Gift Packaging Galore

I love to create things!! When it came time to package some gifts I could not just put them in plain ole' commercial bags or boxes. You know how much I love the Build a Bird punch and have made scads of various species of birdys right? Well this bag caught my eye the minute I saw it.  My friend Pam loves birds. I made Joanne's bag from her tutorial: http://joanne-mainlyflowers.blogspot.com/2011/12/little-bird-gift-bag-tutorial.html  I made three or four of these, then I decided that I could devise my own custom packaging too. I began my construction journey with the birdhouse. I couldn't put the gift in a box made of cardstock as it was too heavy, so I found a nice sturdy box and built the birdhouse around it. There's plenty of tissue paper for insulation, and it's landscaped with various vines. I selected choice faux wood grain for the roof, and chose cellulose siding. While I did not select Tyvek as a moisture barrier, the resident cardinal will be quite comfortable with a waterproof adhesive  made from: oils, resins, and rubber. Since we live on the coast, reinforcement was needed on the roof in the form of velcro, just in case a hurricane pays us a visit, the little birdy will remain quite dry.

Next, I devised a simple bag-a-box for a gift for my friend Deborah who loves owls. I saw a picture of an owl somewhere and recreated it as best I could from memory and the punches and diecuts that I have on hand.

Last, but certainly not least, is a pair of Santa's overalls repurposed as gift bags.  Again I remember seeing overalls on the internet somewhere and began by drawing them on a sheet of paper. I determined what size container I needed for each gift and then constructed the base first. I made tabs as you find on any box. Then, I adjusted the size of the overalls needed to fit in that box/bag bottom. I cut out two overalls for each bag, one in white and a slightly smaller one in red to give a layered look and more stability for the bag/box. I spilled glue so the holly is covering up my goof on one bag while another set of holly disguises a cutting mistake on the other.  I wanted to minimize the look of the seams on the sides, so I just punched out some Christmas greetings. Oh! the belt buckle!!  I don't have a buckle die or punch, so I used the curly label punch and new mini curly label inside it. I think it made a pretty good buckle don't you?

Now, my friend Rachael loves dogs and then Barb is a Clemson fan who also loves flowers, and Suzy loves jewelry & cake decorating...

I'm off to do more Christmas shopping and stop by the DMV. Then home to bake Mom's Date Nut Bread. It is simply to die for!!  Have a great day!!