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Diy Holiday Gift Wrapping Ideas “It’s a wrap, stylish gift wrapping ideas”

Materials & Tools:

•See each wrapping description (MATERIALS AVAILABLE AT ARTS, CRAFT AND FABRIC STORES)

MIY INSTRUCTIONS:Think outside of the box for inspiration this holiday season by making the wrapping part of the gift. I even used clothing accessories such as a black velvet hat adorned with a feathered boa, a tasselled belt, a gold ascot and custom jewellery for savvy accents. Great wrapping concepts begin with fabulous finds such as jars, rice paper, feathers and Christmas tree trimmings. Fabrics such as satin, velour, taffeta, lace, toile prints and iridescent organzas combined with assorted trimmings from fancy elastics, satin piping, beaded fringe, to magnificent ribbons and tassels are key factors to these lavish presentations.Start by pressing all the fabrics and tissue papers with an iron set at a medium to low setting to remove all creases.Here are some left-to-right descriptions and simple how-to’s:

1.Toile upholstery fabric for a Renaissance style: roses and peacocks toile fabric, a plaid border, enhance with white fringe trim and a red and gold patterned ribbon. Wrap the present with the fabric, fold and tape just like a regular paper wrapping technique. Secure the folds, check border, fringe trim and ribbon with hot glue.

2.Feathered toile wallpaper fantasy: Wrap the present with the toile wallpaper, fold and tape, to secure the folds, the red and gold braided cord (wrapped around the gift in making an X shape), the red feather, a gold-leaf with a tiny ornamental ball, all with hot glue.

3.Maiden tasselled drawstring extravagance: Vertically wrap a strip of patterned sheer curtain fabric along the midpoint of the box, tape at the back. Then wrap the box with red and gold Jacquard fabric, over the sheer fabric leaving a 6-inch opening at the center of the box. Fold and tape at the top and bottom of the box, securing with hot glue. Measure the white elastic eyelet trim to make sure the eyelet loops are even on each side, then fasten on vertically with hot glue covering the edge of the fabric. Weave the satin gold piping in and out of the eyelet loops making a crisscross design. Add a gold tassel to each piping end simply by tying the tassel loop and piping into a knot.

4.Trim a plain paper towel roll with impressive beaded cuffs: Paper towel rolls are excellent for presents such as, socks, undergarments, pens to unique little treasures. Cut a piece of textured fabric 7-inches longer than the length of the roll. Fold fabric in half, lie flat and cut each end with pinking shears on a diagonal angle. Place and glue the beaded trim onto the now V-shaped border on the wrong side of the fabric. Insert gift inside the roll. Centre the roll on the fabric, roll up, tape or glue to secure closure and tie at each end with a small braided cord inserting a gold tassel in the knot, and knot at each end. Adorn with gold ribbon, glued around the tube in a criss-cross fashion.

5.Rice paper roll covered with embroidered ribbon trimmings: just the right thing for gift certificates, checks and other precious gifts from the heart. Cut a rice paper strip about 4 inches longer than the length of the roll. Insert gift inside the roll, centre on the paper, roll up, and tape at the back. Glue on assorted ribbon strips horizontally all around the roll with hot glue, leaving the ends loose 1-inch past the end of the roll. Tie each end of the roll with a red satin ribbon by making a simple bow. Garnish the centre with a gold mesh beaded ribbon.


6.Personalized frosted gab-bag with a picture of the recipient: Wrap gift in red tissue paper leaving the top end open and insert into gab-bag. Tie a gold cord around the tissue paper, exposing the knot and bow through the handle. Make a monotone colour photo printout of the recipient, cut out with scalloped shears and fasten to the bag with double-faced tape.

7.Black velour hat transformed into a gift pouch topped with boa feathers: great idea for a hat and glove set for a teenage girl. Insert the gift inside the hat, tie with red cord by making a bow, and knot each end. Clip the end off a feathered boa and insert in the hat, glue a feather on the knot of the bow.

8.Circular box covered with antiqued textured wallpaper: Measure and cut wallpaper to fit around the exterior and top part of a cardboard box. Apply adhesive spray to the back of the paper and apply to box and let dry. Then wipe on antiquing medium and rub off with a damp cloth. Let dry. The bow is made with a gold ascot (scarf type) wrapped around the box. Adorn the bow with red, gold and clear beaded garland ornament.

9.Jewel-tone plaid silk covering for large gift: when regular gift paper just doesn’t fit larger gifts, go for fabric wraps. Wrap the gift like you would with paper wrapping, fold corners secure with tape or hot glue. Instead of ribbon try using belts or scarves as part of the packaging.

10.Gift in a jar embellished with beaded wire trim: Fantastic idea for baked goodies, or bath and beauty products. Simply wrap the gift in tissue paper, loosely wrap raffia around the gift and insert into a glass candy jar. Add beaded string ornament around the collar of the jar.

11.Curtain call: wrap a gift in gold tissue paper. Wrap a piece of white lace curtain with fringe around the top part of the gift and secure at the back with hot glue. Glue a tassel to an earring part to create the center ornament.

Variations:

•Other ideas to make the wrapping part of the gifts are items such as dish towels, scarves, hats, pillow cases, even pillows.

