Gift Wrap, Tags, and Bows

Tower of Boxes

Several boxes are stacked and tied up in two giant ribbons. Each box is wrapped first in colored tissue paper, then frosted over with a sheet of glassine, available by the sheet or roll from archival-supply houses.

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Purse-Shaped Package

This package is made from a sheet of heavy, textured paper folded around a tissue-wrapped gift. The outer layer is a 12-by-27-inch piece of Japanese kozo paper (commonly known as rice paper and available from specialty paper stores) backed with green paper. Use a ruler or bone folder, available from art-supply stores, to make neat creases 9 inches, 12 inches, and 21 inches from a short side of the paper. Enclose the gift, bind the package with a green satin ribbon, and finish it off with a slim brown ribbon tied in an elegant knot.

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Silver Tissue Paper

Use simple, inexpensive materials such as silver tissue paper, then transform gifts with special ribbons and items from your wrappings box.

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Colored Paper Cones

Cones can be cut from plain colored paper or from greeting cards. To create, draw an arc onto a corner of the construction paper or card using a compass opened up as wide as it can go. Using a pair of pinking shears, cut inside the line. Roll the paper into a cone and staple; reinforce with tape along the inside seam. To decorate a plain paper cone, draw an oval (we used a stencil from an art-supply store) around a chosen image from a greeting card, and cut just inside the line with pinking shears. Glue the cutout to the front of the cone. Punch a hole on both sides of the cone, thread a ribbon through, and knot the ends.

Gift Wrap, Tags, and Bows

Cheerful Gift Boxes

To give a cardboard box a cheery makeover, place the lid on top of a card. Using a ruler, draw an outline that's about 1/4 inch outside the lid. Cut just inside the line with a pair of pinking shears. Use a glue stick to attach the cutout to the lid; the card will extend over the box's edges (be sure it's centered over the lid before pressing down). Repeat to cover the bottom of the box.

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Flower Pot Gift Wrap

These crepe-paper wraps, inspired by amaryllis petals, can dress up the pots of any plants you give as presents.

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Fabric Gift Wrap

Photocopying vibrant fabrics is an easy way to create eye-catching gift wrap.

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Homemade Gift Wrap

Household materials make for inexpensive and delightful homemade gift wrap.

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Candy Box Wrap

Give candy boxes a finishing touch that won't be ripped away when your present is opened.

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Gift Card Holders

Instead of just putting a gift card in a greeting card, add a special personalized touch by making one of these unique gift-card holders yourself.

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Fabric Envelopes

Personalize small gifts by slipping them into delightful hand-stitched pouches.

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Modern Wrapping Paper

Our gift to you. This stack of spirited wrapping paper -- designed by Blueprint, and not sold in stores. Just print out one -- or all -- of the five patterns (11-by-17-inch paper works best).

Paper How-To

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Christmas Tree Silhouette Wrap

A pine-tree profile cut into gold tissue paper folds back to reveal a layer of silver tissue beneath.

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Yule Log Gift Packaging

Here's an attractive way to package unusually shaped gifts, such as glassware or bottles: Put them in mailing tubes dressed up as Yule logs.

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Kraft Paper Wrap

Kraft paper makes an attractive yet sturdy wrapping for oddly shaped packages. Once wrapped, add special trimmings and gift tags to your package.

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Holiday Gift Bags

These beautiful holiday gift bags add a personal touch to every present.

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Color-Coded Wrapping Paper

Assign each family member a different color paper, and you won't even need gift tags. This is a fun way for everyone to identify his or her presents.

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A Unified Color Palette

Choose a palette to unify the gifts you wrap -- then vary the materials; everything you give will have your signature for the season.

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Biodegradable Stuffing

Biodegradable stuffing cushions small, fragile items just as well as plastic bubble wrap or Styrofoam peanuts, a recycler's worst nightmare.

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Doily Gift Wrap

For an extra touch of whimsy, wrap gifts with doilies.

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Ribbon Holly Gift Boxes

Small presents and stocking stuffers are beautifully bestowed in these festive miniature boxes.

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Gift-Card Holders

Get presents all tied up -- with ribbon. These two ideas work for gift cards, tickets, cash, and more.

Make the Gift-Card Holders

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Bottle Wraps

While a bottle of wine is an easy gift to give, it's often troublesome to wrap. Here are three ideas featuring soft, flexible materials that conform to a bottle's contour.

