Therapy by Charlotte: It's a wrap...

I have been totally delinquent in my blogging...I went from wishing people would stop rushing the holiday season to all the sudden Hanukkah is over and Christmas is a week away! So now I am thankful for a mid-week snow day to try and gain some ground on this holiday rush. The few presents I have already gotten need to be wrapped and I need to figure out the wrapping situation as I am due for a delivery from the UPS guy with the rest of them!
Wrapping is one of my favorite things about the holidays- yes it gets ripped off (quite fast in my household) but for days and weeks it helps lend a festive note to the holiday decorations...so put a little thought into your wrapping this year- let them know, before they open their gift, that you are giving them something special.
Kraft Paper is one of my favorite staples for gift wrapping...it is the ultimate blank canvas that you can personalize in a million ways to instantly and easily turn a brown box into a thoughtful personalized gift for your loved ones.

Last year I used kraft paper, twine, old school shipping tags and stamps with sepia toned inks to make vintage packages for my loved ones...but this year I am feeling a bit more colorful!

I love the good old Green and Red but I have always been a color outside the lines kind of person and I like to use lots of colors for Christmas!

Or maybe I should go eco-chic this year...

I defiantly have plenty of fabric lying around to use

or this idea from Martha uses potato chip bags turned inside out!

The old newspaper wrapping looks sharp when paired with a bright ribbon.

I really love the trend in papers being two sided so that it is just as lovely when you start ripping...

Wrapping paper like this one with the hunks on the inside is a great way to get some giggles on Christmas morning- it reminds me of one Christmas in particular...One of my brother's had just gotten serious with my now sister-in-law and it was (I think) her first Christmas celebrating with our family- I have no clue what I gave her but I took all the best photos of my brother's awkward teen years to Kinkos and made my own wrapping paper with a collage of him all over it! he was mortified but it was priceless and hey- she married him so I didn't scare her too bad!