Charlie Tamara Piper

I'm back with another crafting project! I have a present for my little cousin and I wanted to do something special - it would be youthful for an 8 year old but also a little grown up so that she can feel extra special. I got inspired by multiple shades of purple and came up with this gift wrap design. Here's how I did it. First, I started by wrapping the box in plain lavender gift wrap paper.  The color was so fun that it inspired me to work with multiple shades of purple to create something really special and to play with a tone-on-tone design. This was my purple palette. I grabbed multiple shades of purple card stock and some glitter paper to run the full range of pinky-purples. From there, I got inspired to create a purple flower garden theme. I used this decorative punch to make a string of flower petals. I then used an adhesive dot roller and coated the very bottom of the petals and proceeded to roll the petals in a circle to make the beginning ...

Sometimes when you've got an oddly-shaped gift to give your best bet is to use a gift bag. But my inner crafter wouldn't let me simply use the complimentary shopping bag that the store gave me. I knew I could turn it into something super classy. Thanks to a friend's suggestion, I created this tuxedo-themed gift bag that was a little complicated to figure out until I got the hang of it. I completely failed on taking step-by-step pictures because I really needed to focus! But you can learn from my lessons and recreate it yourself. Here's how I did it: First, I started by visiting my old standby - Google Images - to download a tuxedo jacket pattern. Once I found one that I liked, I used it to trace out the black lapels of the jacket and layered on a white triangle to represent the shirt. From there, I started adding in some extras - I used spray mount adhesive to mount the lapels and shirt onto black card stock to round out the tuxedo jacket. I cut two ...

Another special gift wrapping edition! I've got a Star Wars-loving friend with a birthday coming up, so I went with a full Chewbacca theme for the gift wrap job. Here's how I did it: The Gift Bag As usual, I turned to Google Images to find a cartoon version of Chewbacca that I really liked. I spent some time creating a grid of the image which I used to create a layered background for a gift bag. I mounted the Chewie image onto bronze glitter paper. I used some coordinating orange card stock and a stamper to create the perfect birthday wish note! I used a brown ultra fine tip Sharpie to bring out the lettering a bit more. Once the image was complete, I mounted it onto a brown gift bag. I finished the package off with some bronze ribbon that I tied into a bow on the handle. I finished the edges of the ribbon by folding each tail in half and cutting upward on a 45 degree angle to create a triangle cutout. The Card I love coordinating cards t...

A Sunday crafting session...there's no better way to spend the day in my book! I have a Batman fan of a friend who's got an upcoming birthday and I wanted to do something really special. Here's how I did it. I started by wrapping the gift itself in plain blue paper. I then searched Google Images to find some great high resolution images from the 90's era of Batman The Animated Series.  I found this super cool photo of Batman with lightening bolts behind him and loved the way he towered over the city from his perch. I played with sizing and perspective a bit until I got everything at the right size. I printed two copies on card stock and, after sandwiching two pieces of heavy card stock at the base of the photos, pasted them back to back. The picture was then placed them under paperweights to keep the hold. I then found this cool collage of Batman's foes and spent some time sizing it so that each square would be roughly 4 cm to create a checkerboard...

Gift wrapping projects are my favorite crafting projects! I so enjoy picking out gifts for loved ones and wrapping them up to make them all the more special. I think this year's holiday present recipients will get a kick of the gifts they're getting and the beautiful packaging. The Stuffed Animal There aren't too many ways to wrap up a stuffed animal, but I think a festive bow can really create a thoughtful presentation moment. I made a large bow around this little kitty's neck with some metallic fabric ribbon.  If you can tie a shoe, you can tie a bow like this. Tie a large bow and tighten the knot so the bow is secure. Then make another bow using the first one as a guide for how to properly shape the loops of the bow. Once you've completed the bows, take the longer side of the tail and wrap it around the knots to hide them. Secure the tail with a single tie (not a knot) and the bow will be perfectly secure until it's time to remove the bow, whic...

They say that good things come in small packages, and with a little gift wrapping magic, you can make small packages have a big impact! Here's how to do it: I started by wrapping this small box in metallic purple paper. The recipient loves purple and so do I, so the paper was a natural choice. I didn't want to add a ribbon because I felt it would be too large for such a small gift. Instead, I created an embellishment to mimic the look of a ribbon without overpowering the gift. I used a decorative punch and some black card stock to cut out a floral string. I then used some clear adhesive to wrap the floral string snugly around the box. To create a custom gift bag, I cut the remaining black card stock to a 6 in. x 6 in. square and used a decorative punch to create a scrolled circle. I then took some purple card stock and used edging shears to give it a festive border. I then assembled everything over a small brown gift bag. The purpl...