pleasure in simple things

I adore holiday decorating and baking.  Gift wrapping, in particular, is a passion of mine and I always start thinking about design details for my packages as soon as I establish a holiday theme – months before the holiday season approaches.

I assembled some of the materials I knew I would need for my woodland gift wrapping ideas quite some time ago…hoping to squeeze in some of my planned projects in free moments.

Working 15 hour days isn’t particularly conducive to fitting in creative activities, but I did use a couple of late night hours recently to work on some gift tags I had envisioned a while back.

Using wire from the craft store, I very simply bent the wire to form words to use as gift tags on my gifts…choosing fun holiday words or the name of the gift recipient.  I chose an antique bronze colored wire and picked the strongest gauge that I could still shape using my hands.  (Pliers are an option if you would rather use a tool or don’t have significant hand strength.)  I formed a loop on either end of the word shape to use as a ribbon loop and cut the end of the wire with pliers being sure to check for sharp edges and using a file or sandpaper to smooth any rough spots…

I shaped the words freehand, but you can certainly use a handwritten word on paper or print out a word from your computer to use as a pattern.

These packages will coordinate nicely with the others I have planned for my woodland theme. ;)  Wire is available in a wide choice of colors in the craft store, so you can choose one to match your own holiday theme.   

These word creations have so many uses – they can be used as ornaments, to identify a Christmas stocking, or as a wine bottle gift tag.  It is an especially great idea to use one on a gift for someone that can never find anything printed with their unique name!

I hope you will try your hand at some of these fun wire word gift tags for holiday packages and create some to coordinate with your own holiday decorating.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie