Sumptuous Scraps

What eye candy this is!

Creatives Megumi Inouye and Monica Lee are teaching a gift wrapping workshop using recycled materials on December 10th in San Francisco. The class is being held at SCRAP (Scrounger's Center for Reusable Art Parts). What a great acronym and concept.

Bay Area readers, go and report back to me! I would have loved to attend.

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{Image via SCRAP}

Imaginary Tweets: Zooming Out Edition

Above, washi taped light switches and thermostat at MT Expo.

Made this bread with N. He was so bummed we couldn't bake it right away that we made this for dinner.

Could this magically come in my size?

Discovered forgotten Converse in closet. Maybe fall shoe dilemma is solved!

Saw Grand Canyon for the 1st time on drive to see family for Thanksgiving. WOW.

What other drive-able sights have I been missing out on? S. Cal readers, enlighten me!

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Collaged Gift Card | Wrap Story

While browsing through my photos I realized I never posted about this Christmas gift for my sister and brother-in-law. With the holidays approaching, gift cards are such a convenient gift that you can customize for anyone. Here's another creative way to wrap them!

S and A live in Seattle and love to eat. They mentioned a new restaurant while we were visiting, Cheeky Cafe. We didn't get to try their Asian-inspired comfort food, but we popped in and got a gift card. I'd been eyeing my mom's pack of washi tape sitting in the living room and jumped at the opportunity to use it!

I found the teal envelope and mustard cardstock in my mom's (plentiful) paper supply and went to town! I had fun cutting out their initials.

I made the gift card part of a larger "gift certificate", collaging the restaurant logo and hours on from their take out menu. The washi tape was perfect for adhering the gift card to the cardstock - with a little coaxing, it peels right off the gift card without residue.

Will you be giving any gift cards this Christmas?

This Wrap Story is part of a series documenting every present I’ve wrapped since the launch of The Gifted Blog. Click here to see them all!

Attention, locals! I'm teaching my Felt Ornament class from last year at Common Thread Studio! Read more and sign up here. (Broken link now fixed!)

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Thankful for You

On this day of thanks, I wanted to thank you so much for reading along! Every post you read, idea you try, and comment you leave mean a lot to me. I'm crazy for gift wrapping and empowering everyday people to be creative, and this blog has been an amazing vehicle for that.

Some of you know about my hopes to turn this passion into a living. I can't do that without readers! So, thank you, thank you, thank you for joining me on this journey.

If you're getting ready to relax over the Thanksgiving holiday (or just easing into the weekend for my non-American readers), take a look at the Winter 2011 issue of Sweet Paul Magazine. His Christmas gift wrapping ideas are a treat!

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{Image via Sweet Paul Magazine}

Reader Questions Wanted

Take a deep breath. The holiday season is upon us!

As full of meaning as this time can be, it's easy to get stressed. As much as I love gift wrapping, I'm at my best when I can focus on one present at a time. Doing it in multiples? I'm a little frazzled.

What about you? Are you puzzling over how to gift wrap assembly-line style? Wondering what the best wrapping is for a gift that must be mailed? Or maybe you want to really wow someone with your gift?

Comment below with your question for the Gifted Reader Mailbox. The most desperate sounding Lucky readers will have their question featured with the opportunity for others to chime in with their creative gift wrapping ideas!

So, got a question? Ask away!

Past reader questions:
Traveling with a gift
I don't have enough wrapping paper!
How do people wrap gifts in other parts of the world?
Non-material gifts (gift certificate, day at the spa, etc)
Homemade baby shoes
Weird-shaped gifts
Shopping bags as gift bags
Storing gift wrapping supplies

I can't wait to see what you ask - so don't be shy!

P.S. If holiday cards are on your to-do list, get 20% off Minted card orders of $150+ with code 20THANKS. Good through the 27th...get it crossed off your list!

{Images via House&Home and Marco Bellucci}

Washi Tape Heaven at MT Expo

Washi tape lovers, hold on to your seats! The car picture I shared from our Japan trip was from a week-long installation in Tokyo made by MT tape, makers of the wildly popular Japanese washi tape. I saw the event blogged on Hello Sandwich the afternoon before our one day stop in Tokyo.

I couldn't believe our luck with the timing! We took the train to Shibuya and fearless G navigated us towards the tape.

We made it!

Washi tape covered buildings.

Washi tape vending machines!

We blended right in with the locals.   ; )

Shoppers browsing rolls of tape and sticker sheets.

