Genius Gift Wrap Guide

I am sure, like me, some of you are just beginning to wrap gifts. I received an email from My Home Ideas, part of Coastal Living, Cottage Living magazines. They offer this great Genius Gift Wrap Guide with some clever ways to give and package gifts. The photo above is just a bakery/pastry box filled with 6 inexpensive white votives (probably unscented) and a box of matches. Very simple, but so classy with the packaging. Please visit My Home Ideas and while you're there, look around, they have helpful tips on how to tie a bow, how to wrap a gift and so many other things.

Be Inspired! -Karol :0)

Scrapbook Pages

Out of no other necessity than I have a lot on my mind right now and not feeling very "inspiring" I am going to share a few of the scrapbook pages I have completed in the last few days.

First is another one for my little niece, Danica. It's really a picture of my brother, Robert, at his 33rd birthday party this year in May, but Danica is the star of the show now so this page is for her. She was so mesmerized by the cake she didn't even pay attention to all of us singing Happy Birthday to Robert. I'm not sure if she was wanting the candles, the cherries, or all that chocolate. The cake was really good, too. This page is very, very simple. Not much to add to it, the picture explains it all. There's plenty of room for Robert or Stephanie to add their own journaling to the page.

Next is Ian in his overalls. This is one of the photos I edited in Paint Shop Pro leaving only the blue of his overalls showing. And, once again, plenty of room for mom or dad to add some personal journaling to the page. I wish I could get my camera set right to take pictures of my scrapbook pages.

And just to make my entry look bigger, I'll throw in a page I did a while back for my nieces. It's a great picture of Madilyn & Mallory in a cute pose with their heads together. I left the photo alone, only adding things over top of it. I never use original photos, I always scan in and reprint. I keep originals in a safe place.

Be Inspired. -Karol

Great Gift Wrap Idea

I wanted to point everyone to the HOME Made Simple website today.

Not just for another reminder of how helpful and useful their website is, but also because they have some great Holiday ideas right now. Ideas for Organization, Decorating, Baking, Gift Giving, and more.

I especially like the vintage aprons that have made a come back in recent years. I don't own one, but have pondered getting a pattern and some cute kitschy fabric and making one. I know if I had an apron, I'd use it.

As I received my monthly email from HOME Made Simple this morning I found this cute idea in their gift giving section of the site for wrapping a Christmas gift. The gift in particular that they have wrapped is a hand blender, but you could wrap just about anything in an apron. I love how they have the bow tied around using the ties of the apron. Very clever. It looks like they even have a surprise tucked in the apron pocket, too.

You can CLICK HERE or on the picture and visit HOME Made Simple's website for lots of great, simple inspiration.

Be Inspired! -Karol :0)