I love to find interesting and inexpensive ways to wrap gifts. There are so many items that can be found around the house to use to create unique gift wrap.  Reused paper towel, wrapping paper tubes and even toilet paper rolls can be used to make pillow boxes accented with items you have on-hand. Scraps of ribbon, buttons, newspaper and anything else you have laying around can create there fun little pillow boxes. Small gifts or candy can be placed in these adorable and easy to make treasures.

These can easily be created by cutting the size of the tube desired and press in the ends to create a pillow box. Use yarn, buttons, fabric and anything else of interest to wrap around the tube and glue. Just be creative and have fun. Insert the gift and use tape to seal each end to secure the gift inside. I have a lot of fun making these pillow boxes and it is a good time to start so they are ready for you when it is time to give a small gift.

Crown Jewels

Anyone who is familiar with my designs knows that I usually do not decorate gifts with bows. I used to think that in order for a gift to look like a gift, it had to have a big bow centered in the middle of the box. Although I have some designs on my website with large fluffy bows, I have changed my style to use things other than a bow to accent my gifts. It also takes so much ribbon to make a big bow which adds to the cost of wrapping a gift.  I just feel that there are so many more interesting and unique items that can be used to embellish a gift.

I bought these ornaments on sale from Michael’s.

I love to decorate gifts with ornaments. I find inexpensive ornaments at the craft store to create an elegant and dramatic gift wrap. It also becomes part of the gift because it can be used as a real ornament after the present is opened. Also, if you are changing your tree decor,  you can use ornaments you already have to add to the gifts. The nice thing about using an ornament as the accent piece is you don’t have to do much else to decorate the gift. In this design, I just layered some pieces of decorative paper and you have a beautiful gift that will definitely impress the recipient.

How to make the Crown Jewels design

Shopping Bag Wrap

This trendy design is inexpensive to create and the cinnamon gives the gift a nice holiday scent.

Now that Thanksgiving is over it’s time to start thinking about the holidays. While you are still feasting on your turkey leftovers, it's a good time to start gathering items to wrap your holiday gifts. I remember the days when I would spend $80 to $100 on decorative wrapping paper to make my gifts look unique and beautiful. Everyone would always say “Gina always wraps the best gifts!” I have come to realize that the most interesting gifts do not have to be created with fancy, pricey wrap and embellishments. Some of my favorite designs are wrapped with reused items and natural elements like this shopping bag wrap.

The sooner you start getting your supplies together the less money you will spend on gift wrap. You can even start making some of your gift bags and pre-wrapped boxes in advance. Over the next few weeks, I will be posting design ideas and tips on how to save money wrapping gifts this holiday season.

How to make the Shopping Bag Wrap