The event was held at a venue called Dictionary Club, and the entire interior was covered in tape. Amazing!

In the staircase.

There was also a small exhibition on the history of Kamoi, the parent company of mt tape. Did you know they started as a flypaper company? Check out the insect-catching ribbons below! Kamoi was making tape for construction sites and other industrial purposes when a group of artists emailed them in 2006 to let them know they were using it for artmaking! The rest is history.

Rolls of uncut washi tape...

and a cutting machine from the MT factory to cut them to size.

Sample projects at the MT tape pop-up shop. Love the gift bow!

I bought an extra-wide stripey tape and roll of washi paper to take home with me. I'm sure they'll make appearances on my gifts soon!

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What We Gave | Wrap Story

Thank you all for your help in brainstorming gift ideas for our Japan trip! Japanese hospitality (and gift-giving) is matchless and I wanted to be sure to take along some goody bags to give when G visited a lab at Shizuoka University for the week.

Here's what we gave:
- Notepads made with paper I culled from the recycling bins at MOCA (Michele recommended taking some local handmade stuff and I realized I had these!)
- Trader Joe's trail mix and fruit leathers (heeding Jessica's advice to go with local snack foods)
- BAGGU zippered bags by Mociun (got mine at Common Thread...super lightweight and pack-able!)
- Burt's Bees lip balm
- Altoids Smalls mints

I stuffed everything into small cloth gift bags. These have come in handy so many times!

And here's how we packed all the goodies. It worked pretty well! Nothing melted during our time in Bangkok and the plastic bag kept everything protected and compact.

Other great gift advice:
- ejorpin suggested local postcards or items branded with our town's name.
- Kelly said that Jelly Bellys were a hit with her overseas hosts!
- The Running Writer recommended hitting up the $1 bins at Michaels for gift ideas.

Thanks again for bouncing gift ideas around with me! Are any of you taking trips this month?

This Wrap Story is part of a series documenting every present I’ve wrapped since the launch of The Gifted Blog. Click here to see them all!

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Give Thanks | Free Printable Friday

How lovely. Evie S. made a free printable "give thanks" list that you can use to count your blessings and practice gratitude. I can see this as a simple hostess gift (maybe with the list already started!) or contribution to your family's Thanksgiving dinner. Wouldn't it be a sweet tradition to do one together every year?

I haven't forgotten the posts about Japan that I teased you with earlier. Join me next week for more about the gift wrapped car!

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{Image via Evie S.}

Jungalicious Gift Wrapping

I blogged about Justina's incredible eco-friendly gift wrapping last year, and this year she's at it again. This time it's completely plant-based and jaw-droppingly beautiful. This girl has creativity coming out of her pores! See more at the Compai Blog.

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{Image via Compai Blog}

Imaginary Tweets: Fall Weather Edition

Tweets from the Twitterless. Today, status updates from my head as the temperature dips.

25 Ways to Wear a Scarf. My scarf knowledge just grew exponentially!

Inspired by this book to take a couple of scarves on our trip instead of jewelry.

Beautiful post on my favorite motherhood blog.

And on a sillier note, this made me laugh. Just bought a huge 2nd hand train set for N.

Beatles-themed birthday party? Too cool for (pre)school.

Moms, what shoes do you wear when the weather cools down?

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{Image via SCARFSHOP}

Guess Where We Went...

...to find a gift-wrapped car! I'm putting together some posts from our time in Japan for you and can't wait to tell you more!

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Test Prints | Gift Wrap Everywhere

Gift Wrap Everywhere highlights items I've run across in daily life that are perfect for unconventional gift wrapping. Seriously, gift wrap is everywhere!

One of the cool things about my job at Common Thread Studio is observing classes. We mostly teach sewing, but once a month, Harry comes in to work silkscreening magic.

I loved seeing the whole process for the first time - students coming in with their images, burning the screens, and practicing drawing ink across the screen's surface to make prints.

And of course I was drawn to the multi-layered test prints they made before silkscreening the designs onto t-shirts. Hm. These would look so great as....

GIFT WRAPPING. The red face is one of Harry's designs. You can see more of his work here and here.

Boom!

While you may not have access to silkscreening test prints of your own, doesn't this make you rack your brain for ideas? Try (politely) pillaging the copy shop, befriending an artist who might have interesting cast-offs, or sourcing old blueprints from a local company. Your gift wrapping will never be the same!

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