The Gifted Blog

Paper Play

2012-02-15T05:00:00.000-08:00

Today, two images of a gift wrapped for me by my younger sister:

Tissue, printer paper, and a bit of playful scissor work yield a beautifully wrapped birthday gift. Thanks, sis!

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Imaginary Tweets: Chocolate Sandwich Taco Edition

2012-02-11T15:52:00.000-08:00

Ooh! A surprise package came from LuLu Wraps. Thanks, ladies, it's so pretty.

3 cheers for husbands who bring home leftovers from catered meetings!

Although he did tell me that he dropped some sandwiches on the ground.

After we'd eaten them.

I put tartar sauce on my Senor Fish tacos. Please don't judge!

N and I found a tangerines and lemons to pick on campus. Love living where we do.

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Free Printable Valentines Goodies | Free Printable Friday

2012-02-10T12:47:00.000-08:00

Printable Valentine treat bags by Kathleen of Twig & Thistle.
Free printable HERE

Sweet Valentine's tags, cards and stickers by Traci Yau of 45Wall Design.
Free printable HERE

Printable Valentine's card and coupons (awesome!) by Love vs. Design (via).
Free printable HERE

Coffee cup holders by Amy Moss of Eat Drink Chic.
Free printable HERE

A year ago: Free Printable Valentines
Two years ago: Printable Valentine's Cards

Ah, Valentine's Day. I grew up enjoying this holiday, but now that I'm married we don't really have any traditions. Do we give gifts? Sometimes. Do we go on a date? Rarely. In the past we've babysat for friends or had people over for dessert. Actually, I think having friends over has been our best kind of celebration. The day is not a nice one for some, so it's nice to eat something sweet with people you love.

I hope you enjoy using these - and that the money you save gets invested in some yummy chocolate (last day to order for delivery by V-Day)! And as always, many thanks to the designers who have shared their work.

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{All images credited above to their respective owners}

LuLu Wraps and Missionary Chocolate

2012-02-08T15:31:00.000-08:00

Valentine's alert! My sponsor LuLu Wraps is teaming up with Missionary Chocolates to offer three beautiful gift sets. Each set features artisanal chocolate truffles wrapped in a LuLu Wrap. The furoshiki above is made from a recycled silk sari - gorgeous!

Standard shipping is free (and I do love free shipping). Deb says most sets take two days to arrive, so order by Friday for delivery by Valentine's Day.

I can see this being a decadent gift for your better half, a girlfriend in need of cheer (ooh, send it to her work!), or a newlyweds celebrating their first Valentine's as a married couple. And of course, no one said you can't order for yourself! Get these and make it a chocolate-tasting party.

To see all three sets of truffles, please visit LuLu Wraps.

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Free Printable Thank You Cards | Free Printable Friday

2012-02-03T05:00:00.000-08:00

Did you grow up writing thank you cards?

It's a definite part of my family culture - after birthdays, after Christmas, we always wrote thank yous. I've grown to appreciate the tradition. It's a nice way to stay in touch with friends and family...it carries the 'conversation' beyond just getting a nice gift!

Today I have a collection of printable thank you cards for you to download:
Quirky green 'Thanks' card by Jennifer Ferguson of Squirrel in the Attic
Chevron stripes thank you card by Melanie M. Burk of Fifth & Hazel
Calligraphic thank you freebie by Melissa Esplin of ISLY
Assortment of free thank you cards at Do-it-yourself Invitations (via)
Elegant orange thank you card also by Melanie M. Burk of Fifth & Hazel (above)

As always, I encourage you to leave a comment for anyone whose free download you end up using! I'm sure they'd love to hear about who you sent your thank you card to.

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{Image via Fifth & Hazel}

Ticker Tape Gift Basket | Gift Wrap Everywhere

2012-01-30T14:57:00.000-08:00

Gift Wrap Everywhere highlights items I've run across in daily life that are perfect for unconventional gift wrapping. Seriously, gift wrap is everywhere!

Let's see what we can do with an empty berry basket...

and a small hoard of ribbon bits, shall we?

After an unfruitful (no pun intended) attempt at weaving, I decided to try a confetti approach. I tied bits of ribbon around the edge of the gift basket.

Festive! And a fun way to use up bits of ribbon.

I added some new glitter ribbon to add brightness and sparkle.

What would you put in this? I loved the result but had a hard time thinking about what kind of gift this might house. Let me know in the comments!

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Imaginary Tweets: Procrastination Edition

2012-01-24T16:48:00.000-08:00

Oh boy. Instead of blogging, I've been reading...

This delicious collaboration between Whimsy & Spice and West Elm.

A book by Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO. Can lessons from this shoe czar help our little business?

About the imperfect makeup trend.

This sad memoir (recommended on Cup of Jo).

This totally not sad memoir.

