It's a wrap!

Thinking outside of the box is so much fun -- why would you stay in? Wrapping a gift recently, we didn't want to use paper. The recipient, my aunt, is so colorful and somewhat exotic. This thing needed something -- something -- uh, punchy! Off we went. My sister and I took a trip to the local fabric store and picked up a few things. Check it out.

 1) Material. Pick the right one. Ask yourself a few questions such as, "What's the recipient's style?" "What age group am I dealing with?" "What's the occasion?" All of these help to narrow your choice.

2) Add-ons. Next, we grabbed ribbon to keep the material together. Tape is unnecessary. Besides, we knew our aunt could reuse the material as she wished. NOTE: When folding the material, be neat. To avoid flapping corners, I folded them in diagonally. Don't worry about trimming all the threads. This keeps the gift looking organic, win-win! Apply the ribbon as you wish. I used a double bow then inserted a peacock feather to tie it all together.

3) Gift tag. Keep with the flow: if you're going natural, keep the idea throughout. Here, I used a thin brown ribbon threaded through the eyelet of an antiqued tag. Address it with your personal touch and...

...YOU'RE DONE! Give it a try; it's so much fun!