Pepper Design Blog

Wrapping Paper Love

Wrapping presents is always a task that I oddly look forward to each Christmas. I love beautifully wrapped packages with that added homemade love (when you can really tell the gift giver put some time into perti-fying the gift) and this year I’m attempting to find unusual odds and ends from around the house to embellish gifts for under our tree.

When Tiffany from Simply Modern Mom asked me to participate in her Wrap It Up series today, I decided to give felt, ribbon and newspaper clippings a try to make an easy project that I could replicate for all of our gifts. Check out the full post here.

Why have I never thought of newspaper before! Same goes for old book pages – they make great little name tags and there’s something a bit homemade and antique-y (and very wallet-friendly) that’s so pretty about the look. For more details (and fun wrapping ideas), be sure to check out Simply Modern Mom’s site!

Feathering the Nest for Christmas

Our Christmas tree is up and the theme is color, color, color from its tip top down to its toes. But despite my love of firetruck red and lime green around this time of the year, there has always been something pure and classic about white Christmas decor that I’m continuously drawn too.

When I found trees similar to these feathered friends for $25 each I decided that this is a DIY project I can tackle in an evening. That day I stopped by the craft store for feathers, a small container of Elmer’s glue and poster board – totaling in at less than $5 for the whole bunch.

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{Feathered Christmas Trees}

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Materials:
*White poster board
*Stapler
*White feathers (Two .25oz bags worked out to be the perfect amount for me)
*Elmer’s glue (or similar)

1. Cut the poster board into two cone shapes – one small and one large. The easiest way to do this is to roll the paper into your desired cone size and then cut the base and extra corners so that it sits flat. Staple edges together to hold the cone shape.

2. Begin at the base of the cone (to cover up the tops of the feathers as you go) and line paper with a small amount of glue. Lie feathers flat (facing down) against the cone so that just the furry sides absorb a small amount of glue. Work your way up the cone and continue layering until the entire cone is covered. I went back and forth between the small and large cone gluing a layer on each and letting one dry as I was working on the other.

3. Let dry and display. Easy peasy!

I love how simple and classic they look on our vintage sideboard next to Bodie’s black & white puppy picture and a cylinder vase filled with dried white beans and glittery turquoise ornaments.

And can you believe that Christmas is only 12 days away?

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Holiday Table Challenge Over at The Party Dress!

I’m delighted to be participating in The Party Dress’s Holiday Table Challenge today! Head out to the site for details on my ‘Vintage Christmas’ place setting that was inspired by a simple antique doily.

The Party Dress highlights great entertaining trends daily – and you’ll find inspiring table top ideas now through Christmas from guest bloggers!

Check it out and let me know what you think .