Have you ever received a gift, wrapped so beautifully, that you didn’t want to actually open it? In truth, sometimes the package really is the present – a work of art worthy of putting on display – with baubles, bows, stick-ons and cut-outs, and paper that can be satiny and luxurious or simple and organic.
Holiday gift wrap was the focus of a recent workshop at the St. Albert Public Library – a first-time offering that filled up quickly with those eager to find fresh, new ideas rather than the same-old, same-old box and bow.
“We thought it would be a fun way to get people into the holiday spirit, and a great way to promote our fantastic selection of craft and Christmas books,” said librarian Luise Mendler-Johnson.
“I’ve admired Jarmila’s gift-wrapping skills for many years, and am excited she shared her creative ideas.”
Creative, simple, organic – all good words to describe Jarmila Sazavsky’s gift-wrapping style, but one the longtime St. Albert resident didn’t know was part of a trend toward organic, natural colours and textures in wrap. For Sazavsky, it’s just how she’s always done it.
Sazavsky sometimes sews gift bags out of scrap fabrics for lumpy, awkward-shaped presents, but it’s her penchant for simple brown paper wrap and natural accessories like twigs, raffia and twine that caught a friend’s eye and led her to leading this year’s library workshop.
“I’ve always used twigs – we had no wrapping paper when I grew up,” said the Czech native. “It was traditional to put greenery on gifts – and I recycle old Christmas cards, sewing scraps and a lot of stuff from the dollar store.”
Dollar stores are a godsend to crafty types, providing cheap basics for the organic-type of gift wrapping that Sazavsky leans toward – clusters of berries, twine, brown parcel wrap, twigs (though she picks those from the backyard and cottage too). Fabric stores too provide buckets of buttons, foam balls, sticky cut-out shapes – you name it – imagination is the only limit to wrapping a present, Sazavsky says.
Personalizing a simple brown paper-wrapped gift is big too. If there’s a music lover in your life, add a bit of sheet music to the presentation. A sewer? Wrap the box with a tape measure instead of ribbon and adorn with glued-on buttons. Knitters will appreciate a yarn and needle-topped package.
“It’s a more thoughtful gift, and it’s cheaper too,” Sazavsky said.
With a 12-foot roll of brown wrap for a dollar, enough to wrap a few gifts and provide a base to accessorize with, Sazavsky then gets creative – sometimes with a scrapbook punch tool to cut out shapes from paint sample cards or scissors to deconstruct beautiful Christmas cards she has received, re-using shapes and creating gift tags from the printed messages inside.
“You need scissors, a glue gun and tape – that’s really it,” said Sazavsky, who also re-uses store gift bags by simply covering the logo with a pretty bit of wrap.
Heather Wolsey, owner of Seasons Gift Shop, said Sazavsky’s ideas fit in with the trend she’s seeing toward textures, woven fabrics, even distressed woods and metals.
“What I call my twigs and berries section is very popular – raw, organic, even banged-up stuff – people want that,” she said.