Read anything good lately? (As if I needed more to read!)

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{Image via West Elm}

Coconut Milk Can | Gift Wrap Everywhere

2012-01-20T05:00:00.000-08:00

Gift Wrap Everywhere highlights items I've run across in daily life that are perfect for unconventional gift wrapping. Seriously, gift wrap is everywhere!

I've always enjoyed this type of coconut milk can. It probably hasn't had a redesign since the '80s, and the graphics are printed right onto the smooth sides of the can.

Add gauzy tissue to make an unconventional gift 'box'...

or finish it off with a ribbon to add a bit of polish to this otherwise quirky gift wrapping!

Don't cook with coconut milk? Try a nod to Andy Warhol with a classic red-and-white Campbell's soup can. Feeling impish? Take the bottom off the can and fill it from the underside!

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A Year Ago on The Gifted Blog

2012-01-18T05:00:00.000-08:00

2010
How to Wrap Five More Eggs, part 1: Highlights from the classic book on Japanese packaging.

Letterpress Baby: Gift wrapping idea using a card from one of my favorite letterpress companies.

The Best of the Gifted Blog: In which I look back on my first 6 months(!) of blogging.

2011
Common Thread Studio: Sharing the good news - I got a job!

First Day on the Job: Looking back, I only posted 3 times this month! Here I share what I've been up to away from the blog.

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Imaginary Tweets: Date Night Edition

2012-01-17T21:13:00.000-08:00

Favorite hot chocolate: 1 T cocoa powder + 1 T sugar + pinch salt in mug. Microwave 1 c. milk. Pour a very little in and stir well before adding the rest. YUM.

I got to meet the lovely Lucy of Paper Tiger Shanghai! Lucy, so glad you could drop by the shop.

For my fellow Californians: $5 date night?

Moms of young kids, how do you fit date nights in? Or do you? It's tough!

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{Image via Bon Appetit}

Sewers' Gift Wrapping Roundup

2012-01-16T05:00:00.000-08:00

Some of you know I work at Common Thread Studio, a sewing studio in South Pasadena, CA. It's so rewarding to have another outlet for encouraging people towards everyday creativity. I've collected some ideas for sewing-related gift wrapping of many kinds. Sewers, this one's for you!

Old patterns as tissue paper at The White Bench
Cardboard embroidered gift tags by Family Chic
Measuring tape as ribbon at Molly and the Princess (2nd gift down)
Sewn gift box by ISLY
Scribbled stitches gift wrap by Alisa Burke (shown above)

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{Image via Alisa Burke}

Imaginary Tweets: Ooh, Pretty Edition

2012-01-12T21:16:00.000-08:00

Hi readers! Didn't mean to take quite so long a blogging break, but our family's been on the road to recovery after some nasty colds. Here of some of the week's thoughts...share yours in the comments!

Mildly obsessed with Sora Designs jewelry after seeing it here.

Made these and recommend. Note to future self: don't forget the parchment!

G borrowed a Kindle from school and I devoured this in two days. (Fun fact: the wait list is 61 people deep at the city library.)

N found me looking at this after his nap and was fascinated.

Went to the Pasadena Whole Foods on a whim for dinner. Anyone else try this?

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{Image via Sora Designs}

Imaginary Tweets: Kimchi Fried Rice Edition

2011-12-29T23:16:00.000-08:00

Technically on blog vacation but wanted to fill you in...

Bit into this and "Praise the Lord" involuntarily came out of my mouth.

Stayed in town for the first Christmas ever.

Made this for Christmas dinner. Kudos to G for the Japanese market run!

Spent a supremely nostalgic morning in the town I lived in after college. God taught me so much there.

My boss gave me a Sephora gift card! What should I get, guys??

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{Image by Molly Wizenberg of Orangette}

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T05:00:00.000-08:00

From our family to yours...Merry Christmas! May your journey be blessed in 2012. I'm taking a blog vacation and will see you in the new year!

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{Photography by (the very talented) Michelle Brenhaug}

Free Printable Christmas Roundup II | Free Printable Friday

2011-12-23T11:00:00.000-08:00

As if all the free printable goodness from last week weren't enough, I'm back today with gift tags and cupcake toppers for any weekend wrapping you might be doing!

Washi tape inspired printable gift tags by Frog Prince Paperie.
Free download HERE

Cool printable gift tags by Eunice Moyle (inspired by SusyJack* holiday cards).
Free download HERE

Cheery cupcake toppers by Bake It Pretty.
Free download HERE

No Peeking gift tags by Kristen of PaperCrave.
Free download HERE

Hand-lettered gift tags by Amy Moss of Eat Drink Chic
Free download HERE

As always, huge thanks to the talented designers who have shared their work with us. I'm sure they would love a little comment from you if you use any of these!

