The above photos are of a project in Papercraft Inspirations magazine featuring my red and white heart design recycled wrapping paper. The very talented Kirsty Neale used my gift wrap to show how cards, tags and gifts can be made to celebrate Valentine's Day. I love how creative Kirsty's ideas are and it all looks so pretty! It seems that there are endless uses of wrapping paper!
You can find my gift wrap at the green gables and PaperCraft Inspirations is out now.
(recycled paper gift wrap, decorative sticky tape, plantable wildflower seed paper tags, Moulin Rouge quote framed print)
Enough hearts for you? Well, now, it is that time of year! And as it's a leap year you might be feeling extra romantic this month… (In case you're not sure what I'm alluding to, legend has it that 29th February is the one day every four years that women can ask men to marry them. I didn't say it makes sense in 2012, that's why it's a legend!)
If you fancy marking Valentine's Day with any of the smoochy stuff shown above (or want more ideas), just pootle on over to the green gables and take your pick.
Feeling festive? Ready to spend a few days eating more than you normally do in a week and watching feel-good kids' movies? Well, before you pootle off to watch Mary Poppins and crack open a tin of chocs, we've just time to squeeze in the last palette pingpong of the year!
You can see the cheerful snap that Kirsty challenged me with over on her blog, ginger and george. And this is the fetching palette I pulled from the pic:
Nice, eh? Reminds me a little of the TV test screen (remember from ye olde teevee days?). Anyhow, what have I done with such a vivid palette you may ask? Well, a couple of things, all freebie printables for you! (Just in case you're not quite sorted with your gift wrap yet, not that I'm saying you're a disorganised bunch!)
I've taken a few of the colours and created two sheets of rectangular and circular tags. These can be used as gift tags or place names at the Christmas dinner table – I've left them suitably blank so you can use them in as many ways as you like.
And because I love the stripy palette I am also giving you a couple of stripy sheets for you to print out and use however you choose! Perhaps as wrapping paper for a small gift or as additional tags (trace round another tag's outline and cut out the shape).
Download Christmas tags & paper
You can download the pdfs and print them on A4 recycled paper or card as many time as you like. All I ask is that you use them for yourself, not for commercial ideas, and if you want to tell others about these printables that you link back to this blog post, rather than just the pdfs.
And before I let you go I just want to say thank you very much. 2011 has been a very exciting year for me and my business, the green gables, and I so appreciate your support, your comments and your general loveliness!
So, have a very merry Christmas!
xx
So, remember I said in this blog post I'd tell you when my new finishing touches products would be available on my website? Well they are! You can now find the marvellous twig colouring pencils, mini wooden pegs and colured twine at the green gables.
But that's not all! I am very excited to reveal a brand new product I have designed – decorative bunting sticky tape!
Available in red heart or blue star bunting designs this tape will perk up any present, package or envelope.
The tape is 25mm wide and comes in 30m rolls so you can glam up a lot of gifts. (And a lot of order packages if you're me!)
As well as the pretty tape I've also added a few more things to my web shop, including sets of doily-edged brown paper gift tags…
twig pencils (similar to the colouring pencils but a bit more grown-up)…
and sets of occasion postcards with envelopes…
So, I hope you like my new additions, I'd love to know what you think. And don't forget you can still get £5 off when you spend £20 at thegreengables.co.uk before the end of November with code NX5!
Why wait till December and have a mad rush to get all your Christmas present shopping done when you can take advantage of this special offer and be finished before the end of November?!
I'm giving you £5 off when you spend £20 or more at the green gables for the whole of November. Plus, as always, you don't have to pay for postage and packaging on orders over £30. Just use the code NX5 at the checkout before 30 November to receive your £5 off.
You're a lovely bunch and have been so supportive of my new business, especially since I made the giant leap to work full-time on the green gables, so I hope you can take advantage of this offer. And, if I can spread out the Christmas order rush a bit more evenly over November as well as December my life will be a smidgen less crazy stressful – this way we all win!
So, pootle on over to www.thegreengables.co.uk and have a wander around. And if you're still at the gift and wish list writing stage, this free printable might be useful…!
So, I have a few new lovely things from the green gables to show you. I was going to wait until they're listed on my own website but my web designer (talented hubbie) is so busy that there's going to be a little delay (not only is my husband a full-time app designer, a freelance Apple IT expert, and the website brains behind my business, he's also studying a physics degree – for fun – and it's all converged to swamp his every waking hour at the mo).
However, as I also sell all my products at notonthehighstreet.com you can find them there. Anyway, what are these products, I hear you ask?
Well, I decided that in the lead-up to Christmas I would like to offer you a few items that I don't make myself but which fit in with my ethos and style and complement my product range – the finishing touches. And so I give you:
plain recycled paper gift tags in three different shades for addressing your gifts…
8m coloured baker's twine or jute string on a vintage-style dolly peg for wrapping up presents…
20 mini wooden pegs – perfect for hanging up Christmas cards with baker's twine…
and because I just love them – 10 coloured pencils made from actual twigs! Stocking filler anyone?
