Friday, 24 August 2018

A Gift Wrapping Idea : Recycle While Keeping Those Gift Cards Safe!

Not long ago I overheard a conversation on the streetcar between two woman … One had given her niece a gift-card for her birthday, which had been presented to the child at her birthday party, slipped inside an envelope with a card. It had been a busy party with lots of kids and a bunch of other gifts. A few days later, it was realized that the gift-card was nowhere to be found. After a good search, it was assumed that it had accidentally been put out to the trash, along with all the torn wrapping paper and ribbons, and, naturally, the garbage truck had already been by. Funny thing was that the birthday card was there, along with all the others.

The woman was annoyed with herself for not having wrapped the gift-card in a way that it would not so easily have gotten lost. She was hoping that the shop would replace the card if she explained what had happened and showed them the receipt, but she wasn’t counting on it.

And, while I sat there eavesdropping (I couldn’t help it, they were right behind me!), I had the urge to jump right in and join the conversation. Why, I had recently been to a baby shower where a gift-card had very nearly gotten lost! One of the guests had to shout out a few times, stating there was something else inside the bag, as it was being set aside after one gift had been admired.

And, that was not the only time I’d witnessed something like that. The previous time, it had been at a Secret Santa Christmas gift exchange, where “Santa” had been outed after she had to run up and pull the gift-card out of the wrapping herself!

My message here is not that gift-cards aren’t good presents because they can so easily go missing. On the contrary, I thing they’re great and very much enjoy receiving them and giving them. Rather, this is all to say that a gift-wrapping idea which will keep those cards safe, might be in order.

So, here’s a suggestion that rescues a handy piece of trash and turns it into a gift-card giving receptacle!

The piece of trash in question is one of those round containers that Tetley tea bags come in (at least they do, here in Canada). I don’t think I’ve ever thrown one of those away, as they are so useful! I have a few in my make-up drawer, keeping brushes and crayons organized. I also used one to pack my larger jewellery pieces the last time I traveled, which continues to be used to store accessories. Their nicely fitting lid makes them so satisfying to snap shut!

And, lo and behold, your standard sized gift-cards fit inside them perfectly! All that’s needed to turn them something pretty enough to give, is a piece of card-stock or thin cardboard, a bit of gift-wrap, some tape and a length of curling ribbon. In under two minutes, you can be ready to go. Add a couple more minutes and you can also have a coordinating tiny greeting card to go with the wrapping.

Of course, this can be used to wrap any small item.

How to do it :

The easiest way to cover your tea container in paper is to first make a template from the card-stock or thin cardboard. I’m not sure if the containers are exactly the same size everywhere, but here in Canada, a template that is 3 inches by 10 inches will fit precisely, with enough overlap at the seam.

Once you have your template cut, you don’t have to worry about perfectly cutting your gift-wrap, as long as there is a border of about 1/2 inch all around the template.

Then, you just fold the paper around the template, remove it, and stick the gift-wrap into place. The template can be saved and/or reused.