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{All images credited above to their respective owners}

Gifted Readers Spotlight

2011-12-23T05:00:00.000-08:00

I've had the pleasure of receiving some photos from my readers (okay, two of them are family) in my inbox this week. Take a look at their twists on these gift wrapping ideas!

My sister executed her own version of the Powder Puff Gift Topper. Looking good, sis! She even gave me the photo caption: "Even my sister who says she's not crafty can do this!"

And my mom sent me her gift wrapping idea for jars: roll in tissue on the diagonal, embellish with brightly colored paper stuck on with washi tape. So crisp and clean!

Finally, Michelle wrote in with this adorable version of the gift card snowglobe I linked to here. Awesome! She used a snowman-shaped gift card from Target, which only adds to the cuteness.

Readers, don't be shy in sharing your gift wrapping photos with me! You can always write me at giftedmailbox[at]gmail.com. I'd love to take a peek.

More reader awesomeness here.

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The Gifted Blog in the L.A. Times

2011-12-22T20:59:00.000-08:00

Big news today, you guys. I'm in the L.A. Times!

I consider it a 30th birthday gift from God. Last month I got an email titled "Could I interview you for an LA Times story?" My heart leapt! Jeannine Stein, writer for the Times (and author of Adventures in Bookbinding), was reaching out to ask if I could participate in an article about gift wrapping foods for the holidays.

We talked over the phone and Jeannine told me she's been a reader of the blog for about a year. She was a wonderfully gracious interviewer, genuinely interested and a great listener. In contrast, I had major butterflies and used the word "beautiful" once every other sentence.

I am SO grateful for this opportunity. The best part was getting to wrap gifts and shoot them for the article! I'm including some here that didn't make it in. I hope to write a bit more about the experience later, but for now, check out the article here and let us know what you think!

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Signed, Sealed, Delivered | Wrap Story

2011-12-22T05:00:00.000-08:00

I'm happy to say these gifts have been SENT! Posted to the East coast for our 3 year old niece and 1 year old nephew.

Genius gift idea stolen from our neighbors: key rings with real keys! We bought the keychains in Thailand and Japan (bet you can guess which one came from where) and the keys came from a local hardware store. Gotta love small businesses - the man let me behind the counter and gave me a whole box of unusable keys to sort through!

I sent my niece C the For the Makers bracelet I embellished...

and we tucked in a top from Japan for nephew L.

N helped me make the wrapping paper by drawing on white tissue, and the beautiful red paper was a gift from Paper Tiger Shanghai. (You can read more about them here.)

I used the black and white pattern on the reverse side of the wrapping paper to make the tags. About a week after sending these we got a proposal from my sister-in-law to just send one gift per family, on time or late...Ah, well. We'll coordinate better next time!

This Wrap Story is part of a series documenting every present I’ve wrapped since the start of The Gifted Blog. Click here to see them all!

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Christmas Tree Mailers (or, Crafting in Your Underwear) | Wrap Story

2011-12-20T05:00:00.000-08:00

Ah, friends, mailing gifts is a pain. I love gift wrapping, but gift wrapping PLUS preparing gifts for the mail confounds and perplexes my holiday-addled brain.

So I decided to try something different. N and I took some time last week to decorate these recycled bubble mailers for my grandparents. He had a great time crafting in his underwear, punching 'ornaments' with my circle punch and helping to glue them on the trees. (For the record, I was clothed.)

I enjoyed breaking out some of the pretty paper I bought on our last trip to Japan.

Inside we slipped Christmas cards and some handmade tulle potscrubbers. These scrubby wonders are a dying art. As far as I can tell, only Japanese-American grandmas know how to make them, and my Japanese-American grandmas actually never learned! I hope it gives them a smile that I'm trying to keep the tradition alive.

This Wrap Story is part of a series documenting every present I’ve wrapped since the launch of The Gifted Blog. Click here to see them all!

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Gift Guide: Books for Mixed Race Kids

2011-12-19T16:30:00.000-08:00

Some of you know that my family is an interracial one. I'm 4th generation Japanese American and my husband has German, English and Italian roots. Before N was born I did quite a bit of thinking and reading about how to raise a biracial kid.

One of my hopes was to find books that thoughtfully addressed cultural diversity, especially after finding out how crucial reading aloud is in a child's development. After finding some great books, I really wanted to share them! Maybe there's a child on your Christmas list who might be able to connect with these stories.

How My Parents Learned to Eat by Ina R. Friedman, illustrated by Allen Say
A biracial girl tells the story of how her parents, an American sailor and Japanese woman, fell in love. Each one faces the fear of embarrassment to learn how to eat one another's food...and finally bond over dinner.

I Love Saturdays y domingos by Alma Flor Ada, illustrated by Elivia Savadier
A little girl spends Saturdays with Grandma and Grandpa and Sundays with Abuelito and Abuelita. An affectionate story that incorporates Spanish phrases and words.

