This year, I’m looking forward to everything about wrapping gifts. Choosing the paper, the ribbons, using double-stick tape, gift tags… all of it! You know why? I met Carmen!

Carmen is the owner and creator of a Louisiana gift wrapping company, “Wrapped“. After having her first baby, Evangeline, in the summer of 2018 and deciding to be a stay at home mama, she made her passion for gift wrapping, her business. Being less than amateur at wrapping myself, I was ecstatic when she agreed to partner with me on this blog post.

Gift wrapping, and gift-giving in general, starts long before you even begin the actual wrapping process. All paper and ribbon isn’t created equal according to Carmen. She is very intentional when she chooses her materials.

Choosing Wrapping paper:

1. Carmen recommends shopping online or in a local shop for unique wrapping paper. She orders most of her paper from Caspari, World Market and Target. She warns, “When buying paper online, make sure you are buying a roll and not sheets! Sheet wrapping paper is beautiful (and usually your cuter and more expensive styles), but not ideal for Christmas. Sheets are rarely big enough to fit even a shoe box!”
2. Choose 3 coordinating papers that share the same color palette for a cohesive look under the tree. Stay away from “sets” that are purchased together. Carmen has found that these rolls often have much less paper on them and don’t always look great together. For the three coordinating rolls, she chooses one solid paper. Her favorite solids are Kraft, shimmer, or textured paper. As long as it’s a solid color, it works. The next one should be a neutral print. She recommends going with a stripe, polka dot, or plaid. Basically anything with a small repeating pattern will do. Lastly, she picks a fun, playful print. This one can be over-the-top. It can coordinate with the theme of your decor, speak to a look and feel you’re wanting to create, or set the tone for the formality of your gifts. So, 3 papers… plain, neutral pattern & playful.

Choosing Ribbon:

Her biggest piece of advice to ensure a pleasant wrapping experience, is to choose a ribbon type that fits your experience level. She says, “Know your ribbon types, and know yourself!” Most of Carmen’s ribbon comes from craftoutlet.com. They are based out of Baton Rouge, LA so they’re local (You know I love local businesses!) and being a Louisiana business, they carry hard-to-find colloquial patterned ribbon. (Ex. Mardi Gras, crawfish, LSU, Saints, etc.) Finding the type of ribbon that works for you is key.

1. Wired ribbon is always a good go-to. It makes your gift pretty, without much work! It comes in numerous styles, prints, and colors. It’s easy to manipulate, and it’s very forgiving. However, if you travel with gifts, wired ribbon may not be your best choice. It will require “re-foofing”.  Even though wired ribbon is easy, she recommends it for someone with at least a little crafting experience. 
2. If you don’t have much time to spend on wrapping but still want something pretty, go for satin ribbon. It comes in an infinite amount of solid colors, and always makes your gifts feel “expensive”, without the expensive price tag. It’s perfect for traveling too. Just keep in mind you typically won’t find satin ribbon in patterns or prints. And if you do decide to go the satin route, be sure to buy double-faced ribbon to avoid that “ugly” ribbon side. 
3. Not a confident wrapper? Raffia, twine, and tulle are Carmen’s recommendations for the wrapper with the least amount of experience. When working with these types, as long as you know how to tie a shoelace, you can tie a bow on your gift. They’re inexpensive and with the right paper, still look amazing. To add a little something extra with these, try doubling them up! 
4. Grosgrain ribbon can be easy to work with, but is pretty expensive. Costs can really add up when wrapping multiple Christmas gifts, especially large ones! In bow form, grosgrain can look very flat and one dimensional. This is Carmen’s least favorite ribbon to work with and one she typically stays away from.
5. Lastly, stay away from curling ribbon if you’re aiming for a luxurious look. Carmen says, “It’s cheap, but also makes your present look cheap”. In her experience, curling ribbon doesn’t hold up well. She suggests sticking with raffia or twine!  
6. When shopping for ribbon, she follows the same rules as wrapping paper! One solid, one neutral and one fun print. You can even choose between different types of ribbon to help make each gift look even more unique. Ex. One ribbon in wired (fun print), one ribbon in raffia (neutral), and one ribbon in satin (solid). Carmen also makes sure at least one of the ribbon selections is in a thicker width, minimum of 2″ wide. Wide ribbon is beautiful on large gifts.
7. Alternate different ribbons on different papers. You’ll have plenty of combinations to create a cohesive, yet eclectic look.

