Iron Craft 2015 Challenge #24--Brown Paper Packages

For Challenge #24, we were tasked with decorating for the holidays. I decided to decorate with packages. As many of you know, one of the busiest times of the year for a paper artist is the winter holidays. I have several clients that hire me to decorate their trees, wrap their gifts, or decorate their homes for the holidays.

One client always wants his gifts wrapped with brown craft paper and then he chooses a theme or color for the embellishments. In order for him to choose, I have to make some mock gifts so he can see what  he might want. I then use these empty gift boxes to decorate under the tree. The trick is that the gifts that are to be given will have a gift tag. The un-tagged gifts are the ones for decoration.

SPOILER ALERT:  So for all of those beautiful trees that you see--most of the gifts are empty!

As I have mentioned previously, not all gifts are wrapped equally. Here are four variations of brown paper wrapping (not necessarily tied up with string).

Option One: Paper with a pretty ribbon.

I use wire edged ribbon which allows for a great looking bow. Sometimes, paper and a pretty ribbon really are enough.

Option Two: Paper with pretty ribbon and a bauble.
Here is the same package with a handmade glass ornament. I decided to use a complementary color for the glitter ornament. So here you have a gift with a gift.

Option Three: Paper with ribbon, bauble and nature
This is the same package with a different ribbon. This is a mesh ribbon that does not have wire. This allows for a big floppy bow. I used a hand painted marbled glass ornament. The final touch is a red berry garland. I have always been a fan of a monochromatic wrapping.

Option Four: Paper with ribbon, bauble and fresh nature
This is the same package as option three but with a fresh branch of eucalyptus that is tucked within the berry garland. The added benefit here is the fragrance. Fresh evergreen trimmings work well as well.

I learned my craft of gift wrapping from my years spent in Japan. The Japanese culture believes that a gift should represent three gifts: something on the package (even if it is a visual gift), the wrapping itself and the gift inside the box.

There is something very pleasing about this concept that I have taken to heart.