Christmas Decor: Simple Wrapped Candles

I love these little $1 candles from Wal-Mart. They burn nicely and have a pretty hardy scent so in my book that makes a great "party" candle. Something I can set out and let burn the entire night or hand out as a parting gift! Plus I love that when these candles have burned themselves out I can re-purpose them! They make wonderful storage containers. I use them in my studio for all sorts of bits and pieces.

For the Holidays this year, I knew I wanted to dress up the jars a bit and use them for little gifts.In keeping with my goal for the year -  to re-purpose as much as I can and spend as little as I can - I started brainstorming. I had tons of scrapbook paper that I could use up - and I love the little wraps that I have made in the past for jars, but I had been there, done that. I finally decided on TWINE! I love twine. I love, love, love it - for all things! So I dug out my jute twine.I had even picked up a roll that looked like baker's twine at IKEA recently for gift wrapping...so I dug that out too!

THIS IS WHAT I GATHERED FOR SUPPLIES:

• $1 jar candles (you could use any size for this project)
• strips of torn natural colored muslin
• jute twine from the hardware store
• baker's style twine from IKEA
• hot glue/glue gun
• ribbon
• holly twigs/berries
• assorted embellishments

THIS IS WHAT I DID:

• cut a length of twine or muslin ( I used apprx. 4 yards for each jar).
• removed jar lid and set aside.
• starting at the mouth of the jar place a bead of glue and start twine here.
• wrap two or three times, keeping a tight fit.
• add a thin line of glue and wrap a few more times.
• repeat until you reach the bottom of the jar.
• trim excess twine and glue end well.
• repeat on jar lid, starting at base of lid and working your way up.
• repeat with other jars.
• add ribbon, holly, jewels, flowers and more!

These make great party favors, as well as gifts for family and friends! Have fun!

Christmas Wrap: Apple Bag Gift Wrap

During the holidays, if you are like me, you go through a lot of apples! Apple Pie,
Caramel Apples, Apple Crisps and Cider - even big bowls of juicy red apples are
usual season favorites around here.

As I am always looking to re-purpose everything in sight, I thought it might be fun
to use all of these cool stretchy red apples bags as part of my holiday packaging.
Just carefully snip the top or bottom of your apple bag, preserving most of the bag.
Then snip off the tag, keeping as much of it as well.

Adding holiday picks, baker's twine or a small keepsake ornament is an easy and
affordable way to dress up your package.

Use the plastic tag to make a coordinating gift tag or card. Now you have a beautiful
gift and you have recycled something as well! An Eco friendly way to surprise someone!

Check back often as I will be sharing more cool packaging ideas for the Holidays!