You can click on the pictures to be taken to the products.
So, do you like? I'd be really intererested to know what you think of the new additions to the green gables' range so do let me know. And I'll be sure to let you know when they're available on the green gables website.
For the rest of September I am taking away the cost of postage and packing from all orders at the green gables! So that's no p&p on organic cotton kitchenware, framed prints, plantable heart bunting, eco-friendly gift wrap and tags, FSC paper star garlands … the lot! Scoot on over to thegreengables.co.uk to take a look…
I know it's only September but before you know it Christmas will be upon us! And it's far less stressful to spread out Christmas planning over a few months rather than having a manic panic in December. Or at least that's what I tell myself every year.
So, I can now declare the green gables Christmas store open! Well, it's a Christmas section on my website but you know what I mean! Here's what I'm bringing you this festive season…
Paper star bunting in my Christmas colours – raspberry red and ice blue…
Set of four square Christmas cards, each card has a different hand drawn star or flag bunting design…
And, very excitingly – my first range of gift wrap! This is something I've wanted to create for a long time and I am super pleased with how well it's turned out. The designs are printed on gorgeously thick, top quality, recycled paper and, as they aren't specifically Christmassy, will make a present for any occasion look just gorgeous.
The strings of white heart bunting ping off the raspberry red background…
And the multicoloured star bunting pattern is so vibrant I'm sure anyone would be cheered by receiving a gift wrapped in this, before they even open their present!
The gift wrap comes with matching tags and you can purchase complete gift wrap sets with sheer satin-edged ribbon to make your present wrapping super easy.
As you would expect with the green gables all of these items are eco-friendly – the cards and gift wrap are printed on recycled card and paper, and the bunting is made from FSC paper. So you can easily make your Christmas as green as your tree!
As my range of framed prints make popular presents I could have put them all in the Christmas department but I thought that might be a bit much! Do check them out though…
I do hope you like my new Christmas range, I'd love to know what you think!
PS I will be sending out the newsletter this week, including a special offer, so if you'd like to receive a copy in your Inbox make sure you give me your email address. Ta ta for now!
An empty box wrapped up like this would be a lovely present, and no need to unwrap it.
I know. Seven is an odd (literally) number to use here. Well, I have seven ideas to share, did you want me to leave out a couple to make it a more sensible-sounding five? Just skip two when you get bored.
So, here are seven, count them, ideas for how you can minimise expense and waste when wrapping your presents this Christmas…
1 Wrap your present in a present
There are some staples in life that you can never have enough of, tea towels being one of them. Wrap up a gift in a fetching tea towel so your giftee gets not one but two presents! And there’s no waste leftover.
If you want to steer clear of possible washing-up faux pas,
wrap your present in a handkerchief (clean, please), scarf or even an item of
clothing. The person who receives this unconventionally wrapped present will
love the concept of bonus wrapping.
2 Make a wallpaper gift bag
Look at a gift bag and you’ll see how simply it is made. It’s a bit like you started wrapping up a box but stopped after you sealed one end. Punch holes in the other end (which has become your bag opening) and thread through some ribbon or string to make handles or to close the bag. The great thing about using wallpaper is that it’s super sturdy so won’t collapse under the weight of a hefty gift and will probably be reusable.
(There is a great tutorial on making gift bags as part of
the 12 Days workshop)
3 Keep it simple
You can’t go wrong with brown paper tied up with string. If
it’s good enough for Julie Andrews, it’s good enough for everyone.
4 Get your pens out
But if you think that’s too plain-looking, after you’ve
wrapped your prize, decorate it. You can go old school (ie act like you’re six
again) and go crazy with the glitter glue and poster paints. Or, go for a
simple motif like spots. One or two colours dotted all over the parcel will
look simple but effective. And it’s not because I, er you, can’t draw.
5 Fox them
No, not some elaborate fox fur wrapping, how wrong that
would be! No, confuse the lucky gift recipient by wrapping their treasure in a
box wholly unrelated to it. For example, put a book or a DVD in a cereal box,
stuffed with old newspaper to stop it rattling around. A word of warning
though, don’t put your gift in a box that housed something more expensive as
you don’t want to see disappointment on your loved one’s face. I’m speaking
from experience, in my teenage, more materialistic days, I received a cuddly toy
in a Converse Allstars box…
6 Make it Look Good Naked
Not you, the present. I'm not going totally Gok Wan on you but if your present is already a v pretty thing, don't cover it up. Tie a ribbon around it with a gift tag cut from an old Christmas card and give it as it is. Works great on plants, not so great on socks. Unless they're gorgeous-looking socks of course.
7 Not seriously though…
I don’t really advocate this unless you reuse the wrapping,
but you could always try kitchen foil. It’s cheap, it requires only tearing not
cutting and no sticky tape as you can scrunch the ends. And the idea came from
Gavin and Stacey’s Christmas Special last year so I can’t claim the credit!
Just reuse the foil on your turkey later, please…
If you have more genius, or just quietly useful, green
wrapping ideas please share them here. Happy wrapping…!
