brown bag valentine

 I hope you have a fantastic weekend everyone! Maybe you're pulling out the craft box to make valentines or snuggling up next to a fire with a mug of tea (for those of you snowed in on the east coast) or going for a horse-drawn sleigh ride.

Wait ... a what? 

My family is actually going for a sleigh ride tonight. Instead of giving gifts at Christmas this year, we bought Groupons for a hot-cocoa and dinner sleigh ride for 10 in Breckenridge. After a loop in the woods, we'll have a steak and trout cowboy dinner and berry cobbler. But lest you envision a romantic evening with softly falling snow flakes and twinkling stars, I should mention that it is 15° in Breckenridge with blowing snow, 45 mph gusts and a -4° windshield. So we like a little adventure too! I'm especially liking the "wrapped in blankets" part of this ride.

While I'm looking for my long-johns, here is a little valentines inspiration from the archives. I especially like this packaging because you can fill the brown bags with anything you like. These ones were filled with Girl Scout Cookies, but use your sweet tooth imagination!

p.s. I don't actually own long-johns, but I've always wanted to!

photos by sarah fritzler

christmas gift wrapping

Wrapping is one of my absolute favorite parts about this week. It's where the artist, designer and craftier meet Christmas. And it's a good thing because I have a whole lot left to do!

A few nights ago I pulled out all my supplies, turned on It's A Wonderful Life and got to it. I decided to go with a natural, butcher paper, parcel feeling this year. I'm sure I'll change it up before I'm done since I also purchased a few of these adorable designs last week. But for now, I'm happy with these simple packages with their little touches of love. Here are a few photos to inspire you.









WHAT I USED:
Roll of butcher paper: Purchased at my local paper or craft store
Baker's twine: (do you see the trend here? Butcher, baker ... I should have bought something from the candlestick maker) Purchased online here
Gold stripe washi tape: I bought this roll just for this Christmas. Lots of fun options here! (and it will come to you wrapped up in a cute package)
Small doilies: Purchased at my local craft store
Gold bells: On sale at my local craft store
Bird fabric paper clips: I found these on sale at Anthropologie last week

I would love to see your wrapping creations!

p.s. Be sure to check out day 2 of The 12 Days of Christmas!

photos by sarah fritzler

gift wrap ideas

In prep for our March birthday celebration tomorrow, I've been browsing some old pictures. While these aren't the best photographs, I thought I would share some of my simple gift wrap ideas:



1. Chip Board gift tags — You can get these in packs of 5 at Michale's for $1. That's right! They are cheaper thank sticker tags and so much cuter. I used this cupcake tag to display the simple earrings I made.



2. Brown box — Also found at Michale's, these little boxes always come in handy and all they require is a little ribbon remnant. I complemented these earrings with a simple flower sketch.

3. Custom Stickers — Last year I gave Mike A Night Out With Matt Damon. Mike is somewhat in love with Borne from The Borne Identity, so this bag held two tickets t0 the latest Matt Damon movie, a gift certificate to his favorite taco place and every movie snack imaginable (so affordable at the dollar store!).

Extra tip: Our dollar store carries 2-packs of these brown gift bags and packages of tissue paper for only $1! I find it's the only affordable way to keep up with my tissue paper use.

I hope you enjoy these easy-on-the-pocket-book ideas so that you can spend a little more on the gift!