Valentine’s Day is almost here!! I just love the excitement and fun it brings. I really do love just about any holiday and the reason to celebrate that each one brings. I am happy to show y’all a fun way to decorate gift bags I got at the dollar tree for your special someone’s gift.

I had a blast decorating these bags. Plus I love how a personal homemade touch makes a huge difference. This is also something that would be great to have your children do for their grandparents or teachers to put their gift in.

As I mentioned before, I am loving that these kraft gift bags came from the dollar store. I am amazed at how much gift wrap and gift bags can cost at certain stores. Sometimes I end up feeling like I have spent more on the card and gift wrap than I have on the actual gift.

I will show you two different designs that I created on my bags, but the options are endless.

You will need:

• Plain gift bags
• Craft paint
• Spouncers foam paintbrushes
• Paint tray
• Jute
• Heart stickers– I used stickers from a sticker book I found at Michaels for $1 and foam stickers.
• Paper straws
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks

First I painted polka dots on the gift bags using the spouncers. It was a breeze since the foam brush is round and makes a perfect dot.

Let the bags dry and then you are ready for decorating.

For the Valentine heart banner, I hot glued the jute in place and then placed the heart stickers underneath to give the appearance of a banner.

With Cupid’s arrow, I used a red paper straw with white polka dots. I actually got these paper straws in the Christmas clearance section at Target this past year. I love that they can be used for other holidays as well.

*If you do not have paper straws or cannot find a certain pattern you like, check out my post earlier this week showing how to decorate the white lollipop sticks with washi tape. The lollipop sticks would also work great.

Glue the paper straw in place and then add a heart at the bottom for the point. I had some heart foam stickers in my craft stuff that I used. You could also cut out hearts from scrapbook paper.

At the top of the arrow, I trimmed foam flower sticks I had to give the right look and they worked perfect. I glued them in place just to be sure they would stay.

All you need now is a Valentine gift and someone special to give these to. I know they will love them. Plus they will know the time and love you put into making them.

This is a great craft for your children to join in on because there really isn’t anything here that they can’t do except for maybe using the hot glue gun. It’s always fun to see what kids will come up with.

Stay tuned to my Instagram this weekend to see what I will be doing with my gift bags and what I will be putting inside of them for my Valentine.

Enjoy your Valentines weekend!!

Also if you have not already, please join me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. I would love to hear from you with any comments, suggestions, or ideas you may have.

Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers.

In my opinion you can never have too much holiday décor which is why I am sharing this XOXO Valentine wall décor with all of you.

I love seeing all the hearts and pink and red decorations in the stores. And don’t forget the boxed chocolates too! There are so many cute crafts you can make for Valentine’s Day and really get the whole family involved. I shared a Valentine memo chalkboard that you can make and share sweet notes with your family too on the blog earlier this week if you missed it.

“XOXO” is such a cute phrase to use not only for Valentine’s Day but also throughout the year. It would be great to use in a girl’s bedroom or even in my craft room. After buying the letters, I also thought spelling “LOVE” would be just as gorgeous.

Now let’s make your wall décor that will look expensive but really isn’t.

What you will need:

2 “X” wooden letters

2”O” wooden letters

Spray paint– I chose white because I wanted something that could be used throughout the year. I just didn’t think my husband would appreciate a bright pink decoration all the time.

Glitter craft paint– The paint I used covers like clear but has glitter in it with a tint of color and also a light pink color.

Foam paintbrush

Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Wood glue

Cardboard box

First spray paint the wooden letters with the color of your choice. *Depending on the letters, you may want to sand them first in order to have a smooth finish once painted.

Once they are completely dry, paint a thin layer of the glitter craft paint over the tops of the letters using the foam paintbrush.

Once the paint has dried which shouldn’t take too long, you can start gluing them together. I just squirted wood glue between the letters and held them in place until the glue had hardened to ensure they were stuck together good.

After all the letters are connected, flip them over with the back side up. Cut small pieces of the cardboard box and glue them on the back with the hot glue gun where two letters connect to keep them together. I know the cardboard box sounds funny, but it will help to make the wall décor sturdier.

Once you are done gluing the cardboard pieces into place, you can now hang it up or sit it on a table with other decor pieces.

I absolutely love how mine turned out with the glitter paint layer. I hope you will make your own and please share with me.

Enjoy your Valentine’s Day and most importantly the little things in life!

Also if you have not already, please join me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. I would love to hear from you with any comments, suggestions, or ideas you may have.

Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. 

I have been wanting to make my own marquee letters for quite some time but this really motivated me to do my own for Christmas and save the money I would have spent on the store bought for Christmas presents. There have been several different variations of them but this shadowbox style is different and also a great way to hide any wires that may try to show through.

My husband is such a sweetie and offered to take me to Target and go shopping after church Sunday because he knows how much I don’t go like I used to. It was such a special treat. We also got fraps from the Starbucks in Target (which I shared on my Instagram) after we had finished shopping.

