Why would you want to wrap gifts without bows, you ask? Well, there are several reasons, but why I had to do it was because I have a feisty 10 month old orange kitten that simply won't leave bows alone. So unless I want a bunch of bedraggled, ripped and toothmarked Christmas bows, I had to go another route. Another reason would be to save money. Ribbon is expensive, even bags of premade bows are as inexpensive as they used to be. Going without bows saves money! A third reason is that it is impossible to stack gifts for transport if they have bows on them. You can try, but I guarantee by the time you get them to the desired location, they bows will be mashed, ripped or missing completely. Do yourself a favor and go bowless! With a little ingenuity and glue, you will have gorgeous packages and the recipients will be amazed!
| What you will need to do this is a glue stick, scissors, a few different kinds of ribbon, and wrapping paper. I found it to be easier if you have paper that comes in a set, so they go together, but this is not necessary. You can be creative and use any assortment of paper that you think looks pretty. The glue stick I used is this one: Elmers All Purpose Glue Stick |  |
You really need this, trust me! Don't try to do this with regular glue, or even Mod Podge. Regular glue will make your paper pieces wrinkle and warp, and not lay flat. Mod Podge should be brushed on the gift and then the paper pieces put on the Mod Podged wrapping paper. Doing this will ruin the shine of the gift wrap. Take my advice and get a glue stick, and save yourself the grief.
First you wrap your gift. Make sure not to use gift wrap that is too busy. If it is, your pattern pieces will get lost and hard to see. After your gift is wrapped, decide what you want to put on the front of it. From here, you can go three ways, you can free hand cut out the pieces, you can draw the shapes on the back of the paper and cut out, or you can make a pattern to trace on the back of the wrapping paper. I used all three methods, depending on how complex the design was. Below is one of the packages I used a pattern for:
 |  |
I used a ruler for the lines and plain typing paper for the pattern. This is the result:
Luckily, I happened to have two colors of the same wrapping paper, which I think happened to make this pattern particularly pretty. After gluing on the tree, I cut out the red circles out of red paper scraps and glued them on in the center of the snowflakes. I think it came out really cute! I used this idea to make the same tree design on a another gift, only in a different way. This time I just used a ruler and pencil to trace out the pattern on the back of the paper before cutting.
 |  Here is a zoomed in picture. I should have left more space between the pieces so it would be easier to see the separation. Live and learn! |
| For this one, I just used a ruler to trace out triangular trees and I left them whole. The paper I used came from a set that came together, so they match well. It's a simple design, but I think it is quite beautiful. |  |
Sometimes I use the patterns on paper as a base for a design. Like the one below, I made with the same paper as on the left hand tree on the package above.
I saw the ornament shape of the pattern on the gift wrap, and I decided to go with it. First I cut them out, then I snipped a few pieces of ribbon for hangers and glued them together.
 This is the other side of the giftwrap. I love double sided paper, don't you? |  |
You don't really have to get fancy, sometimes a more plain design fits the package or gift wrap more, like the one below. Simple geometric shapes make for an interesting design, especially if your background paper is a more busy design like my HO HO HO paper.
I know that some of you are probably thinking, why should I go to all that trouble and work for something that is going to be ripped to pieces and destroyed? Well, I look at it like an ice sculpture. It's beautiful while it lasts, but it just isn't meant to last forever. :)
Have a Happy, Merry, and Joyous Christmas!
Jade :)
Photos by Jade
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