Today, I am attending the wedding shower of a former student I taught in fifth grade. I am so excited for her and her fiance and had a ball shopping for her shower.
I thought I would share how I wrapped her gifts on a budget, with style.
It's true when they say you never have a second chance to make a good first impression. I feel that beautifully wrapped gifts fall into that line of thinking as well.
The gift wrapping should be exciting - this way the receiver is excited about what's inside.
Wrapping a gift can be super easy and super affordable.
Let's get started...
Of course, the first thing I did was gather the supplies that I was THINKING about using.
Let's talk about tulle...
Tulle is one of the cheapest materials to buy on a large spool, but it can give you loads of visual impact. You can bunch it to create large fluffy bows, or use it like wide ribbon. You can also combine different colors.
The large hot pink pompons were a part of the Easter decor that was 50% off Wal*Mart right now. I knew I could use them on packages, and at $2.98 for two I couldn't purchase the yarn and make them myself any cheaper.
Of course, the silver and white striped gift wrap and duo white Curl Swirls were found at the Dollar Tree. The gift wrap is tagged as "wedding," however, I am going to use it for a few graduation gifts topped with a bow in school colors. It can also double as birthday wrap for guys or gals and even anniversary wrap.
TIP: When shopping for gift wrap from any retailer, try to purchase wrap that's NOT specific so that you can use it for different things. Make your bow or topper that part that's relative to the context of the gift.
I had my long-bladed scissors (IKEA), transparent tape, and Stampin'UP Snail tape already.
You don't need to have a double sided tape if you prefer to use just regular tape instead. It's a personal preference.
I had used her gift registry at Bed, Bath, & Beyond, to shop for her gift. I purchased the toaster and the silicone oven mitt from there. At Tuesday Morning I purchased the kitchen towels (you can never have enough), the paper guest towels for a guest bathroom, and a box of Thank You cards. I grabbed the Thank You cards on the way to the register because they were in her theme colors and you can NEVER have enough Thank You cards on hand.
I wrapped the loose items in a saved large shirt box.
TIP: NEVER use old tissue paper from the previous gift when wrapping a new gift.
Tissue paper is super cheap (Dollar Tree) and opening a gift, only to find it wrapped in wrinkled, USED tissue is just one of my pet peeves. It's a quick fix, so take the time to do it.
I tucked the gift receipt in the bottom of the box in the event she receives another toaster, she can return it for something else.
Now comes the fun part!
There is an ART to wrapping a gift...
Lay out your gift box, upside down on the paper.
Make sure the wrapping paper will cross over when you bring the long sides together.
Give yourself enough paper on the ends to make neat and even folds as well.
One of the great things about the Dollar Tree gift wrap is that it has a faint grid pattern on the back, making cutting it into straight lines super easy and simple.
Fold your wrap over on the box and tape. I use the Snail tape runner so that it doesn's show.
At this point, I create crisp creases on the folded corners of the gift.
These creases will greatly improve the look of your gift wrapping!
On the ends, fold in from the sides, again creating super crisp creases. Fold down the top which is really the bottom of your gift.
I use the regular tape to hold it down. If you tuck in under the flaps, it will not show.
Finally, pull up the bottom flap and tape it over the edge.
Go over all the edges on the package to make sure the creases are looking great.
One of the things you need to remember when using a wrapping paper that has a stripe or a repeated pattern is that it lines up evenly with the box edge.
In the photo above, you can see that there is an even amount of silver stripe below the crease as well as above the crease. If you don't consider that when wrapping, the package will not look as great.
I decided to go with the lace tulle and simply wrapped it around the two gifts. (I had used the Snail to attach the large gift on top of the flat gift to keep them together.)
I used all for of the Curl Swirls around the knot of the lace tulle and topped it with the pink pompon.
I wanted to be intentional about the gift topper because typically at wedding showers a hat or bouquet is made from the shower toppers which the bride will use at her rehearsal event. My bride's colors are black, gray and pink so this will go right along with the theme.
I crafted this card just for her shower and will place it in an envelope before I leave.
Here are the gift and card all ready for giving.
I'm so excited to be sharing this special time with my lovely former student. I'm touched that she wanted me to be a part of it.
Wrapping this gift for her was just a personal way for me to tell her how special she is.
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