I have a friend and former co-worker who always came to work looking like she just stepped out of the pages of a fashion magazine. Perfectly groomed and impeccably dressed. One day we were talking and I remarked about what a fashionista she was. She laughed and said she bought every single piece of clothing she had at a discount clothing chain. I was shocked! I was certain she was buying her clothes at an expensive boutique or high-end clothing chain. She just took inexpensive clothes and dressed them up so beautifully, that she looked like a million dollars. Gifts are the same way.
If you are taking dollar store coloring books and a box of crayons to a child who is sick or incapacitated, put them in a pretty bag with colorful tissue paper and a huge ribbon and that child's eyes will light up brightly! Sometimes it is the package that really matters, not the gift!
Imagine this--you are feeling down. You lost your job and you have been to one interview after another. Bills are piling up, you have a headache, and you just want to go to bed and stay there. A friend comes over and says, let me make you some tea to go with some fresh cookies she brought you. She brings your tea in a mug you got as a promotional item at a grand opening somewhere with the business logo on it. You give a weak half-smile as you say "thank you" and you hold the tea and sip it and nibble on the cookie absentmindedly but you are sitting there thinking about all the things you are stressing over. Do you feel better? Not really.
Now, imagine that scene this way--you are still at home wallowing in your pity party. Your friend comes over and offers to make that tea. to go with her cookies. When she comes back in the room, she is carrying your silver tray that you forgot you had. On that tray is the one un-stained cloth from the very back of your kitchen linen drawer and your fine china, including your grandmother's tea pot. Even though she couldn't find your linen napkins (because even you don't know where you put them), the paper napkins are fine. You look up and have a genuine smile as you admire the lovely vignette she has created. You actually stop and think about how pretty it is, how thoughtful she was to go to the trouble to make something look nice for you. As you munch, instead of nibble, on that cookie and you drink instead of sip your tea, you talk to her about how pretty the china is and about how your grandmother loved that teapot. Then you start to remember things about your grandmother and.....for a little while, you have some great girl talk and forget all about your troubles.
So, that is just an example of how dressing something simple up can make that something more special. And doing it with gift wrapping doesn't have to be expensive! You can buy a package of plain gift bags at a dollar store for less than $5, for several bags (plain white bags or colored bags). Take those bags and be creative. Use it like a scrapbook, make a collage on it, applique it, use it for a canvas and draw on it. Imagination, people!!!!! Stuff it with newspaper. If it's a wedding gift (a shower gift of wooden spoons or some small something you feel isn't much of a gift), stuff the bag with the engagement and wedding section of the newspaper. If the giftee is a sports fan, stuff it with the sports section. For a cook, use pages from an old recipe book or a food magazine. Use pages from one of those magazines you have stacked under the coffee table! Put a pretty bow on it...doesn't have to be a conventional bow or ribbon. Shred the newspaper or magazine pages to make ribbon. For a kitchen gift, tie one of those copper scrubbers onto the bag handle with a ribbon and make it look like a bow or flower. If you are buying for a seamstress, use an old measuring tape for ribbon. Use your imagination!
And don't forget the card! Take a simple card and make it special. A recipe card, a business card, tiny calendar, old fishing license, anything can be dressed up or altered to fit the occasion. Details make the difference.
Here is an example of how a bag that costs less about a dollar can be dressed up for someone who is a musician. I was fortunate to learn how to make these at craft camp sponsored by Shawn Gordon and her Stampin' Up team several years ago. One of my favorite projects!
I splattered ink randomly (which is really hard for someone who is OCD, let me just tell you), then added a cellophane bag to hold a matching card.
The card is made of card stock in glossy white and two shades of blue. A gold card stock is also used and a little mulberry paper added just as a little embellishment.
The music themed rubber stamp set (Stampin' Up) is watermarked on the card. The "Just a note" is stamped in blue, as are the instruments on the inside of the card and the heading on the strip on the bag.
The inside is without words, so I can write a note about how proud I am of her!
I had the ink and the paper on hand. You could use any kind of paper. If you don't have rubber stamps, cut and paste from magazines or the internet. If you are an artist, draw the pictures. Sharpies, crayons, and colored pencils work fine on cards! A feather, lace, an old guitar pick, anything would have worked in place of the mulberry paper.
Here is another example. This bag was one I got a gift in. I couldn't throw it away. It was plain, had a red bow on it and some beige tissue paper in it. I re-vamped it to use for a gift for my son. A hole-puncher, some wired ribbon (that was off a Christmas gift I received), and one stamp set were all it took to retool this plain little brown bag!
I stamped the animals onto brown and tan card stock with black ink. I cut them out and put dimensionals on the back. I stamped the trees and the pinebough directly onto the bag with green ink. Placed the animals on the bag in front of the trees and voila! I punched holes around the top of the bag and ran the ribbon through it. (looks like I need to straighten that bow out, there, doesn't it) It made a really cute, "manly" bag.
Have fun!
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