Tag Archives: Christmas

Giftwrapping: Recycled Plastic Bags and Lay’s Potato Chips Packaging as Wrappers

Now that I’m not so busy with Christmas preparations, attending Christmas parties and anything Yuletide-season related, I will share how I wrapped my Christmas gifts for friends and colleagues.

I have long stopped buying giftwrappers (unless I use them as sheets or cut-outs for scrapbooking or cardmaking) and prefer recycling whatever’s at hand. And since I have a lot of plastic shopping bags, I decided to utilize them to help save Mother Earth.

The above is the front portion of the plastic bag from my favorite craft store. The back portion is not printed at all so it makes a good wrapper. For small gifts with no boxes, I’ve learned that it makes sense to put them inside an empty toilet paper roll and wrap them candy-style. The resulting wrapped gifts look like this:

So as to differentiate both gifts, I used different ribbons: recycled plain red ribbon and in true Yuletide color scheme, red and green yarn. The gift tags are from my supply way back in 2009.

Here’s another gift wrapped using the back portion of a Healthy Options plastic bag. The letters J and B were traced using a red Sharpie pen on a lettering set. Craft-punch Christmas trees were then added as an accent.

Lastly, for my plastic-wrapped gifts, there’s this.

The wrapper is again the back portion of a Healthy Options plastic bag. The dotted and lined borders are recycled wrapping paper. The gift tag is handmade with a shoelace-like ribbon for its borders. The letter F foam letter is the recipient’s first name that I colored with green Crayola Flip-Top marker. I finished this off by scattering green metallic stars around the letter F.

These gifts are wrapped using the back portion of Lay’s Potato Chips packaging. This is actually from last year’s batch of Yuletide gifts that I never got to post.

These actually make a good substitute for metallic paper, which is very expensive. As accents, I used a gold ribbon, metallic blue stars, and craft-punch snowflake from a recycled blue metallic paper. The gift tags are store-bought.

Here’s another one. The gift tag is from Hallmark and I just added a blue metallic ribbon over it.

For those who want to use such a wrapper, please make sure to thoroughly wash each prior to use.

Missing Daddy at Christmas

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photo credit

Christmas used to be a very festive occasion for me. It’s my daddy’s birthday so it also served as the day when the family got together. Everyone in our street also got invited for lunch. Daddy’s a known cook and I just loved hearing our guests rave about his famed bakareta and hamonado.

As a child and up to my college years, Christmas was my favorite time of the year.

When I started working, I got to go home for Christmas only twice in seven years since my work in the service and travel industry required me to be on duty as the yuletide season happened to be one of our busiest.

Last year, I lost my dad two months before Christmas and when December 25 came, it was my worst Christmas to date. I was thankful I had my work to busy myself with but the moment I got home, I couldn’t help but feel so sad. I missed him so much. I missed greeting him a Happy Birthday. I missed hearing his laugh and his making lambing on what he wanted for his gift. I just missed him missing me.

This year was no better. Though my current work did not entail me working on holidays, I chose to not go home in our province because I still couldn’t bear being in the home I grew up in and not seeing my dad on what used to be his most special day.

I have long accepted that he’s gone and though there is no more pain from losing him, there is and will always be that pain from missing him.

Daddy, I miss you so much. Each day and especially at Christmas, we all miss you so much. And yesterday, as I lit a candle in your memory, I offered a prayer and thought of what I told a friend two days ago.

Me: You know, I’ve never been lucky in raffles but this year, I won a printer and some appliance in the events I attended. Daddy sure is looking after me.

And it made me remember this too:

“My father died many years ago, and yet when something special happens to me, I talk to him secretly not really knowing whether he hears, but it makes me feel better to half believe it.” – Natasha Josefowitz

But unlike Natasha Josefowitz, I do know and believe with all my heart that from up above, you are looking after us. This was what comforted me in those days of great sorrow and now, it’s something that takes away my sadness.

I know my future Christmases will always be tinged with sadness because you will not be here to share it with us but there’s a certain gladness in knowing that we now have an angel dad to cheer us on and lift us up.

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday, Dad.

Christmas Card: Quilled Angel and Quilled Star

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Background: The top is plain dark blue paper crumpled and creased then sprinkled with Leeho glitter glue in turquoise and blue. The bottom is yellow gold corrugated cardboard.

Main design: Quilled angel. On the upper right corner is a quilled star sprinkled with gold glitter, also by Leeho.

Accent: Four light yellow sequins placed on the lower left side corner.

Sentiment: Computer print-out colored using Crayola crayon in dandelion, topped with clear glue to give it texture.

Merry Christmas, everyone! 🙂