent calendar plans this year?
On Friday 2nd my friends (Lucy and Millie) and I kicked off the New Year with a trip to my favourite winter city: Edinburgh. We had this planned since July and I was super excited since because I go to Edinburgh nearly every Christmas time, it's fantastic!
We set off on a two hour train journey on Friday morning. When we arrived we hit the shops straight away for a good look around. At this point I was showing the basics to my friends, they grasped the city's layout pretty quickly as we used Princes Street and George Street for our sales search.
We did some more shopping on Saturday, I got a new top from Topshop which is totally me and then a new purse in the Cath Kidston sale. Although I didn't buy much, I love both of my purchase.
On Saturday, a trip to Grass Market via the Castle and the Tartan Mill, had my us in the ultimate vintage shop called W. Armstrong & Son. This shop is much loved by my family and any of the people we ever bring with us on our trips to Edinburgh therefore I thought I'd show my friends.
W. Armstrong & Son is the quirkiest, most interesting shop full to the top of vintage clobber. From wedding dresses to hip-hop 1960's patterns and everything in-between. It's so fascinating and almost a look on history as you walk from year to year of fashion railings.
Along from W. Armstrong is a little café. This place is called Mary's Milk Bar and is near the top on Trip Advisor for café's in Edinburgh (Oh yes, I do my research), so I was so happy that it was open. Mary's Milk Bar is super adorable; made up of pastel pink tables, homemade chocolates, delicious ice cream flavours and a fantastic view of the castle, this place is perfection. My friends and I decided to go for a mid-afternoon hot chocolate - myself and Millie got Milk Chocolate, Orange and Cinnamon - which turned out to be one of my favourite ever hot chocolates. So good, I bought a packet (which was £9.50 for a 250g bag of infused chocolate shards, ready to melt and drink at home).
On our last evening, I introduced my friends to another family favourite. The Dome Bar and Restaurant attracts tourists all around the year - especially at Christmas. The place glows like a symphony of fairy lights with the extra added smell of pine and cinnamon... it's Christmas haven! The decorations are so vast that they have to close for a day in order to take them down.
Lastly, our meals throughout the trip were from La Tasca and Jamie's Italian. I thought I'd book two different cuisines, both of which were de-lic-ious! La Tasca is an all time favourite of mine and I'm (not so secretly) a huge fan of Jamie Oliver. We also visited Tiger Lily which is another bar that's pretty posh. The decorations were lovely, so suave.
Despite Christmas being over, hanging on to the festivities came easily as Edinburgh glistened the last sparkle of fairy lights. If you're planning on going to Edinburgh then I'd recommend the Chirstmas season.
On Saturday we went Ice Skating at St. Andrews Square which was an oval shaped rink around the monument. I uploaded a picture and a Time-Lapse to Instagram for you to check out.
What city do you love at Christmas?
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