2012 xmas gift wrap wrap-up! :)

hello, darlings! i hope you had a ♥FABULOUS♥ christmas if you were celebrating this week, or alternately, just an especially nice tuesday! we had a blast... and got to see ALL but one of our nieces and nephews, in three different states, over the course of several days! it was wonderful, but admittedly a little tiring. i actually think lovely husband jeff was somewhat relieved to get back to work on wednesday, just for a day of comparative restfulness, and a bit less driving, lol!

something which i find restful, or at least soothingly pleasant, is, as you know, wrapping gifts; especially if i can think up a cool or unusual way to do it. this year i used quite a few store bought gift bags-- mostly because target had AWESOME stuff for .50 to .99 cents each, which is kinda hard to beat, right? so i just personalized some of those, using foam thickers:

these red bags are from the same source; i added a digi-collage (composed of ornaments from vera lim's "joyful xmas" and a bit of rhonna farrer snowflake paper) printed on photo paper for maximum dimension and glossiness (thus the light bounce, sorry!) as well as some glitter chip letters, machine stitching, and real lace:

another use of digital images (this time mindy terasawa's "jolly little friends" from designer digitals) on a not quiiiiiiite 12x12 paper base adorns nephew matthew's BIG present... because when you are five, you want THE BIGGEST present, lol!

you *know* i love vintage xmas cards and have been lucky enough, over the years, to have been given the "collections" of more than one older friend who had saved them. i often cut out motifs to use on cards, but sometimes i can't bear to trim 'em and then i do this:

these next couple were from the december round of birthdays, and aren't xmassy at all, but this seemed like a good time to show them off. first up, papaya art glitter giftwrap plus vintage lace. i kinda didn't want to give this away, but i did!

this one combines a gloriously illustrated page from an actual vintage (though seriously damaged!) children's science encyclopedia with some paper source gift wrap that features penguin classic editions; plus some very funky hand-dyed ribbon:

i'm not sure how lindsay marie's birthday bag got lost in the shuffle, but i only just found the picture! i used a sketch for the placement, and about 17 pounds of embellies, including vintage eyelet lace that i hot-glued around the top edge. it was a BIG HIT with the birthday girl, and i have to say i was touched to see it in her room the other day, holding a few "treasures"! :)

tomorrow i'll show you what's INSIDE matthew's "big present", so do drop by then if you have a minute! ♥