DIY Gift Wrapping

We have a family wedding to go to in a few weeks up in Newport, Rhode Island, and we're so looking forward to it! My husband and I haven't attended a wedding since our own and we have a flurry of them coming up over the next year. It's really a joy to be a wedding guest, don't you think?

Something I always enjoy is picking out a gift for the bride and groom. Getting married is such a big, wonderful life change--there's nothing quite like it. And a wedding gift, as I see it, is more than just a material way of sending congratulations to a newly married couple--rather, it's a little token of support and love, a way of helping a newly married couple as they fuse their lives together.

After I picked out my cousin's gift (do you remember these tea towels from this post?), I decided that it needed some beautiful wrapping to go with it. 

First, I carefully folded the tea towels and tied them up with several bamboo spoons. A healthy mix of practical and pretty, wouldn't you say?

I found the perfect-sized white gift box at Walmart (it was sold as a "shirt box") which made for really easy wrapping and resulted in clean, smooth edges. I also picked up a roll of Kraft paper and a white paint pen.

As a little side note--after doing this project, I don't think I'll ever buy regular wrapping paper again. Kraft paper is not only very cute and rustic-looking, it's also ideal for DIY projects. What could be better than a blank canvas waiting to be dressed up? It's also much sturdier than regular wrapping paper and really inexpensive (I think I paid about four dollars for a large roll of it, which will last a long time). 

To add a little character to this paper, I decided to cover it in white polka dots. I had so much fun with this part. It was easy and foolproof to just dot randomly on the paper (after measuring and cutting the length of paper I needed), and I think the end result is quite sophisticated. 

I let the dots dry for a few minutes and then went on to wrapping. Since I was covering a box and had carefully measured the paper, the wrapping was pretty simple. The Kraft paper is so durable that it really doesn't wrinkle like thin gift wrap sometimes does, and I love the clean look of these wrapped corners.

I then used some white paper raffia ribbon that I already had to tie up the present, criss-crossing it in the back. A few stems of faux flowers (also available at Walmart, for less than a dollar) lends the gift just a bit of elegance.

Finally, I added a gift tag (another item I already had) and tied up the gift with a simple bow.

And that's all there is to it! I was really in my element as I was dotting and cutting and tying bows--I love simple DIY projects with a really lovely end result!