Alternative gift wrap: tiny feathered packages
I’m such a sucker for gift wrap. I always have been. Even really young, staring at the gifts under the Christmas tree, it’s fair to say I was almost equally smitten with Santa’s gift wrap and ribbon choices as I was the clothes, stickers, and crafts he had hidden within.
I just think it’s such an important part of gift giving. A gift isn’t just about the item, it’s about the act of gift giving and receiving—the thought, the care, the surprise. And nothing elevates the experience quite like unique presentation.
I recently gifted my mom a necklace from a Rochester jewelry designer, Interstellar Love Craft, for her birthday and wedding day (more to come on that!). It came in a tiny rectangular box that begged to be dolled up.
I used brown tissue paper (I think it’s actually the kind they wrap with at Anthropologie) to wrap the box until opaque, taped it along the bottom and sides, and then used black and white striped baker's twine in place of ribbon. I wrapped it around several times in one direction on the box, tying it tightly on the bottom of the package. Feathers are a great gift wrapping item to keep on hand (they sell bags of them at Michael’s and most other craft stores), especially the sweet little ones that can be doubled and tripled up as a more ethereal, Bohemian version of a “bow.” All I did was slide them underneath the string to keep them in place. Alternatively, you could adhere them on with a hot glue gun or tie the string around the bottom part of large feathers.
Didn’t it turn out cute? I’m looking forward to more riffs on this over the holidays, especially with sweet little hand-lettered or stamped gift tags, too.