I finally wrapped a few presents today!  Whew.  It’s coming down to the wire here.  I really enjoy wrapping gifts though.  Just like home decor, I try to keep it simple, casual, neutral and budget-friendly.  I picked 3 different rolls of wrapping paper from Target this year: a neutral craft paper with pinstripes, a cream paper with mod taupe polka dots and a sparkly granite.  Each of these prints can transcend a realm of celebrations – not just Christmas.  {There I go again.  I even like my wrapping paper to multitask!}  I busted out my old Stampin’ Up supplies to craft custom name tags. I used a 2″ circle punch to cut my ivory tags, then embossed silver snowflakes onto them for a little glitz. Take a peek.

Instead of traditional curly-Q ribbon, I chose a roll of medium-thickness hemp twine to adorn the gifts.  {I found it at Wal-Mart for super cheap.}  I also finished up a roll of regular {thin} twine that I already had on hand.

A length of hemp rope strung round-and-round vertically is enough to add a special touch.  {Simply tape the free ends at the back of the gift.}  This is especially great for presents that must travel…no worries about smashed/lost bows…the hemp lies flat.

On a small jewelry box, I forwent {is that a word?!} paper all together and embossed an ornament right on top.

For unusually shaped objects, I make it easy and just cover the labels.  It saves paper, extra boxes and, ultimately, trees.  And have you noticed?  Complimentary boxes are hard to come by these days.

{That’s my favorite cleaning solution above.  It’s Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day All Purpose Cleaner in Lemon Verbena.  I bought a 6-pack and divvy’ed it up between our school bus drivers, teachers and a few relatives.}  Candles are another hard-to-wrap-without-a-box-item.

Couldn’t you see that dark gray glittery paper being used to wrap a wedding gift, too?  The modern polka dot paper could be great for birthdays, baby showers and Mother’s Day.  And that craft paper would work well for Father’s Day or any manly gift.  In case you’re wondering, I did use these papers to wrap my kids’ gifts too…but Santa breaks out much bolder Christmas-y paper.  It makes the Santa gifts really stand out!

So what about you?  Still have presents to wrap?  Or are you on the ball this year and wrapped all your gifts weeks ago?  Let’s just say I’ll be wrapping while I watch TV tonight.  Happy wrappy!

images:  all Dana Miller for House*Tweaking