You know I don’t really need yet another creative thing to do but they’re always so fun and cute. Keyka Lou posted this great ribbon the other day which of course sent me off clicking to Etsy to see what it’s all about.

While I was admiring all the pretty chevron ribbons I had a lightbulb moment. I’m going to wrap all my gifts pretty simply, kraft paper or bags or boxes and then go all out making them look great with twine, ribbon, doilies and other such embellishments. That way the items are reusable, repurposable or biodegradable.

Allow me to share some of my fav items and shops that will help me, and you if you want to play, with this challenge. Click images to be whisked away to shops!

I’ve ordered a set of these already to make my own envelopes out of various papers.

You can order a printable PDF file for these vintage linen inspired cards.

Hoboville has the cutest rubber stamps I have ever seen! A great option for making your own printed wrapping paper.

Thriftypyg has some great ephemiria items that would jazz up some plain kraft paper nicely. Check out these cute stamps.

I’ve got some of these stashed away downstairs, no clue what I’m going to use them for but they are ridiculously sweet.

Baker’s twine is pretty easy to find on Etsy but these little mushroom spools are extra super cute.

Pretty Tape has a great selection of . . . pretty washi tape and loads of other great packaging accessories.

Some of my favourite shops for packaging supplies are Paper & Parcel , California Craft and of course I couldn’t have made it this far without Knot & Bow.

I absolutely adore all the MOO products I’ve accumulated but I’ve noticed it can get pricey to decorate your items with pretty packaging so I was looking for a inexpensive way to create some packaging and reusing things I already have is a bonus.

I gathered some paper stuff I had lying around, used envelopes, those return envelopes that for some reason still come with all the bills I pay online and some pages from an old atlas.  I cut them up into little rectangles sized to fit my SewTara custom stamp.

Then I SewTara’d one side, punched a hole at one end and used these cool kraft reinforcements I’ve had sitting around waiting for the perfect use.  You can also find white or coloured reinforcements in stores.

On the other side I stuck a small piece of Japanese washi tape to create a little canvas for my thank you message.

This would be a great technique for gift tags.  There’s even little ‘To: From:” stamps out there you could use if you didn’t want to just write it.  Every year when I pack away the Christmas decorations I keep the stack of cards we received.  Next year I’m going to turn those into tag for all our gift giving fun!

The internet is rather flaky here and I didn’t bring my camera so I’m getting creative with my post and sharing some things I purchased from Etsy the other day. Shopping online is waaay to easy. I went on to gather things for the Tell Your Story class, specifically ephemera. I found these absolutely adorable stamps from Australia in this store.

I also got these awesome tags with illustrations of 70′s ladies on them. I’m loving the one with the daisy earrings and happy sunshine smile.

I think I’m going to have to make some time to hit up antique stores and root through boxes and bins. I remember years ago when I lived in Ottawa doing that one day with my room mates. I came away with some old black and white photos and even some bank slips and cheques from the turn of the century. It was such neat stuff.

How cute are these stamps I made!?!  I was thinking today of making every letter of the alphabet, each with a delicious yummy treat in the letter.  Teehee.

The glasses should look like those fun 50′s frames, I wasn’t brave enough to attempt carving out some little rhinestones, perhaps I’ll make a second try.  The little fox is winking, so he should look like that.  I had carved the word ‘crafty’ next to him but as I was cutting apart the stamps I realised I hadn’t mirror imaged the word.  Don’t ask me how I sketched it out this afternoon, then sat and carved it during a movie and I didn’t notice until basically ready to stamp with it that I had made a mistake!  I’m going to blame it on Tired Mommy Brain.  Yes it’s a real ailment, it must be, it has capitals.   The thread and spool are something I was thinking of for business cards/tags.

I can’t believe I haven’t tried this before!  It was really easy and fun and addictive.  I think I may have to pop back to the art store tomorrow.