Make the Bottle Wraps

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Mini Shopping Bags

Fancy little totes filled with small presents -- gift cards, cash, jewelry, and other trinkets -- might make Scrooge himself smile.

Make the Mini Shopping Bags

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Gift Wallet

Fresh bills stay crisp in these wallets that double as gift box and card.

Make the Gift Wallet

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Wood-Grain Wrapping Paper

Beautifully grained woods are nature's masterpieces, but it's possible to re-create their sinuous patterns and harmonious colors on paper.

How to Make Wood-Grain Wrapping Paper

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Asian Wrapping Paper

Liquid acrylic paint gives this Asian-style wrapping paper a glossy finish.

How to Make Asian Wrapping Paper

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Fold-Up Box

This package opens like a blossom.

Make the Fold-Up Box

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Japanese-Style Newspaper Wrap

If you're still searching for that perfect gift wrap, look no further than your local newsstand. Add an unusual and memorable twist by wrapping your presents using foreign-language newspapers.

Wrap How-To

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Translucent Wrapping

With a series of crisp folds, glassine -- or less expensive tissue -- serves as both gift wrap and ribbon.

Wrap How-To

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Lump of Coal Gift Box (with a Secret)

We all know what good-for-nothings get in their stockings: coal. But something is different this year. These sparkling nuggets are no ordinary lumps but gift boxes embellished with paint, paper, and lots of glitter.

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Yarn Wrapping

Give holiday gifts unexpected panache by using leftover yarn in place of ribbon.

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Wintry Scene Cutout for Gift Wrap

Create a wintry scene on a wrapped present using a paper-dolls technique.

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Built-In Gift Cards

Gift cards will never go astray again thanks to the built-in pocket created by this clever wrapping technique.

Make the Built-In Gift Card Wrap

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Kitchenware Tins

Homemade confections are twice as nice when delivered in pudding molds, loaf pans, and other culinary containers.

How to Make the Kitchenware Tins

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Vintage Linen Wrap

Wrap goods in vintage napkins, handkerchiefs, or other linens graced with lively patterns, and the packaging itself will serve as an added gift. Look for linens at flea markets or online. Fabrics are particularly helpful when wrapping articles whose shapes don't lend themselves to paper. The rest is a cinch: Gather fabric around item; tie with ribbon.

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Button Gift Wrap

This button-stamped gift wrap is fun to make. Affix button to a cork with double-sided tape. Place plain paper on a piece of felt or a folded piece of fabric (this cushions the paper so the mark will be even). Top with a pretty button tied on with baker's twine.

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Elegant Gift Bags

By adding simple embellishments, ordinary brown or white paper bags are transformed into elegant wrappings.

How to Make the Gift Bags

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Eco Gift Wrap

Given the time and thought that goes into picking a holiday gift, the standard wrap job -- a rumpled bow slapped on a department-store box or a bag and tissue paper picked up at the drugstore -- rarely does justice to the contents. This year make gift wrap that's both gorgeous and green by creatively repurposing stuff others might toss.

Wrap How-To

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Gold Japanese-Style Gift Wrap

This Japanese-style wrap is embellished with a Mizuhiki paper cord.

How to Make Japanese-Style Wrap

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Dip-Dye Wrapping Paper

You can make this distinctive wrapping paper using food coloring and a porous rice paper.

How to Make Dip-Dye Wrapping Paper

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Town House Gift Boxes

Packaged in quaint town house boxes, holiday cookies look classic yet tempting.

Make the Town House Gift Boxes

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Snowball Box

Although these containers resemble snowballs, they're not for throwing, but for packaging small presents.

Box How-To

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Typewritten Gift Tags

Instead of writing new tags every year, keep a file of names on your computer and create customized tags using our template.

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Clip-Art Gift Adornments

These smartly wrapped packages have retro charm. Attaching the holiday tags is a cinch -- they're designed with slits that fit around ribbon. And the handles slip right over the tops of plain bags, turning them into cute parcels you can carry.

Gift Tag How-To

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Recycled Gift Tags

Glue designs snipped from cards to store-bought or handmade gift tags and add charm to every package. Or cut the cards themselves into tags and punch a hole for ribbon (press on a sticker first to reinforce the hole).

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Holiday Leaf Gift Tags

Made from stationery-store supplies, ribbon pieces, and a hole punch, these gift tags are inexpensive and fun to create.

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Stay-Put Gift Tags

In all the hubbub of a party, gift tags can easily become separated from their corresponding presents. Prevent this by wrapping both of them in an opaque layer of glassine.

