Pressed Leaves/Flowers + Package Tape = Easy Personalized Gift

I don't know about you, but I often find myself in a situation where I have a gift that needs to be wrapped quickly for a party and I either 1.) cannot find the appropriate size or style of gift bag, 2.)  the only wrapping paper in the house is from last Christmas or 3.) I just do not like anything I have on hand and would prefer to create a more personalized and unique gift.  If you fall somewhere in one of these three categories, I hope you will find this post helpful.

For this project you will need to grab 3 things:
*Brown Kraft Paper
*Box
*Packaging tape
*Dried and pressed leaves and/or pressed flowers
*Ribbons/bows

1.  Place your gift in your box and then wrap with the brown kraft paper.  For my 'Pressed Leaf' gift wrapping, I chose to use a shoe box and cover the lid and the bottom separately.  This way, the recipient of your beautiful gift can reuse it!

2.  For the lid: Arrange your pressed fall leaves and any flowers all over the top.  I used maple leaves, a tiny flower (not for sure what it is) and crumbled Queen Anne's Lace.

3.  Now for the trickiest part.  Grab your packing tape and carefully, but quickly, lay the tape over the top section of your lid.  Continue adding layers, trying not to overlap (it just doesn't look as nice), until you reach the bottom of your lid.  You probably will have some issues with static electricity.  The leaves will not move too much, but the smaller the flower the more it wants to jump up and attach to the tape before you have it in place.  Just try to be quick and you'll be fine.

NOTE:  For the rose petal package (see end of post) I used a different method of of attaching the flowers to the package.  I first laid the tape, sticky side up, on the table with weights on either end and prearranged my flowers on the tape and then carefully placed it on my package.  This method actually works great and I prefer it to the other one.  

4.  Continue this procedure until your box is completely decorated.

 

That was pretty painless now wasn't it?  All you need now is a cute little homemade card.   If you like the one I made in the picture above, then click: HOW TO STITCH ON CARDS .

Here is the gift I wrapped for a recent wedding I attended.  For this gift I used the decorated packaging tape like ribbon.  Rose petals and Queen Anne's Lace are perfect for wedding gifts.

 So, what do you think of this idea?  I've seen packaging tape with different designs on them, like chevron and stripes.  I've heard these are cheaper than washi tape and duct tape.  Has anyone compared the three?  It might be a good comparison experiment.  :)

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Blessings,
~Gina

I will be linked up at these great parties!