How to Use Gift Bags, Wrapping Paper, and Tags in Your Christmas Décor

Every year we strive to make a very curated theme and look for our homes during the holiday season. All the way down to the wrapping paper, gift bags, and gift tags that we use. Next time you’re shopping for these items think bout how they can be incorporated into your décor theme. Christmas tags, bags, and wrapping paper have some of the most beautiful artwork of the season. This year, I made a few décor pieces with some of my favorite images and patterns. I am sure you can as well.
Hobby Lobby is my favorite place to look for tags, bags, and paper. The Dollar Tree has some great bags too and they are very affordable. There is also an image on each side so you can get two projects from one gift bag.
Once you have your paper items purchased, you can begin on your crafts. I do a version of this craft every year and now you can add it to your regular holiday décor DIYs.
Gift Bags, Wrapping Paper, and Tags in your Christmas Decor
Porch Leaner Sign
Materials:
- Long Wood Plank
- Wrapping Paper
- Letters
- Ribbon
- Embellishments
- I used a hardwood floor plank that my husband rescued from the curb. He’s always on the lookout for materials that I can use that are free. You can read between the lines there. My plank is about 7” wide and 4’ long. It had a tongue and groove edge that I trimmed off using my jigsaw.
- I sanded the rough edges then I gave the board a light coat of white paint. I didn’t worry about full coverage, I just covered the board so that the color wouldn’t bleed through my paper.
- If you haven’t guessed it, the wrapping paper is going to be the background of our sign. I got this buffalo check paper from Hobby Lobby for 60% off, so it was $4 a roll. It comes in black and red too. You could make a few dozen projects with one roll.
- After the paint was dry, I used spray adhesive to adhere the paper to the front of the board. I did have to use two pieces to cover the front completely. It was easy to match up the pattern and you can’t see the seam.
- I let the glue completely dry before I moved on to the next step.
- To give my sign face a frame, I used some trim pieces that I first painted with black paint. I used wood glue to attach them.
- I gave the entire front a coat of matte mod podge before I moved on. I wanted to make sure the paper was sealed before I added anything else.
- I looked around at The Dollar Tree for a piece that said “Merry” that I could disassemble. I found this snowflake that had what I was looking for and removed the word.
- It had a fabric background that I didn’t need so I pulled it off and painted the wood red. The actual word cutout was on silver foil paper so I used rub & buff to turn it gold. The I reattached those pieces. I used hot glue to attach the letters to the front top of my sign.
- I used vinyl to make the letters for “CHRISTMAS.” I measured the area they would be then I used Cricut Design space to lay out the sign so that I could see that my letters would fit.
- A applied the letters one by one without using transfer tape because I didn’t want to take the chance that the paper would tear.
- To finish my sign I added a few festive embellishments from a pick I had on hand and a bow made from ribbon I picked up at the Dollar Tree. To hang my sign I put a sawtooth hanger on the back. The total cost of this sign was under $5 and I will sell them for $45 at a few shows we have in December.
Framed Art
Materials:
- Frame
- Gift Bag
That’s it! That’s all you need to make a stunning piece of décor for the holidays. This is an idea that I give to all of my non-crafty friends. Absolutely no creativity is required.
- To be fair I did start with an ugly brown frame. I painted it a soft white then I added gold rub & buff to the raised details.
- Then I added the picture. I still have a picture that I can use when the right frame comes along.
- This project was under $5 again and I’ll sell it for $30 at our next show.
Ornaments
The sky is the limit on this idea. There are so many ways you can use gift tags in your holiday décor. Last year I used the tags as the actual ornament and just added a wood piece on the tops and bottoms.
- This year I am using these little Santa hats to add an unexpected twist to these wood-round ornaments.
- The wood rounds came from Walmart, but Michaels and Hobby Lobby have them as well. I used artwork that I had on hand.
- I printed the images in the size that I wanted on waterslide paper and then applied them to my wood rounds.
- To make my Santa hat look snowy I applied mod podge then I covered it with Epsom salt and some glitter.
- I dry brushed some white paint over it when it was dry. I used paint on the edges of the hats too.
- To add a hanger, I used hot glue to attach a ribbon to the back of these gift tag ornaments.
Now that you’ve seen what you can make with the items that we throw away on Christmas morning, I’m sure you’ll be very busy making gift bag, gift tags, and wrapping paper everything!
Good luck with that and until next time – happy crafting!
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