Hi guys and gals! It’s Mandi here, from Making Nice in the Midwest. Finding the perfect gift for my creative friends is quite the tricky task. But once I’ve found the gift, the fun really begins! Gift wrapping! I’ll be honest, I don’t put too much thought into gift wrapping for Christmas presents, unless it’s for someone who will appreciate it. It’s just too much work for an already busy time of year, so I just stick with basic wrapping and a bow. But for my friends who are designers, wedding planners, and artists? They get the good stuff.
This year I thought I’d try out something especially decadent and wrapped a few special gifts with gorgeous jewel toned lace fabric and coordinating satin ribbons. It wasn’t the easiest wrapping job I’ve ever done, so I’ll share some tips I figured out along the way.
Tip #1: Use similar color paper and lace. This keeps the overlapping layers of lace on the sides of the package from drawing too much attention. Otherwise, it can look a bit messy. If you already have paper you like, bring a little square of it with you to the fabric store. Or, if you already have scrap pieces of lace on hand, bring those with you to buy wrapping paper.
Tip #2: Use straight pins to hold the lace in place. As you might imagine, tape doesn’t stick too well to lace. In fact, it really doesn’t stick at all. So I wouldn’t recommend using tape on the lace layer of wrapping. Instead, where either side of the lace meets, use a straight pin to keep the fabric together until the bow is put into place.
Tips #3: Use a wide ribbon for a neater presentation. Make sure the overlaping lace is in line with where the ribbon will be. It’s helpful, to keep things looking tidy, to use a wider ribbon for this lace wrapping technique. After the bow has been tied tightly, don’t forget to remove the straight pins, so your special recipient isn’t stabbed while he or she opens the gift! That would make this gift memorable for all the wrong reasons.
My favorite color combo was the small gift with dark fuschia purple paper covered in hot pink lace with a matching fuscia ribbon. I think pink and red would be a great color combo to try too! If you don’t like the idea of buying lace fabric from the store, you might try seeing if you can find some nice old lace dresses or curtains at the thrift store and do a little snip snip to the get right size pieces you need.
Happy gift wrapping! –Mandi
Credits // Author and Photography: Mandi Johnson
Just tried this for wrapping my wife’s 13th anniversary gifts, as lace is the traditional material for this year. Great idea. My only suggestion is to use safety pins to keep the lace taut. Then you can just leave them in for the receiver to remove.
My color combos were brown craft paper, white lace, and dark brown ribbon bow. Second gift was navy blue paper, navy blue lace, white ribbon bow. Both turned out really well.
Such a cool idea- the gifts look too gorgeous to open!!
Katie x
http://www.missenchanting.co.uk/
the COLOR! This blog has such an amazing ability to put uncommon color combos together. Love it.
Stunning use of lace! What a great idea =)
These do look very lovely. It might be too much effort for me, personally, but they are beautiful!
This is a beautiful and original idea. Thanks for the step-by-step instructions for us not-so-crafty girls!
Oh this is darling! I love to wrap presents with doilies and ribbon!
Lulu xx
http://luluslittlewonderland.blogspot.com
This is so beautiful! Now I need to buy more gifts for more people just so I can do cute wrap-jobs! 🙂
This is SUCH a cute idea. I love it!!
Gosh!!!! This looks classy.
Gosh this looks classy!!!
I have some lace curtains I thrifted awhile ago that I might have to use for this purpose! Thanks Mandi!!
So pretty, great idea
Lauren
livinginaboxx
this is really pretty, i’ll use it next year, for sure!
what a gorgeous and lovely idea!
xx
So dainty! And the wrapping is reusable!
www.careofmke.com
What a great idea! I love unique gift wrapping!
The Flair Society
This is perfect! I’m going to share this with friends
xx
http://analeote.blogspot.pt/
This is a beautiful gift wrap idea!! I’ve never seen gifts wrapped in lace so this is definitely a nice touch 🙂 Take Care! -Iva
I am the WORST at wrapping gifts, but I definitely need to try this! ♥