Preparing to wrap:

1. Going in to the summer, I usually start saving boxes to prepare for the holiday season. Shoe boxes, Amazon boxes, diaper boxes all work great for gift wrapping when Christmas rolls around. Carmen’s advice is to remember to remove shipping information that might give away what’s in the box and/or personal information.
2. She also always remembers to use a black sharpie over or remove the price tag from all gifts before wrapping.
3. Lightly tape the box closed using regular Scotch tape. Use no more than 2 pieces. A box excessively taped shut is not appealing to the recipient and sucks the fun out of the unwrapping experience.
4. Turn the gift upside down before wrapping so the top of the gift will be unwrapped first and all of the folds and taping will be on the bottom.

Wrapping the gift:

Because of Carmen’s experience, she “eyeballs” her paper and ribbon length. When you’re a pro, that’s how you roll! For me, the non-pro, I rely on a few tricks. I like to ensure I don’t waste too much. I wrapped gifts for a local gift shop, Gordon’s Drugstore in Lake Charles, LA, for several holidays when I was in college and learned a few things that I’ll share.

1. Ensure that the paper will fully wrap around the gift in one direction. You can loosely check, or use a measuring tape to know for sure. Measure all the way around the gift. Add 2″ to this measure before cutting your paper for that wrap. Mark it with a tiny snip of your scissors.
2. For the side measure, the length of the gift, line the edge of the paper up with the top edge of the gift, give yourself an inch of overage and cut a small sliver to mark it. Fold the paper, making a crease inline with the small cut you made. Be sure to line up the factory edges of the paper to get a straight crease. Carefully cut it.
3. Now, go back to the first snip, fold and crease, and cut it. Save your scraps.
4. Now you’re ready to wrap. I don’t have any special diagonal wrap tips or crazy tricks, I just use the good old-fashioned way my mama taught me. I use double-stick tape, or loop regular tape on itself so it won’t show.

Tying Bows:

Carmen’s signature bow is just that… a bow. She loves the look of a simple, well-crafted bow, and I agree! If you read my tree decorating blog post, you know I’m not really a “bow person”. She keeps it simple and works with her ribbon to create a nice classic look. Again, since she’s a pro, she “eyeballs” it and doesn’t measure her ribbon.

Obviously, the larger the gift, the larger the bow should be to keep the proportions and make the gift look right. The length of your ribbon is going to vary depending on how long you want your tails. If you want the tails of the ribbon longer, give yourself plenty to work with. If you want them shorter or are tying a knot instead of a bow, you’ll need less. In my experience, you need at least 15 inches of ribbon for the bow (not including the ribbon to go around the package). Carmen puts a wave in the tails of her wired ribbon for a chic look. (See her portfolio at the bottom of the page for more.)

Finishing Touches:

To really customize your gifts, Carmen suggests adding a few finishing touches!

1. Tie an ornament onto your bow to give your present a little something extra. This is something super easy that adds a fancy touch! Most ornaments already come looped or with a wire hook. Just string it onto your ribbon before you tie the bow. You can use ornaments that coordinate with your Christmas tree or for a personal touch, choose an ornament that reminds you of the person receiving the gift. This takes your gift to the next level!
2. Carmen will sometimes buy a floral branch from Hobby Lobby or Michael’s, cut one small piece off, and add it to the bow of a gift. This is a great way to tie your gifts in with your decor.
3. Gift tags are not just functional, they can be beautiful too! She suggests going with a plain, neutral tag, but investing in a “From” stamp. It adds an extra touch to your gifts, and saves you time and money! Just stamp on a blank gift tag, and write the gift recipient’s name on the back. You’ll have your stamp for years to come, and it usually will match any Christmas style you choose each year. You can just change out the blank tags as you wish.
4. The last thing Carmen does to finish off each gift really gives them a crisp look. She runs her finger along each side, gently creasing the paper and forming a sharp, square edge.

