beyond the paper

For many of us, yesterday was the last day of our low-key, pajama-filled winter break and today we return to our typical routines, our '8-5' work schedules, school night bedtimes and regular exercise regimens. If you're lucky enough to have time off to celebrate the holiday season, then perhaps you found yourself wrapping gifts for loved ones. One of my favorite activities of the year is wrapping thoughtful, carefully picked gifts, while Holiday movies play in the background and the reflection of tree lights dance along the floor. While wrapping gifts this year I lit the soy evergreen candle that my sister, E, so thoughtfully gave me a year ago. Her desire to craft something by hand and pick out individualized containers to hold these olfactory treats helped me see beyond the gifts themselves.

They are more than money and time spent - they are gifts from people who love us and who we love. While the gift itself goes beyond the fun paper and pretty bow; wrapping gifts for loved ones is an opportunity to flex our creative muscles. It's our chance to think beyond the paper and incorporate elements that can be used long after the last bow is untied - like cookie cutters. Why not?

Creativity comes easily when it's rooted in love. So as we return to the 'real world' again, it's my hope that we'll all continue to remain light-hearted, and make time for the things that are important to us. In my case, that's choosing quiet mornings, creating with my hands and getting outside. In fact, I'm going to pencil in creative time each day to help me reach my longer term goals. I've learned that I'm most successful when I stick to a slightly flexible routine and commit to chipping away at my big ideas, little by little. Maybe you're this way too? In case you are, I'll be cheering you along.

the best gift of all

I am certainly not the first person to realize how fleeting time is and how quickly it flies when we're scrambling about, trying to check off our to-do lists and to do our absolute best everyday at everything. But once in a while I reflect on how important it really is to make time count.

I have definitely obsessed over checking off that last item on my to-do list, no matter what the cost.

While it's important to track progress and strive for goals, the things that really matter in life can't simply be checked off. They aren't easily quantified and sometimes come about through unexpected experiences. The experiences that matter most leave lasting impressions and hold a much greater value than completing a task.

In the spirit of the holiday season, it's gratifying to give gifts to loved ones but it's just as important, if not more so, to give the gift of time. Since it is the one thing you can never get more of, it is truly the best gift of all. Over the years friends have moved away, taken on more responsibilities and even become parents, making time with them more limited. In lieu of giving physical gifts to each other, we have decided to take the money that we would spend on traditional gifts and instead spend time together. This might mean enjoying a fun dinner out, catching up over hot cocoa or wrapping presents together. Either way the value of quality time is immeasurable and so important to maintaining relationships with friends and family.

So even if you love traditional gift giving, try your best to make time for memories this holiday season, despite the hustle and bustle. Before you know it, it will be 2014!

Happiest Holidays to all and to all a good night!

2013 holiday card

Sending out a uniquely designed holiday card is something I have wanted to do for years. This year has been filled with lots of change, so I wanted to chronicle it all with a year in review card. Since this approach to holiday cards is becoming more popular each year, there are lots of inspiring examples on the web. If you're interested in sending out your very own version, you can!

1. Design your own. Be sure to check out one of my favorite examples by Amanda Jane Jones for inspiration.
2. Select a customizable card like this one on etsy.
3. Choose from one of the many designs available at minted.

I started the card design in early November, working on it in my free time, and was able to send most of the cards in time for Christmas. That's actually a record for me. Creating content for the card was a lot of fun because I had a reason to reflect on 2013 - the highlights, the lowlights, and the unexpected. Even if you aren't creating a year in review card for yourself or your family, I encourage you to take a few minutes and reflect on 2013 before we leap feet first into a brand new year.

Do you guys save your holiday cards each year?

holiday gift wrapping

Luckily all of the wrapping goodies arrived in time to wrap our Christmas gifts. Just in case you missed the gift wrapping inspiration post, you can take a peek here. I had so much fun experimenting with different wrapping techniques and I am excited to share my favorites with you.

I even learned how to make pom-poms with this incredibly, intuitive video. You can too. It's actually pretty simple. For mine, I used thick yarn from the container store but you can use regular yarn as well.

What do you enjoy most about wrapping gifts?

gift wrapping inspiration

This holiday season has been different for me. For the past five years I've worked retail during the holidays, in addition to my day job. While I appreciate the sacrifices those who work crazy hours during the holidays make, they are indeed sacrifices. At times it was difficult to find the joy of Christmas when watching people fight over parking spots, push their way to the front of lines, and taut off not-so-nice things to those working day and night. While I enjoyed helping others find thoughtful presents for loved ones, I'm grateful to spend this holiday season reflecting on all that I have and spending more time at home. I've even started a gratitude journal, which has been really great and helped me focus more on what I have and less on things I want. Fortunately, this season I have been able to really embrace the holiday spirit and with that, I've rediscovered my love for wrapping gifts.

Don't get me wrong, I've always love wrapping presents. It is so rewarding to give and even more so, to take care in every little detail of the gifting process. For me, this means picking out thoughtful gifts and making them look pretty by personalizing the package to suit the person who will open it on Christmas.

My style has always been a little different. I've been using kraft paper for years, even though my family didn't really get my simple and natural approach to gift wrapping. Luckily, others have embraced kraft paper and invented creative ways of using it to create amazingly simple, yet beautiful, gifts.

Over the last several weeks I have found lots of inspiration: via Penny Paper Co, here via artifact uprising, here

I have compiled my favorite wrapping inspiration here.

01  herringbone ribbon - penny paper co 02  merry and bright stamp - lindsay letters 03  fresh fir + red berries - No purchase necessary. Trim a little fir off the base of your tree. You just might find berries outside of your stoop. I did. 04  square prints - artifact uprising 05  tags - penny paper co 06  cotton drawstring bags - penny paper co 07  bakers twine - knot & bow 08  blossom wrapping sheets - rifle paper co / kraft paper - the container store 09  gold washi tape - minted 10  gold + translucent take out containters - container store

I hope to use these wrapping elements to craft thoughtful presents for loved ones and share the result with you just before Christmas. Stay tuned!