Simple and Elegant Brown Paper Gift Wrapping
If you have ever received a gift from me, you know that it is never in a gift bag. It will come wrapped lovingly in brown paper. I love the nostalgia and simpleness of brown paper packages (tied up with string – and now I’m humming that song). Add in ribbon and other elements and you’ve got a simple and elegant brown paper gift wrapping all rolled into one.
Why do I take so much time wrapping gifts? Well first, I thoroughly enjoy wrapping gifts. I’m in the minority there, I know. Second, have you ever seen someone’s face when they receive a beautifully wrapped gift? It’s normally followed by “it’s so pretty, I don’t want to open it.” Yeah, I love that! And lastly, although I think I’m thoughtful when choosing gifts for people, on the off chance they hate what’s inside, at least for a moment upon seeing a gift wrapped simply yet elegantly in brown paper, they are happy.
In this post, I’ll show you a few different ways I’ve added elements to gifts wrapped in brown paper to complete the look.
What do you need?
For the wrapping:
Brown paper – lots of it!
Ribbon – not the plastic stuff, but nice ribbon. It costs more, but is totally worth it. Pick out a bunch of different prints and textures and then when you think you have enough, double what you have in your cart. Trust me, there is always less ribbon on a spool than you think!
Twine – if you want a really simple and rustic look, twine looks great tied around brown packages. I prefer the natural color twine, but the red and white twine is also great for Christmas wrapping.
For “gift tags”:
Scrabble tiles – I love to glue on a scrabble letter for someone’s first name, especially for kids. Incorporating a game into the wrapping makes it fun.
Letter stamps and ink – Stamp your recipient’s monogram on their gift. I think this is the most elegant element I add to my wrapping.
Chalk tags and chalk pen – This is probably my favorite gift tag for wrapping. I love chalk board, and the chalk pen gives the look, yet is permanent so I don’t have to worry about it rubbing off.
Other elements:
Bells – “Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.” There’s no better reason to incorporate bells into your Christmas wrapping. Period.
Clippings from your tree – We always trim branches off of the bottom of our tree to make it even and so there’s room under it for presents (all lovingly wrapped in brown papers!). I love adding little pieces of evergreen to wrapped gifts.
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