Decorating With Gift Wrap | 3 Different Ways



A new selection of Rifle Paper arrived in the shop this week, which got us inspired to do a little redecorating! There are so many things that can be done with gift wrap, from decoupage to art; and although these ideas are not new, they're inspiring just the same. With such pretty papers we couldn't resist! For this set we used the Emerald Peonies paper.




We have a record player in the shop that's getting a lot of use, but the red lining inside clashes with everything! (So we covered it up)! We also made a print using some wooden screen door trim (thanks Fiona Richards for the tip!) and the small leftover pieces we used to cover a notebook. Let's take a look:

1. Line a Turntable
Decoupage or faux decoupage? As we didn't want to make this a permanent change, we faux decoupaged (taped the paper inside of the turntable lid instead of mod podging it). One could of course do the real thing; (here's a link to instructions on how to decoupage a record player that Cori Kindred did earlier this year for us. if you're so inclined).

How we did it:
To measure, we placed the paper in front of the area we wished to cover, and marked each end of the width where we were going to cut it using scissor marks.  We then trimmed to size, then placed it inside to measure the length. We then marked where it would end, and folded the paper as a marker and then cut that piece.  For the sides, we did the same for one side, then cut four sides to finish trimming off each length as we went.  All pieces were attached using masking tape.  To finish off, one could use a coloured matching masking tape to make the edges look clean, which we pretended to do using photoshop for this example as we didn't have any handy. So much better than the red!



2. Hanging Poster
As mentioned, this is a pretty simple project we were reminded about from Fiona of Cartolina. Fiona and her husband, Doug have a heap of posters like this in their beautiful new brick and mortar in Nelson, B.C., if you're ever out their way (it's a must see)! There are quite a few how-to's on this online, but here's what we did.


What You Need:
Screen door trim (we picked ours up at Home Depot).  Comes in 8 foot pieces.  So needs to be cut down to size of paper.
Saw
2 Eye hooks
Twine or Baker's Twine
White glue

How we did it:
Cut the screen door trim (you'll need two pieces) to the size of the width of the paper leaving an inch or half inch length on both sides (approximately 53 cm or 21-22 inches for these papers).  Screw in eye hooks on each side of the top piece. Tip: A plyers or fork (if you don't have one) makes it easy to screw in. Begin by screwing in the eye hook. Once it has caught itself when you first start, slide one of the fork's teeth into the eye hook, and twirl until tightened.  Measure twine for hanging length (looks best if not too long) and tie and knot to each eye hook.  Pull out the paper you will be framing. Squeeze glue in a straight line across the front top of the paper.  Place the cut screen door trim over the paper (balancing to leave an inch overhang on each side of the paper) and press down and hold for approximately 1 minute.  Do the same for the bottom piece.  Once dry (approximately 10 min. it's ready to hang)!  To finish off, you could add an extra eye hook on the bottom (for looks only) to make it look more like a pull down map effect.



3. Cover a Notebook

Make a budget notebook look more special by covering it in your favorite papers. So easy, doesn't even really need instruction (more an idea really).  For this book we just covered the front cover.

How we did it:
Measure, trim and glue!



We loved how they all turned out.  A fast and easy way to freshen up a space.  What have you covered lately? Leave a link in the comments, would love to check out new ideas!

Jan Halvarson

5 comments:

Wise Apple Vintage said...

Love these ideas - they would be super fun uses for vintage wallpaper or gift wrap, too! Thanks for sharing! :-)

Jan Halvarson said...

Wise Apple - thanks and love the vintage wallpaper idea!

Amy said...

Lovely, lovely paper! I also use pretty paper to slip inside those white back to school binders with a clear cover. I keep recipes in one, personal papers to keep in handy in another, and so on. Handy but pretty enough to be displayed.

Unknown said...

Such great ideas! I'm going to absolutely try the hanging poster project for our new place :)

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