Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Last Minute Fabric Wrapping Fun

This year I've found myself with some pretty sizable boxes to wrap up for Christmas gifts.  The thought of using nearly a whole roll of wrapping paper for one gift has my thrifty side cringing.  I haven't had to restock my wrapping paper supply in a while, and don't relish the idea of heading back to the stores this late in the game.  So I find myself happily sorting through my largest stash of fabric to put it to good use!  Just a yard or two of beautiful inexpensive fabric will yield many opportunities to be used, and then there's the gift of that fabric for any of your sewing friends too!

If you're wrapping a gift with a piece of fabric, you can certainly wrap it just like any other paper wrapped gift, but you will incur some bulk around the folded ends and corners.  For me, that added to the charm of my daughter trying to guess what in the world it could be!  I used safety pins to secure the seams and ends and lots of beautiful wide ribbon for a bow (again, from my stash).  The fun part for me was waiting a few days before putting a name tag on the boxes...keeps 'em guessing.

Now originally, I wanted to gather a huge piece of fabric to the middle of the box with a rubber band and create a center pouf, but even my largest chunk of red fabric couldn't match up with these two humongous boxes.  I don't think these are too bad though, and the great thing is that my garbage bin won't have much in there this year.  What wasn't wrapped in fabric was placed in fabric gift bags and reusable decorated boxes!

There are a lot of great websites for tips and techniques on wrapping gifts with fabric.  I found this beautiful collection of photos of packages with much more style than mine offer:  https://www.google.com/search?q=fabric+package+wrapping&hl=en&rlz=1C1TSNO_enUS461US461&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=CEfyTpiHC-bc2QXp4ISDAg&ved=0CJgBELAE&biw=1600&bih=775.  But heck,  these are for a 10 year old who really doesn't care about anything other than what's inside those bright red boxes!

Have a great day!  Ilene
Posted by at 1:28 PM

7 comments:

  1. The Bear's BlogDecember 21, 2011 at 1:39 PM

    What a great idea....and - if the person receiving the gift is a quilter or craft person that makes it even better. (o:

    Thank you for the idea and links.

    Hugs

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  2. UnknownDecember 21, 2011 at 4:09 PM

    Love it! I would keep the fabric and make a quilt for next year!

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  3. BrendaDecember 22, 2011 at 5:46 AM

    I always feel so guilty with the piles of paper left over from Christmas. Brilliant idea! Never thought about doing this with large gifts... My son received a treat bag from his childhood that I recently used in my first quilt. It was a decent sized piece of Halloween fabric tied with a ribbon, and the pattern was just gorgeous! Bet the lady never thought that 15 years later it would end up having another purpose! Thanks for the idea... I am wrapping today!! :)

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  4. PamDecember 22, 2011 at 2:18 PM

    I used a vinyl Christmas tablecloth to wrap a really large and heavy gift. That way the table cloth can be used after unwrapping and it was less than the cost of a large bag that probably would have ripped and it wasn't a giant green garbage bag.

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  5. Happy Valley PrimitivesDecember 22, 2011 at 4:08 PM

    Awesome idea Pam! I thought about a flat bed sheet too. Anything that doesn't fill up the landfill is a great idea!

    Ilene

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  6. Firecracker KidDecember 23, 2011 at 7:17 AM

    I've always hated the thought of throwing away the paper wrap, bought and applied so pretty. Fabric wrap is wonderful and can be reused ;o)
    Merry Christmas!
    Carol

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  7. BarbDecember 24, 2011 at 8:08 AM

    Hi Ilene,
    What a great idea!!
    Have a wonderful Holiday!
    Enjoy,
    Barb

    ReplyDelete

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