Kids Craft - Homemade Wrapping Paper

We actually made this project for a birthday party but 'tis the season for wrapping and gifting so here it is.

I try not to buy wrapping paper for gifts whenever possible. Our city does not accept it in the blue recycling bins, which means it goes into the landfill and, to me, it seems like a lot of money to spend on something that is so short lived. We reuse gift bags, use the Sunday comics and I also use a lot of fabric gift bags. I love the fabric gift bags because they can be reused for gifting or other purposes indefinitely.

I do love a beautifully wrapped gift but there are ways to present something beautifully without commercial wrapping paper.

My daughter loves to be involved in organizing and wrapping the gifts that we give. We usually get some holiday baking and hot chocolate and make an afternoon of it. We have lots of fun together and at the end of the day, all the gifts are ready to give.

Making your own wrapping paper using brown kraft paper is very easy and inexpensive. It is a great project for kids of all ages.

I bought rolls of kraft paper, on sale for $0.49 each right after Christmas last year. We have used them all year for crafts and to wrap gifts and packages.

Materials:
Kraft paper (you could also use blank newsprint or newspaper)
Stamps and Ink Pads
Markers/ Crayons
Painter's Tape
Scissors (to cut the paper to size)

Instructions:
1. Cut the piece of kraft paper to size. We do this before we start stamping to keep the paper size manageable. If we have a large or heavy package, I sometimes wrap it in blank paper first and then we stamp the paper. It makes it easier to manage.

2. Tape the piece of paper to a flat surface. We use painter's tape to ensure that it will come off the paper with minimal ripping or tearing.

3. Get stamping. Decorate the paper with stamps and markers or crayons.

4. Allow the paper to dry. When dry, remove the tape slowly and wrap the gift.

Fabric Dollhouses

Finally, my work on my bachelor's degree is done and now I can concentrate on some fun things. I have a whole list of great blog posts to write and I hope that some of them are useful and fun for others as well.

Every year I make my daughter something special for Christmas. This gift is something just from me and it has become a cherished tradition in our house. As soon as Christmas is over for the year I start dreaming and looking for next year’s gift. 

I saw this tutorial from UK lass in US sometime during the summer and thought that a fabric dollhouse would make a great Christmas gift for my little girl.

I got the first one about half done and thought that if my little girl would love it, so would her friends. I figured out how many of her girl friends we would need birthday gifts for this year and cut out 4 more – one for each of them and 1 spare just in case I needed it. They are all different and have their own personalities, just like her friends!

It was a little tough, at first, to figure out how all the pieces were supposed to go together but once I got the first one done the other 4 came together quickly.  I used felt to make the details like windowsills, a fireplace, complete with a toasty fire, and the door. I cut little pieces of fabric and positioned the pattern so that someone was looking in or out each window.

The first dollhouse I sewed the felt details onto and that took a very long time! The other 4 houses I used fabric glue instead. It worked great and was much faster too. I used some rick rack and sequins to fancy up the doors as well. I also bought some little dolls to go with each dollhouse.

My daughter loved her little house and plays with it nearly every day. It has gone on car trips, trips to the grandparents and even the grocery store, though we only brought one doll along on that trip so there was less for me to keep track of.

Check out the tutorial yourself here and make one for yourself!

http://uklassinus.blogspot.com/2008/08/fabric-dollhouse-tutorial.html

Thanks so much for the tutorial! I had a great time making it and my daughter loves it!

Reusable Holiday Gift Bags

It's that time of the year - the Holidays are here!!

We are all busy shopping for and wrapping the perfect gifts for everyone on our holiday lists.

Who says being green has to be boring? These bags are functional and they look great!

Enjoy the holidays and help look after the environment. Avoid sending all that gift wrap, tape and ribbon to the landfill.

These reusable bags make gift wrapping a breeze - just open the bag, pop in your gift, pull the ribbons closed and you are done.

• Use for wrapping holiday gifts or storing decorations


• Smart alternative to gift wrap or plastic gift bags


• The perfect way to beautifully wrap all the gifts you get for everyone on your list


• Compact & lightweight


• Double satin ribbon drawstring closure - bags are made of 100% cotton fabric


• 100% Canadian Made

These bags are a great way to avoid using mountains of gift wrap and tape for all your holiday gifts.

Use one of these handy Reusable Fabric Gift Bags in place of expensive paper gift wrap
OR
Wrap your gifts and use one of these bags to keep multiple gifts for one person all together.

After the holidays these bags can be used year round to store toys, books, DVD's, CD's, beauty products and anything else you need!

The bags come in 3 standard sizes: Medium, Large & X-Large.

These bags are also available in custom sizes to accommodate any sized gifts. Let me know the size bag that you need and I will be happy to create it for you.

Machine wash, tumble dry – these bags are handy and easy to use.

All seams are serged / overlocked for extra durability. These bags are not lined.