Make the Stay-Put Gift Tags

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Clip-Art Holiday Gift Cards

Kids can write their own messages inside these cheerful cards and hand them out to classmates and teachers, or punch a hole at the top and tie on ribbon or yarn to use as tags.

Make the Clip-Art Gift Card Tags

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Mitten Clip Gift Tags

These mittens won't warm chilled hands, but they will generate good cheer when clipped to gift tags.

Make the Mitten Clips

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Embossed Gift Tags

These beautifully embossed gift tags add extra sparkle to any gift.

How to Make Embossed Gift Tags

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Gift Monogram

Recycle holiday cards as monogram labels for presents.

Make the Monogram Tags

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Photocopy Transfer Tags

A cherished picture can do more than adorn the mantel. Turn favorite photos of family, friends, or even landscapes into gift labels.

How to Make Photocopy Transfer Tags

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Gingerbread Cookie Gift Tags

Gift tags are all the sweeter when they happen to be crisp cookies.

Make The Gingerbread Tags

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Jingle Bells Wrap

Re-create the sound of Santa's sleigh with a small bell attached to Christmas parcels. Purchase the bells at crafts stores, and use lengths of thin ribbon or cord to secure to packages. The box shown here is also decorated with a band of velvet ribbon.

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Embellished Package Toppers

You can easily make package toppers that feel much less perfunctory and predictable than a store-bought bow. Grab beads, blossoms, bells, or other bling from a crafts store and knot one piece at a time onto embroidery floss or thin ribbon.

How to Make the Gift Toppers

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Flower Bow with Plant-Care Gift Cards

The next time you give the gift of an amaryllis or paperwhite bulb, top the package with a silk version of the flower.

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Tinsel Stars

Who doesn't love tinsel? Here's another way to use it: Twist wired tinsel (available at crafts stores) into six-pointed stars.

Make the Tinsel Stars

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Curled Ribbons

These trimmings are same ol', same ol' in the world of gift wrap, but a few twists can turn them into something new.

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Woven Ribbon Wrap

Here's our idea of thinking outside the box: interweaving ribbons to dress up a gift. The weaving begins with a single ribbon stretched across the top of the package, its loose ends fixed to the bottom with double-sided tape.

How to Make Woven Ribbon Wrap

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Mistletoe Gift Seals

Embellish holiday parcels with mistletoe made from felt leaves.

Make the Mistletoe Gift Seals

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Bows-All-Over Packages

With dainty bows on every side, a gift is that much more fun and inviting -- from any angle.

Make the Bows

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Cut Flowers Bow

With a little scissor work, basic self-adhesive bows are transformed into sumptuous blooms.

How to Make This Bow

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Bunched Bows

Cover the top of a present with identical store-bought bows or use different sizes and colors for a varied effect. Reattach any that pop off with a hot-glue gun.

Gift Wrap, Tags, and Bows

Plush Pom-Pom Bows

Like Champagne bubbles, these bows cast a heady spell.

Make the Bows

Gift Wrap, Tags, and Bows

Peony Bow

Peonies don't usually bloom in December, but this project allows you to create peony blossoms with simple bows.

Make the Peony Bow

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Satin Bow with Metallic Embellishments

Wide satin ribbons embellished with festive metallic card stock adds cheer to Christmas presents.

How to Make the Bows and Embellishments

Gift Wrap, Tags, and Bows

Paper Ribbons

Just because you don't have ribbon on hand, doesn't mean a package has to go without a bow. A strip of paper can be cut into a pretty ribbon.

How to Make Paper Ribbons

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Crepe Paper Poinsettia

These crepe paper poinsettias are ideal for embellishing wrapped gifts or fastening to a tree.

Make the Crepe Paper Poinsettias

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Gift-Topper Leaf

Felt maple leaves and oak leaves add a seasonal touch to wrapped gifts.

How to Make the Gift-Topper Leaf

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Cupcake-Paper Carnations

Nesting pastel papers in different sizes -- petit four, mini muffin, and cupcake -- creates fluffy blooms that will add a flourish to beribboned presents.

How to Make the Cupcake-Paper Carnations

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Photo Gift Toppers

Decorate gifts with ribbon -- and a familiar face or two.

How to Make Photo Gift Toppers

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Beaded Letters

A large, sparkling monogram is a great way to personalize a present.

Make the Beaded Letters