CasaSugar

Casa Quickie: Make Your Own New Year's Eve Confetti

CasaSugar — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 06:15:39 -0800

Short on confetti for your New Year's Eve party? Don't toss that holiday wrapping paper! Cut each sheet into a few small squares and send them through a paper shredder, and then send the shredded pieces through once more if necessary. Not only will you have festive confetti, but you can re-purpose your wrapping paper! Don't have a paper shredder? Try these shredding scissors. And of course, once the party's over, don't forget to vacuum thoroughly!

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How-To: Five Green Tips For Getting Rid of Wrapping Paper

CasaSugar — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 05:30:55 -0800

The stockings may have been hung by the chimney with care, and all of your carefully chosen presents may have been perfectly wrapped, but when gift-opening time starts, you're sure to be left with a mound of paper. But don't throw it away! Here are some ways to make sure that the holiday paper doesn't go to waste this morning.

Ask a family member to gather all of the reusable paper, bows, ribbons, and boxes while the presents are being unwrapped. Stack these items in a neat pile, and then save them in a sturdy box, so they can be used again next year.
Save any packaging materials, such as packaging peanuts or foam, for mailing future packages. Alternately, you can take them to a packaging store.
Save paper for future projects, such as paper-making with children. You can also stock children's craft boxes with paper. You can iron the paper at a very low heat to get the wrinkles out.
Recycle any gift wrap that's too damaged to be reused.
Make sure to use recycled-content wrapping paper next holiday season!

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Casa Verde: 10 Green and Glam Gift Wrapping Solutions

CasaSugar — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 12:00:43 -0800

Did you run out of wrapping paper? Maybe you're looking for a less environmentally taxing way to give this holiday season? Here's an idea: Wrap a gift with another gift. I love the graphic pattern of this typographical tea towel ($18), which would definitely be a showstopper under the tree. Include another kitchen-related gift, such as a teapot or some green cleaners, and you're set. For nine other ideas, check out the slideshow.

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Wrap Star! Winter Tweets Gift Wrap

CasaSugar — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 05:30:32 -0800

As much as I love making my own wrapping paper, I can't resist manufactured wrapping paper with a beautiful design. Such is the case with the Snow & Graham Winter Tweets Paper ($7 for two sheets). Featuring small, vibrant red birds perched on brown and green branches, the paper is festive and seasonal. But its clean lines and unfussy shapes give it a hip, mid-century modern vibe - an infinitely better choice than kitschy Santa Claus and reindeer designs. Of course, your Walgreens-variety wrapping paper will come at much more manageable price, but the look of these sweet birds under your tree is oh-so-worth it, and hard to resist. Would you splurge on this gift wrap?

Do You Use "Alternative" Wrapping Paper?

CasaSugar — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 07:00:13 -0800

I love making my own wrapping paper using stamps, butcher paper, and markers, but sometimes even the most diligent crafters run out of time to create handmade wrapping paper. That's when I rely on good old calendar photos for some of my smaller gifts. Do you use "alternative" wrapping paper for holiday presents?

Casa Quickie: Instant Faux Bois Wrap

CasaSugar — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:00:00 -0800

I love this idea for wrapping holiday presents, which I found on Craft. Just use faux bois contact paper over some plain brown wrapping paper. Finish it off with some leaf cutouts, and you have a well-presented gift worthy of any of your faux bois-loving design-maven friends.

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Deck the Haus DIY: Wrapping With Craft Paper

CasaSugar — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 12:00:43 -0800

Last night I started the long process of wrapping gifts for friends, family, and future in-laws. Does anyone else forget how time-intensive this process is between holidays? I sure do. There's the Scotch tape stuck to the side of the coffee table, the misplacing of ribbon, and the wrestling with the long roll of gift wrap that insists on curling itself up again. Not that fun, even when you're watching the fourth season DVD of The Wire.

I should've stuck to recycling grocery bags like I did last year, when I made my own wrapping paper with grocery bags, similar to those that AmberHoney made. The size is so much easier to handle, and the process is more creative and fun. I recently stumbled upon some gorgeous grocery bag wrapping paper that designer Danny Seo came up with. This cool gift wrapping DIY that not only uses grocery bags, but also makes them look positively retro-chic in the process.

Danny suggests the following deck the haus DIY:

Rip open a grocery store brown paper bag and wrap a gift so the unprinted side shows on the outside of the box.
Cover the package in office supply store stickers.
Tie it all up with wool yarn in festive colors.

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Deck the Haus: Homemade Wrapping Paper

CasaSugar — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 07:15:45 -0800

TeamSugar member AmberHoney sent me this photo of some decorating paper she made for a business associate of her husband's. She says, "I have only ever used newspaper or grocery-store bags (the inside of course) to wrap my gifts. I started because wrapping papers are just too expensive to rip open and litter the earth. I usually stamp, spray paint, or stencil paper bags. It's fun and you can personalize each."

I also sometimes make my own wrapping paper, though I have to say that AmberHoney's is some of the most sophisticated, design-savvy homemade paper I've seen in awhile.

What about you? Do you make homemade wrapping paper?

Wrap Star! Secular Wrapping Paper

CasaSugar — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 13:00:53 -0800

If you're giving a gift this month to someone who, as far as you know, may or may not celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or Britney Spears's birthday, it's best to leave the nativity scenes, dreidels, and bad hair extensions off of your wrapping paper. Choose a paper solely wintry in theme, and avoid symbolic colors like red and green. This Paper Source Moss and Pool Retro Snowflake paper ($6.50), for example, is a good choice of secular wrapping paper. Its snowflake pattern is nostalgic for Winter, yet its color palette of green, yellow, and blue is nondescript, not to mention that its vintage '50s feel razzes my berries.

Wrap Star! Blooming Wrapping Paper

CasaSugar — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 08:01:54 -0800

Recyclable paper is not a new phenomenon. But plant-able paper? That's another thing. This biodegradable Uncommon Goods Blooming Wrapping Paper ($20 for 3) is embedded with annual and perennial wildflower seeds, such as catchfly, English snapdragon, cornpoppy, and black-eyed susan, so that it will grow into a beautiful garden when planted. The paper is a crisp clean white with the choice of light green or brown antique suns and the words "water me" printed on the paper. Pair it with a festive ribbon and your gift will be good to grow for all of your holiday gifts . . . just remember to tell the giftee how it works.