It's A Wrap

One of my favorite parts of Christmas is wrapping presents.

When I was a child, the signal for me that Christmas was coming was a box of wrapping paper, tags, tissue and ribbon arriving in the mail.

When I was older, my mother let me wrap all of the Christmas presents and I was in heaven getting to play with all the paper, ribbons, etc.

For the last 10 years, we have been away at Christmas and I had to be minimal with the wrapping of packages because ski equipment, clothes and people took precedence over Christmas presents.

This year we are home for the holidays and I am once again in heaven wrapping, decorating and embellishing each gift.

I was going to my volleyball team banquet tonight and Steve asked me to get supplies out for him to wrap presents while I was gone.

I put a bunch of supplies on the table, but I knew it would be overwhelming so I took the time to organize everything for Steve.

I arranged the ribbon by colors, set out the tape dispenser and scissors, and made a few tags.

 I had enough time to wrap a few more presents.

I love the whole process - wrapping the present, choosing the ribbon and embellishments, tying on a tag and placing it under the tree.

I don't know if my family really cares about the appearance of the package, but it is important to me.

I don't spend too much money on the wrapping because I am "cheap" and recycle - each of the boxes above has been used multiple times.

I buy cloth ribbon and reuse it over and over again.

Each year I buy a few new embellishments, but even those I use from year to year.

I'm not finished wrapping and Steve didn't end up wrapping anything tonight.

That's okay with me because to me, wrapping paper and ribbon are just another part of the decorations of Christmas and they will be on hand until Christmas Eve for that last minute gift.

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Join me at these parties

Rooted in Thyme - Simple & Sweet Fridays

Shabby Art Boutique - Shabbilicious Friday

My Romantic Home - Show and Tell Friday

French Country Cottage - Christmas Extravaganza

The Thrifty Groove - Thrifty Things Friday

The Shabby Nest - Frugal Friday

A small collection of glass

 I have been noticing people decorating with vintage bottles.

I only have a few vintage bottles, but I decided that shouldn't stop me from decorating with bottles.

I headed to the attic to find the bottles I decorated a decade ago and gathered other empty bottles from various cupboards.

Metal, twine, wire and ribbon - among other things - were added to bottles to "dress" them up.

Tiny shells, bits of sea glass and a ribbon weren't quite enough for the "beach" bottle, but a quote glued onto a wooden tag finishes it off.

A hand quote finishes off the bottle with the India theme.

The first bottle is new, but I made the other two bottles years ago.

A bit of ribbon was the inspiration for the number bottle.

I finished dressing the bottles yesterday so today's task was to find a home for each bottle.

I can't believe how many hours I spent at the task.

First up was a vintage ball jar from my grandmother which now holds straws on the kitchen shelf.

A glass canister sporting a strip of buttons from Anthropologie holds ribbon.

This bottle was the impetus for a vignette on my favorite green and yellow table,

but my grandfather's bottle capper and a display of hands overshadow the bottle.

3 bottle vases from Ikea dress up the dining room table

and a lone rose from the garden sits on a dining room shelf.

Bottles sitting in a box with books decorate a side table in the living room.

The hallway got a new vignette with a birdcage full of bottles.

Last week I moved the ladder from the front yard to the garden.

A wire garland of bottles was strung onto the ladder and filled with flowers.

It will probably be a lot of work to keep the flowers fresh so I might change the flowers to Halloween items later in the week.

I didn't realize I had so many different glass pieces - definitely a collection.

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I am joining these parties

Shabby Art Boutique - Shabbilicious Friday

Lavender Garden Cottage - Cottage Style Party

Elizabeth and Co.  - Be Inspired

Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesdays

Rose Chintz Cottage - Home

Ella Claire - Inspiration Exchange

Ivy and Elephants - What's It Wednesday

Tilly's Nest - Down Home Blog Hop

Fluster Buster - Creative Muster Party