I hope you enjoyed these pro-tips, and “not-so-pro-tips” from Carmen and me! I know I’ll be starting my wrapping this weekend, and thanks to Carmen it’s something I’m actually looking forward to!

Scroll to the bottom for more of Carmen’s work, plus Amazon affiliate links that may help meet your wrapping needs. For a full gallery of her work and info about her business, plus updates, go ‘like’ the “Wrapped” Facebook page and follow her on Instagram. Message her if you’re interested in having her do your wrapping this year, it’s not too late but she’s booking up quick!

Thanks for stopping by, Jamie xo

Carmen’s Portfolio

Meet Kerri! She’s a wife and mom of two kids Sydney (14) and Brennan (10). She mostly works in her home and loves using her creativity and housekeeping skills to beautify her space as well as her client’s. 2019 will be the third season she is offering her decorating services professionally.

When Kerri arrived I had put our tree up, fluffed the branches and plugged it in. That’s literally all I did all day, unless cutting ornament tags, drinking two cups of coffee and having a salad counts… Yeah I didn’t think so!

She did everything, start to finish, and I’m so glad she did. She decorated for about 3 1/2 hours. Including shopping for ribbon and a few ornaments the day before, she spent about 5 hours total to create the finished look.

1. Shopping

According to Kerri, there are a few main things to keep in mind when shopping for your tree decor. She recommends that before you shop, you decide on a color scheme and overall style of your tree. Pinterest is a great place to find inspiration, but no two trees will ever look exactly alike. While pictures help, ‘inspiration’ is better than ‘imitation’. Once you decide on a color scheme and theme (rustic, classic Christmas, glam, etc.) you’ll be ready to shop. I chose a style that reflects the overall look of my home which is “transitional farmhouse-ish”. (The truth is I don’t really know what my style is, I just collect things and hope they look good together. I kinda just find what I like and make it work. I planned to do the same with my Christmas tree and Kerri was very flexible.) After going back and forth, I decided to stick with white/silver and gold, with accents of mint green and copper/brown.

When she shops for her clients, Kerri loves to start by looking for ribbon! A nice, wide (4”+), wired ribbon can make all the difference in her opinion. Once you find one you love, look for 1-2 others. These can be more narrow and understated. Choose ribbon that compliment each other. Purchase plenty of each! It’s better to have more ribbon than not enough, plus you can always use leftover ribbon for gift wrapping.

When shopping for ornaments, she recommends staying away from giant boxes of balls! “Sometimes people go overboard with balls of the same size. Varying the size, shapes and colors of even the most basic ball-type ornaments will take your tree to the next level in terms of design”, Kerri says. So while shopping, buy a few boxes of balls as fillers, but focus on more unique ornaments. Her best tip for unique ornament buying is, “always buy an odd number of them. A collection of 3, 5, or 7 ornaments always feel better than an even amount”. For mine, we used a lot of ornaments I had, and bought a few new unique ones! Unfortunately I was a “chronic ball-buyer” from way back!

Before you begin decorating, make sure your tree is fluffed, lit, and your ornaments are laid out so you can see everything you have.

2. Decorating with ornaments

Before Kerri begins, she puts a fluffy blanket around the base of the tree. If a glass ornament falls, the softness of the blanket may keep it from breaking. If it does break, the glass is easily picked up since it’s contained in the blanket. I imagine this tip will be especially valuable if you’re decorating with little helpers!