Shades of Black: A Celebration of Our Children by Sandra L. Pinkney, photographs by Myles C. Pinkney
A beautiful book that celebrates the many ways being black can look. The children photographed confidently talk about their skin, eyes and hair.

black is brown is tan by Arnold Adoff, illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully

A lovingly illustrated poem, this was the first children's book about an interracial family. I especially enjoyed the father's description of his own skin. N would repeat lines from this book ("chocolate up the chocolate milk!") after reading it together.

Shades of People by Shelly Rotner and Sheila M. Kelly
Even if we're not aware, young children are noticing differences between the people around them. This vivid book shows kids of many different shades and emphasizes that "our skin is just our covering, like wrapping paper...you can't tell what someone is like form the color of their skin."

Uncle Peter's Amazing Chinese Wedding by Lenore Look, illustrated by Yumi Heo

A book that I will never tire of reading! Spunky Chinese-American protagonist mourns the marriage of her favorite uncle, only to find herself playing a special role at his wedding.

Country Road ABC by Arthur Geisert

From "ammonia fertilizer" to "Z-frame," this book chronicles farm life in America's heartland. We loved that the author is from Iowa (G's home state!), and the book is based on County Road Y31 in his community. Good stuff.

Do you have any books to add to this list?

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Wrapping Gifts in Jars | Reader Question

2011-12-19T05:00:00.000-08:00

"This year I'll be doing some presents in big glass jars (sort of like this). Any ideas on how I can wrap them?" --Shawna

Ooh, now I'm curious about what you're putting in them! I saw this photo on the Sunset website and thought of you - they used a cardstock tag, cinnamon stick and bright raffia to wrap this jar. It's relatively simple but the colored raffia really makes it pop!

Readers, let's put our heads together and help Shawna out. What are some creative gift wrapping ideas for a glass jar like this?

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{Images by Marco Bellucci and Sunset}

Free Printable Christmas Roundup | Free Printable Friday

2011-12-16T05:00:00.000-08:00

Today I have not one, but SIX free printables for you! And I really like each one of them. Perfect for your production-line gift wrapping this weekend or maybe just adding a special touch to a present you need to pop in the mail.

Printable holiday tag by AmberLee of GiversLog.
Free download HERE

Modern printable postcard by Maddy of Inspired Bride.
Free download HERE

Adorable mail-themed gift tags by Amy Moss of Eat Drink Chic.

Free download HERE

Fancy Christmas labels by Jo Klima of August Empress.
Free download HERE

Pink printable gift wrap and gift tags by Kristen of Domestifluff.
Free download HERE

Free printable gift wrap (in four colorways!) by Sally J. Shim and Joke Vande Gaer of SHIMTOKK.
Free download HERE

Many, many thanks go to the generous designers who made these to share. Which is your favorite? Can you even pick?

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{All images credited above to their respective owners}

Gifts for the Gift Wrapper

2011-12-15T15:00:00.000-08:00

Rifle Paper Co. gift wrap

2012 Wrapping Paper Calendar by Victory Paper Designs

Egg Press sample sale cards (10 for $10!)

Some beautiful paper goods that have been taking up tabs in my web browser. Do you have a problem with that, too?

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Powder Puff Gift Topper | Tutorial

2011-12-14T15:22:00.000-08:00

This delightful gift topper has a few things going for it: it's easy to make, elegant, and practically un-squashable! You could easily pack or mail these and still have them come out looking great. I love working with forgiving materials, and tulle is one of them.

Let's get started!

Materials:
-Tulle (I used a fine netting)
-Thin ribbon

Cut a long strip of tulle. For a small-sized gift I cut a strip that was 4 inches wide and 3 feet long. You don't have to be perfect here - see my jagged edges?

Fold tulle in half lengthwise.

Starting at the folded end, fold the tulle accordion-style.

Grab your ribbon and tie a tight double knot around the middle of the pleated tulle.

Fluff.

The ends of the ribbon can be used to attach your Powder Puff Gift Topper to the gift box.

You can keep it bow-shaped...

or really fluff the edges to make it puff!

Voila!

So dainty, yet durable.

I love that gift wrapping is an opportunity to try something creative, and I hope this tutorial gives you the confidence to try a new technique!

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3 Step Method for Beautiful Gift Wrapping

2011-12-13T15:00:00.000-08:00

What do these two Christmas gifts have in common? (Besides just being beautiful!)

They were both wrapped with a 3-step method for creative gift wrapping. What 3-step method is that, you say? Take a look at this post by Amy Merrick at DesignSponge for the answer. What a great approach to gift wrapping from a lady who's never purchased wrapping paper in her life!

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{Images by Amy Merrick via DesignSponge}