Don't forget the pets

There are a lot of friends in my life welcoming new little humans into their families for the first time. Many of them have pets so when attending baby showers I've been including an extra gift for the furry friends. I figure some extra love in the form of treats and toys is helpful because they might perceive the new bundle of joy a little differently than their owners. 

I have plenty of handmade cat toy options in my Etsy store but I've had a hard time thinking of a handmade gift for pups. Handcrafted and dog has never sounded too durable to me. But in thinking of dog gifts there is one that can be hand gathered. Sticks!

If your neighborhood is lacking in sticks there's always the classic tennis ball. Bonus if you've got some doggy paper for this super simple wrap.

So I encourage you when gifting parents to be; please don't forget the pets!

From my crafting bookshelf: Paper to Petal

Paper to Petal is a gorgeous book. I can easily lose time looking at all the details in each spread. More than being beautiful it is a recipe book for crafting paper flowers. Rebecca Thuss and Patrick Farrell have meticulously laid out instructions complete with every last material needed for each flower they've shown in the book. This is why I say it's a recipe book. With all cook books that come into my life I look at the recipes for inspiration and then use the ingredients I have on hand. Using this book was no different.

The magenta flowers are based off the books Five-Petal Sweeties and the bigger blooms were my own exploration based on techniques from the book.

Paper flowers are of course a perfect thing to adorn gifts like the one below. That special wrapping was for a baby shower gift. The flowers used techniques from the Rainbow Ruffle book instructions, just with a bit less ruffle. 

I used watercolor pencils to accent some of the crepe paper before making the flowers. The leaves are made from tissue most likely saved from a shoe box .

There are some other pertinent details about the book. It is Martha approved complete with a lovely forward by Stewart. The back of the book contains petal templates that you can trace or photo copy as well as an extensive list of resources. It is a book I know I'll use for many years. 

Toy toppers

I've been away on vacation and away from blogging for the past few weeks. Next week I'll be sharing some about my trip to Australia. In the mean time I didn't want to stay too silent on my blog so I'm showing a collection of wrappings topped with little toys.

These wrappings are fairly kid oriented but toy toppers can work for adults as well. I love giving out finger puppets because everyone has a favorite animal that makes them smile. A former roommate of mine got me into decorating house plants with them. Just stick them on the end of a chopstick in the pot. Post holiday sales are a great time to find deals on novel little trinkets you can use to make a gift extra special.

Wrapping with Wrap magazine

The tagline says it best. Wrap is a magazine celebrating illustration, design and creative culture. It hails from the UK and I've had a subscription for a year as well as buying a few back issues. When I tell people I've found a gift wrap magazine I think they picture a glossy version of my gift wrap blog posts. It is definitely not that. The wrapping paper is a unique bonus because this magazine is for anyone who loves art, illustration, and the stories behind it. It is truly international.

Wrap comes with 5 sheets of double sided wrap. Some wrap illustrations use repeat patterns but most feature an illustration varying it's depiction from corner to corner. I have truly had a hard time tearing out these beautiful sheets and deciding which portion of the wrap to feature on my gifts. Until this holiday season I'd only wrapped with it once.

The above wrap features two illustrations from the Winter 2012 issue. Two sides of the same piece of paper. The illustrated scene on the spinning box is by Bjørn Rune Lie. The wrap on the right is by Petra Börner using paper cuttings. This issues theme was the deep cold of winter so they commissioned Nordic artists who know the cold well.

One of the smartest things Wrap does is repeat the illustrations on the pull out wrap inside the magazine. So even when you've wrapped a gift you can still look back on the artistry.

These wraps are from the latest Winter 2013 issue. Their theme was the telling of tales. Ten illustrators recreated a well known folk tale heralding from their home country. On the left Polish illustrator Pawet Milder recreates the story 'You Will Go Astray, Like a Killer'. On the right Leslie Wood recreates a winter edition of the American tale of 'Sticks and Stones'. Both wraps are from different sides of the same paper.

If you'd like to subscribe or just buy some gift wrap you can do so right here. I highly recommend it. This magazine is made with extreme care and all of my issues have been accompanied by hand written notes.

Wrapping small and special

The saying goes 'good things come in the small packages'. I'm sharing here some easy ways to wrap some small things in a special way.

First up is surprise balls! Do you have any fond memories of surprise balls from childhood? I think I only got one once but I loved it. I was reminded of them last year when HonestlyWTF posted a nice tutorial for making them. They stood out to me as being a great way to wrap something small and special. I've created a little unravelling animation to show the fun.

These are easy to make though they do take a little time. This is a good activity to do while watching your favorite Christmas movie. Little flat-ish things work well to include in the crepe paper layers. The list is endless. Some ideas are; stickers, fortunes, hand written notes, confetti, jingle bells, or money (who doesn't like finding a surprise dollar in their pocket).

Cut standard crepe paper streamer in half for more control when wrapping. Connect multiple colors with washi tape.

I could see these as being a good way to wrap a special piece of jewelry, new car keys, or an engagement ring. I wrapped a ring for my mom last year this way. The ring had a cat on it so I even included some catnip as one of the elements which revealed itself from the layers of crepe.

Many cards come wrapped in a cellophane sleeve. You can use that as a keeper of a special gift when you add confetti. Wrap the gift first in some tissue to help distribute the weight and keep your item from falling through the confetti to the bottom of the bag. I make my confetti with multi-blade scissors. They're actually being sold at Target right now in the mens department. Marketed as a personal shredder in the "Gifts for him under $20" display. Here's a different pair. I sealed my confetti filled present with washi tape of course.

Save your cellophane bags!

You don't need holiday specific paper to wrap something special. Pair some metallic pipe cleaners or ribbon with neutral wrap to make it feel festive.