Kerri began with a few basic ornaments and hung them toward the back of the branches. This was a great use of some of the balls I already had. Once she had a few on, she began hanging the larger ornaments to be sure they had a spot. She says, “Larger ornaments can MAKE a tree! People often think large ornaments are just for really big trees. Using a few large ornaments strategically in odd numbers will really make it feel professionally decorated”.

Once the larger ornaments were placed, she began to fill in with a few floral accents. She was using velvet poinsettias in various sizes and colors, gold glitter feathers, and berry branches. She placed about half of these and then began filling in with the more unique ornaments. She hung the most beautiful ornaments towards the end of the branch so they would be seen. She says, “Don’t be afraid to hang more than one ornament on the same branch. Just because you already hung a ball towards the inner part of the tree, doesn’t mean you can’t hang a more unique ornament towards the outer part of the branch. This is another great way to create a designer look”.

Always be aware of how the tree will be viewed while you decorate. For example, my tree is against a window, not seen in the room on all sides. Kerri was very careful not to “waste” unique ornaments on the side no one would see, so keep that in mind when decorating yours as well as shopping. How much of the tree is seen, will affect the quantity of unique ornaments you purchase as well.

-Jamie

Once she hung most of the ornaments, and rearranged things… and hung some more… she was fairly happy with the placement of them, so it was time to start adding ribbon!

3. Decorating with ribbon

I am not particularly a “bow person”, and I don’t usually use many bows in my decor, so I had very little ribbon. She picked out a few fabulous rolls and I was going with it! The ribbon technique she used on my tree was so clever. I would’ve never thought to do it, and it created such a beautiful look. “To make the poinsettias feel more grand, I add ribbon and it visually enhances them and makes them feel bigger. Cut two or three pieces of coordinating ribbon, cinch them in the middle, place them together on the branch under the poinsettia and gently bend the end of the tree branch over the ribbons to hold them in place”, she explains. No tying! I loved this idea and no tying means no untying when it’s time to take it down! She used this technique in a few places strategically around the tree. It added so much to the look!

4. Decorating with bows

Honestly, bows could probably have their own blog post, so I won’t even go there! Again, I’m not a “bow person”. Of course Kerri makes her own bows, but hasn’t always. She said she started making them after a lot of trial and error. She figured it out by practicing over and over.

She decided to make a double bow for the top of my tree. She knew a bow was not something I had in mind for my tree, but she wanted to try it. She mostly wanted to complement the angel topper that I’ve always used and was insistent on using again this year! She tried it and I’m so glad she did!! Her beautiful bow was just what the tree needed to be able to accommodate the large angel topper. I absolutely love how it turned out. She left the ribbons a little long and I really like how they flow down the tree.

5. Finishing touches

To finish things off, Kerri added a few handfuls of the floral picks she had picked out. Pine cone stalks and berry branches finished the look. Surprisingly it made the tree feel larger and gave it a bit of a tousled look that I often find myself loving in decor around my home.

We moved her masterpiece into its spot and we celebrated! It. Was. Finished! I feel so blessed to be able to have such a beautiful creation in my home to enjoy all season!

After hearing her tips, and knowing the small changes to make, I feel confident I can decorate like a pro next year. I’m even going to use some of what I learned on our family tree in the foyer this year! I hope you’ll join me and use these tips and tricks to level up your tree!

If you’re interested in having Kerri decorate for you this year, contact her through Facebook here. Or if you’re tackling your own tree, feel free to message her with questions if you hit a snag.

FYI: All of the new ornaments on my tree, ribbon and angel tree topper were purchased 40% off from Hobby Lobby. The Christmas tree was purchased from Amazon (I linked it below) and I’m still shopping for a tree skirt! The total amount spent was $500 for the items including the tree.

-Jamie

Thanks for stopping by, Jamie xo

Amazon affiliate link:

Kerri’s portfolio:

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