Wednesday, April 18, 2012

day 312: gift wrapping with book pages

the completed gift wrap
day 312 and i need to get some gift wrapping done today, with no car and no wrapping paper i needed something creative to happen if i was going to get any gifts wrapped!  lucky for me, i can venture to pinterest and find inspiration ... today's comes from julia at vintage with laces.  she was in a craft swap and used vintage book pages as her wrapping ... how cool is that, actually ALL the vintage things she makes look AMAZING, just gorgeous :)  julia's inspirational packaging is also pinned to my gift wrapping and gift ideas board on pinterest.

i figured i had some old book pages from a couple of books that are beyond rescue (half the pages are missing) that could be totally up-cycled into some gift wrap bags!

so for today's craft you need some vintage book pages, a sewing machine, and stamp pads.  i made one side 2" larger allow for a tab to be folded down to close the pocket.  i clipped the corners of the large side with a decorative corner punch to make it a little prettier!  then i used some distress inks to give the book pages a more vintage feel.  i didn't stamp an imagine on the front because i don't have any beautiful stamps and i am a total novice at stamping so it wasn't a good idea ;)  i did have some vintage looking lace so added that instead.

the book pages cut to size

my prettying of the gift wrappping!

the distress ink i used on all the edges to soften all the fresh cuts

added the lace, and a split pin to close the flap

outcome:  i really liked making this, it's such a nice change up from my normally crisp, clean lines!  i absolutely love the feel of this and plan to use book pages in heaps of projects coming up because its so rewarding!  great reason to visit the second hand bookshops over the next couple of weeks!

julia's blog vintage with laces is truly inspiring if you love anything old worldy with a touch of feminine ... her trinket finds are SO cool!  i have to thank her so much for providing me with such a great alternative to your standard gift wrapping :)


2 comments:

Jen W. said...

This is gorgeous, Kirsty! I'm glad you didn't stamp on it and went with the corner punch and lace instead - such a great vintage look!

Jenny said...

Old books are such a great resource but this has to be the most original use I've seen :0)
Love the decorative lace and the punched corners :0)
Jenny x