Personal: DIY Christmas Wrapping. By a BUSY person.

If you want something done, ask a busy person. - Benjamin Franklin

I feel like more than once a day I find myself thinking that I don't have enough time. That I will NEVER get all my work done. And I'm a perfectionist who's very detail oriented...trust me I'll notice that piece of  lint on the floor...so this becomes hard. Yet, somehow I manage. And typically I always get things done when they're due. Or pretty darn close to their "due dates." Or...close enough. ;) Which brings me to this little endeavor I took on this Holiday season. And really, I don't know how I found the time! 

For years I've swooned over magazines that had hand-made gifts in them. Pretty presents decorated in white and brown paper packages tied up with string!! Now that you're singing, yes; these are a few of my favorite things. Ok, the cheese just keeps coming! So sorry!

Anyway...So this year, I decided I wanted to do the same and hand-make all of our wrapping paper for every package. Lucky for me I have a totally awesome husband who was on board, so we were able to do it together. Which made it that much more awesome because we also created memories...crazy ones that involved us breathing in one two many fumes when he thought it would be a good idea to spray paint some of the packages inside because it was 14 degrees out. Yea, those kind of memories. ;) Bahahahahahaha!!

I digress. 

Here is a look at my favorite pieces. 

I purchases some of this paper tape from Etsy. The initial, to personalize this package, and the string, were purchased at a craft store. The burlap is from our tree nursery and the Fraser Fir clipping was from our Christmas tree.

I ordered pages from Etsy of an old English and French dictionary and used them to cut out different shapes. Then I fastened them with super shiny, clear tap. A white paint-pen made the dots and some inexpensive gold, wired ribbon was used to tie a knotted bow. 

All of the pine-cones, including these mini ones, were collected from our front yard. =) I lightly dusted them with white spray paint. 

To a few of the packages, I printed out some of my favorite Instagram pictures (using Printstagram) as a small addition to the package. This one, was for my sister-in-law and she loved this image of the two of us...so do I! 

Tulle seems to just move however you want it to...so these bows were SO easy. 

This small kraft paper box was purchased at Hobby Lobby and I used white acrylic paints and a snowflake stencil to paint the box. A white, tulle bow, some striped red string, a porcelain ornament of her grandson, and this was the most perfect mother-in-law gift! 

More old dictionary page cut-outs. Hand-painted mini trees and some raffia to hold it in place. 

Hand-drawn fern branches with a white jelly pen. 

Juniper clipping from the yard. And a spray-painted and stenciled kraft-paper package with newspaper and paper tape. 

Loved this film-ribbon detail for the tie. 

More pine-cones from our yard! These were so much prettier than the store-bought ones I'd originally purchased because none of them were broken. They were just perfect little cones. 

Aren't they pretty tucked under the tree. =) 

Happy Wrapping! =)