Wrapping paper bows

Oh my, Thanksgiving is just 2 days away and Christmas will be here before we know it! I admit that I've been antsy to get my tree up but the big guy nixed me at every turn. He insisted we had to wait until after Thanksgiving before any Christmas decorations could make an appearance and I grudgingly admit he's right lol. But, next week my tree will be up and in anticipation of that, I decided to get a head start on wrapping some of the gifts I've gotten already. I actually bought my first gift in September and I've been getting a couple here and there ever since. It just made sense to me to start early to avoid the stress I've endured in the past by waiting until the week before Christmas. YES, that's been me more times that I'd like to admit. But no more! When the holiday became so stressful that it was no longer enjoyable I knew it was time to make a change. It's also much more cost effective to do it this way, rather than trying to come up with hundreds of dollars in a week or two.

But that's not really what this blog post is about....As I was wrapping today and making some paper ribbon bows to adorn my wrapped packages, I thought it would be a good time to share with others who maybe hadn't thought of it or had seen it before but had forgotten to try it.  I like to decorate my packages so that they look attractive underneath the tree and we all know that buying pre-made bows can be expensive if you buy the prettier ones. So, what I've been doing for the last few years is taking my wrapping paper and cutting it into strips of about 6-8 inches long and maybe a quarter inch in width. I then use my scissors to curl it just like you would do for strips of ribbon. Usually, I add just a small amount of ribbon as well to enhance the way it looks but it's certainly not necessary. I take all the strips and layer them the way I want them and I use a stapler and staple them together before attaching them to my package with a small piece of clear tape.  THE best thing about doing this is that you always have the perfect "ribbon" for your gift!

*NOTE: I'm not sure how well this would work with cheaper wrapping paper, but it works perfectly with the heavy duty paper I use. I get most all my wrapping paper from Hobby Lobby...on sale you get 100 sq. ft for about $4 and it literally lasts for at least 2-3 years so it's well worth the price.

Here are a couple of examples from some gifts I wrapped today.

I hope you can understand what I'm talking about
and this serves as a decent example. 

Your strips absolutely do not need to be completely uniform in size
either as it's virtually impossible to tell once they're curled and
on your gift!

ETA: Here are a couple more examples of wrapping paper bows I made this year. And really and truly the photos do not do justice to these bows. Give it a try and see for yourself!

For these I cut the strips about 12 inches or more in length and also more of them. You can really be as extravagant as you want with these...the more the better!
As always, thank you so much for stopping by and be sure and check back next week to see what's new!
Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours!

Rhonda

Sorry for the glare...I used some thin silver ribbon on this one
and the flash got it. I know it's hard to see much of the detail but
hopefully you get the general idea. And I only used a few strips on this gift ...just
enough to make a small "bow".