•For outdoors, I like to make square shapes out of snow and water, colour them with food colouring and decorate them with weather-proof ribbon and bows. I stack them in my son’s wooden sleigh - makes great front-porch décor.

Copyright Miy Decorations © 2006

For more Miy decor projects visit www.maddylane-decor.com

Madeleine M Langlois
http://www.articlesbase.com/hobbies-articles/diy-holiday-gift-wrapping-ideas-82214.html

The festive mood remains well active even when the holidays are over. People visit the stores and shops to make full use of post-holiday discounts. Friends and relatives continue to visit your place till the end of January. It takes some time for the world to get back to the conventional track of life after January 1.

Though the calendar is saying that the holidays are over, the fact is: they are not. First few weekend parties in the New Year are going to be rocking! And you still have enough reasons to decorate your home and garden.

Decorating by Style:

Try something new, unique and different. If you are one of those who love to try their hands with crafting, then go ahead and prepare some holiday crafts yourself. Jingle bell door hanger, gingerbread stable, beaded snowflakes, Christmas tree etc. can be prepared at home.

For New Year home decoration, write the New Year in figure OR New Year’s Resolutions in the crafts and make them suitable for New Year celebration.

Decorate keeping the occasion in mind:

For Christmas parties, merry red with snowy white looks good. On the other hand, the New Year celebration parties demand a more vibrant and dazzling color scheme – velvety blue, maroon with black, or dark green with golden ornamentation can make your New Year celebration more engaging.

Ask your family members if they have anything to say about the colors of the party. Make the entire session more interactive by engaging all family members in the home decorating process.

Make sure the whole interior is made up to the color scheme you have selected for the season. For Christmas party, choose white upholsteries with red borders, red coasters, and white dinner sets with red ornamentation. Similarly, the upholsteries for sofa and chairs should be chosen appropriately.

When it comes to New Year celebration, an appealing and engaging ambience is desired. There should be plentitude of colors and lights all around the corner. This style is applicable for the New Year celebration parties held after January 1 too.

Create an artistic symbol:

To make the entire setting more soothing, select a pattern for this season; there must be abundance of this art all around. For example, draw a bunch of flowers; order bespoke curtains and upholsteries that contain the embroidery you designed.

And the Red Carpet

Your carpet should also fit with the look and feel of the interior. A red carpet is always good for Christmas or New Year party! Make sure the carpet has the right texture for your interior.

The pattern that you selected for the curtains and upholsteries might not be available in the carpet store. In that case, select the same theme for your carpet. For example, if you have chosen floral embroidery for the curtain and sofa upholstery, make sure the carpet has floral texture too.

And you are ready to welcome guests! Play some holiday numbers to create the perfect ambience of celebration. Serve the drinks, snacks and foods that you love most and allow the festive mood to stay within your home for few days more!

Olivia Flores
http://www.articlesbase.com/interior-design-articles/home-design-ideas-home-decoration-before-and-after-holidays-721800.html

Beaded curtains, so popular in the sixties, are back once again. Now we can once again use this exciting treatment in the 21st century, and with new designs and materials, using beaded curtains is better than ever. There are beautiful designs that use light and prisms to create a special effect in your home or apartment. You can use beaded curtains on WINDOWS, or as room dividers. You’ll be back to calling them “groovy” once again. How to put them to use? One of the most dramatic ways you can use beaded curtains is as a full drape. Hang long, colorful beads from the top of the window right down to the floor for a really special effect. If you do this in a doorway, or even between different areas of a room to set them off from the rest of the room, without cutting out light and view.

Some of the newer designs can be hung in such a way that you can create a complete mosaic design with the beads. You can make an elaborate design by mixing a lot of different colors and shapes, or you can keep it simple using the same strings of beads next to each other. Wooden beads make a beautiful natural looking window covering that goes with very many types of decorating. Some people have used beaded curtains as closet door, even removing the door because of space considerations. Beaded curtains hang in the doorway without taking any extra space. In addition to using a full curtain of beading as a window covering, there are a number of other ways to incorporate beads into the design of the window treatement.

Beads can be sewn onto the edge of the curtain as a fringe, or can be sewn onto the fabric to add sparkle to the curtain. This can be done by using contrasting colors, or using the same colors as the fabric that will reflect light without adding a competing color. These beads can be sprinkled randomly on the curtain, or placed in a predetermined pattern. Beads can also be sewn to the edging of sheers and drapes for an elegant touch.

Putting a fringe of beads on the bottom of a café curtain in a bright family room or sunroom would reall brighten the room up. Using the same kind of fringe on draperies creates a completely different look, with the beads adding elegance to the already elegant fabric. We are seeing a lot of decorative accents being treated with beads nowadays. Throw pillows are edged in beading, and the bottoms of furniture or ottomans can be finished off to match the beads on a drape. If you don’t make your own curtains, you can use ready made curtains and sew beads onto them for a unique customized look.

Some can even be glued on, rather than sewed on, for the really seriously sewing impaired. Sewing beads on, however will look more professional, and hold up in the dry cleaners or washing machine better. Using beads in your decorating is a fun and easy way to give your home a new face-lift. The cost of adding beads as curtains or other decorative features is minimal and you can do so many things to make them different such as using them on closets, or pulling them back to put a glow of light and color into your room.

Eric J. Slarkowski
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/a-blast-from-the-pastbeaded-curtains-98460.html