Prettying the Presents

A few years ago, I ran an internet mail order business selling outdoor clothing.  I used to sell walking shoes amongst other things, which necessitating having a supply of brown paper, being the only thing copious enough to wrap them in.

I STILL have a fairly substantial roll of brown paper left, so rather than going out to buy bright new paper have used it for wrapping Christmas presents.  Not very festive, you might think! 

I had to find a way of brigthening them up, so ventured out into the rainy garden with a pair of scissors.  Here's what I snipped, although anything reasonably robust would do:-

Conifer leaves
Ivy leaves
Ivy berries
Rosemary sprigs
Sisyrinchium leaves

I had top pop them on a cloth on top of the radiator to dry them out a bit before I started.  I trimmed the ivy berries because the heads are round and I wanted them to sit flat in my bundles.

I then arranged all the elements loosely and simply wrapped the ends round and round in green cotton, then tied them in little decorative bunches.  I used nothing more glamorous than sellotape to stick them onto the parcels (using the cotton directly under the tape to get a bit of stick).  I'm sure they would have looked even more artistic with a bit of ribbon or, better still, some good old-fashioned hairy string!