presents.

I love Christmas. Giving presents, wrapping presents (not so much on the buying presents, but that's ok, it comes with the territory) Every year it seems I come up with a "new" way of wrapping presents. This year has built off of last years, in a sense, but has gone even farther.

I don't quite have everything wrapped, but these are presents that had to be done before this weekend. I think they are very pretty and wanted to share. The basic idea is from Cosmo Cricket, but hers are treat bags. But I loved the idea and like so many other things, ran with it!

Here is the tutorial from Cosmo Cricket, there is no way I could let you know how to make them any better. 

To make my bags at different sizes I had to add another step. For each present to fit snuggly, I measured the object and did lots of simple addition and subtraction.  The bottom had to be the correct size for the width and length then the height on the sides had to be just a bit above the top of the present. The real trick was getting the other two opposite sides to be tall enough that they would cover the top and have the ability to close in some way.

For example, 

if the present was 4in length by 5in wide by 5in tall. 

• First double the height
  5in + 5in = 10in
• Add the width to the doubled height
  10in + 5in = 15in

So that will give you how wide you have to cut the paper.

Next you need to figure out the length. With this you will need to add extra paper for the closer.

• To find the width you already doubled the height. So take that measurement again and add the length of the present.
  10in + 4in = 14in
• This is where you add the extra length, I really have no formula. A lot of it is how you want it to look But make sure you add at least 3in for both sides. More if it's a solid object with little to no give. 

For this present you would need to cut the paper 15in by 20in. 

For our pretend box you would want to fold 5in in on both sides for the width and 8in for the length. After folding along the lengths and width you will follow the folding instructions from the video. 

Once you have followed the folding instructions the flat paper should look something like the illustration. 

To finish the creation of your home made bag you will need to fold it all up once more. For most of the bags I used glue stick to hold the bag together, but that is not necessary. These bags can be decorated however you'd like. I would sugest decorating before glueing the bag together. 

Instead of labeling the packages I assigned a stamp to each person and their presents are all marked with it. Adds to the mystery a bit. And it was fun for me! A few of the stamps I created myself.

To close the bags I punched holes and tied each package shut, with ribbon, twine or lace. They could be stapled or taped. 

Each of my bags were individually engineered for the each present. As you can imagine, it got old a little fast. I've just got a few more to wrap... but I'll do that a little later. I need a break!