ribbon tassel gift wrap ~ holiday week

It’s day two in our week of Christmas cheer!  My blogging friends and I are bringing you something new every day this week. Today we’re sharing gift wrap ideas. I used paper and ribbon on hand to make colorful and easy ribbon tassels ~~~

This year I’m really trying to use up stuff on hand! It’s hard to resist new Christmas ribbon, but I am going to stay strong. 🙂 Brown or white craft paper is always on hand at my house. Basic curling ribbon is something else that’s always in the gift wrap box ~ but maybe not in traditional Christmas colors. As it turned out, I had several spools bought on clearance that are straight from the colors in my Christmas Island Mele Kalikimaka trees.  I started these trees in 2009, going through a very difficult Christmas. The sparkle and colors have brought me a lot of cheer over the years ~ especially this Surfing’ Santa and Christmas Dolphin!

Colorful ribbon, odd sheets of construction paper and card stock, and brown craft paper for wrapping. Ready, set, wrap!

After wrapping the packages in brown craft paper, I used crafting scissors to cut out overlay shapes from leftover construction paper and card stock. Nothing special or fancy ~ just whatever shape fit the box or the paper.

I will tie a bow or a tassel on anything that doesn’t move! Tassels are easy to make ~ I even made them from jute twine in the fall ~ so I thought to try ribbon tassels instead of bows for these small packages. Here are a couple of photos showing how ~

First I chose a few colors to use together and started wrapping them around a piece of cardboard. The finished tassel will be half the length of one side on the cardboard so you can cut the board to a special size, or just use it as is and go with it! I wrapped around the board 20 times (wrapping 3 or 4 colors at the same time) and then tied the ribbon off in the middle on each side.

After trying off in the middle on each side, cut through the flat edge and fold the tassels in half over the center tie. Wrap another piece of ribbon around the folded tassel, about an inch from the top, and tie off in a flat knot. Trim any uneven ends as needed. Here’s the results!

Here are a few more ornaments from my Christmas Island trees, and the inspiration for my gift wrap.

There are ships, and pirates, and divers and sea shells and ocean critters ~and  even a mermaid. 🙂

I did have some traditional red & green combos, and some non-traditional combos, but really any colors you like (or have on hand!) will work for this.

These ended up bright, shiny and colorful ~ and I was happy to use up stuff on hand. These are small things ~ maybe for Bluwatermom and Bluwaterguy. 🙂 For larger packages, I would tie big loopy curling ribbon bows and use the tassels as add-on ties. After years in retail merchandising, I can tie just about any kind of bow too ~ and help out friends when they need new wreath bows, so feel free to ask!

Here are the small packages under the tree. I’m not finished shopping yet and Santa’s elves better deliver soon from the North Pole (also known as Amazon!). In the meantime, I think I will have a fizzy drink and enjoy looking at my efforts. Good things come in small packages y’all!

Check out more gift wrap ideas from my friends Vicki & Jennifer at 2 Bees in a Pod, Coco at The Crowned Goat, Lisa at Concord Cottage and Angie at The Altered Past. There are special themes, special papers and more!

We will bring you something new from each blog, every day this week. Tomorrow it’s all about great ideas for special wreaths – see you back here tomorrow!