I mostly just wanted to look at the new Christmas decorations and that got me in the mood for some Christmas crafting. Being as supportive as he is, he offered to help me with making these marquee letters. I am trying to get better with power tools but he definitely is a huge help.

The other great part about these letters is that you can definitely leave them up past Christmas and throughout the year. I love to have lights like these and lamps turned on at night while just relaxing. Using the shadow box to display them also makes it easier to hang them instead of having to sit them on the mantel. Now I don’t have to worry about taking the letters down early so I can rearrange my mantel.

Let’s get started making them because I know you will not regret it once you do.

Supplies:

Wooden letters- I chose to spell “JOY” but any holiday phrase or word would also be cute.

Black sharpie marker

Round bulb Christmas stringed lights

Bronze or metallic spray paint

Power drill

Drill bit

Table saw

White unframed dry erase board or thin piece of plywood- I actually bought a dry erase board at Home Depot that was not framed and cut it to the size I needed. You could also paint a wooden board white or whatever color you like.

1” x 4” Boards

Start by spray painting your wooden letters. I used a bronze spray paint because I wanted them to have a somewhat worn metal look.

Once they are dry, use a black sharpie marker or pencil to mark where you will want your lights to be placed.

Drill a hole through each spot where you made a mark with the sharpie.

*After drilling a hole, take the bulb apart from the base of the light and put it through the hole and then reattach it. You want to do this on one light now to make sure that your hole is going to be big enough to fit the base of the light.

*Also be sure to not drill the hole too large causing the light bulb to fall through as well.

Continue drilling until all the holes are drilled.

As I mentioned above, I used a white dry erase board I found at Home Depot that wasn’t framed. This saved me a step with having to paint. If you would rather use wood, then that is fine too and you could just paint it the color you would like.

I measured the white board to be about 34 inches and then cut it using a table saw.

Next place your wooden letters on the white board where you would like for them to be, and using the sharpie place a dot on the board through the holes that are already drilled in the letters. This will be a guide to know where to drill the holes for the lights once attaching the letters to the white board.

Now drill a hole through the white board where the black marks are. You could also check to be sure the light base will fit through the hole again before drilling all of them as we did before with the wooden letters.

Place each letter on top of the white board once all the holes are drilled and begin putting the lights through each hole. You will have to take the light bulb out of the base and reattach together once it’s through the hole.

For the frame, measure the sides and cut the wood boards accordingly at a 45 degree angle to form the corners.

I had my boards rip cut the width of the white board but did not cut the boards completely in half. It basically left a groove in the wood where I could sit the board within it making it easier to put it together at the end.

I painted my boards white once they were all cut. I had to paint two coats to completely cover them.

It is now time to start assembling the frame. I placed two boards together at the angle and then hammered them together with small nails. Do the same again until you have the two sides and bottom together.

Slide your white board into the groove made by the rip cut. Place the top board into place and then hammer it down.

I hammered picture hanging hooks on both sides of the frame and then hung it on the wall.

I love turning it on with the Christmas tree and seeing it all glow. I know you will too! Plus we get to enjoy it after Christmas. I always hate having to take our Christmas tree down but this JOY will make it a little easier this year knowing I still have it to enjoy.

Hope you will make your own too and enjoy the glowing lights this Christmas and throughout the year.

Also if you have not already, please join me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. I would love to hear from you with any comments, suggestions, or ideas you may have.

Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. 

I love wrapping presents more than anybody else I know, but it has become so much more fun for me this year with these Christmas gift wrapping ideas using kraft paper. Who knew that just plain and blah kraft paper that is usually used for packing and shipping could be turned into something still simple but classic.

The possibilities really are endless when using kraft paper because you are starting with nothing. No design. Absolutely nothing. I love the brown though because you can dress it up for each person’s personality that is receiving the gift.

Color though is also a must! I was lucky to run up on this red and green kraft paper at Joann. It was on sale for $0.99 and then I had a coupon on top of that. You can’t beat that price. The brown kraft paper was at Wal-Mart for about $4.00 a roll and you get much more than the colored rolls.

Kraft paper is also very durable making it fun to decorate with paint. You don’t have to worry about the paint leaking through onto the actual present. Another great thing about the durability and thickness is that is makes the actual wrapping so much easier than some gift wrap brands. There is nothing worse than finding a gift wrap design you just love to then open it and start wrapping and it seems to be so thin. You end up being able to see the gift straight through it and even somehow the corners of the box end up breaking through the corners and showing.

Another great idea with the kraft paper is to get your children involved. If they are pretty young, then they may not be able to help with the actual wrapping part. But who wouldn’t love to receive a gift from them with their painted handprints stamped on the package? Especially their grandparents. They could also color and decorate them with stickers or washi tape as well.

Supplies:

Kraft paper

Ribbon, Bakers twine, Lace, Burlap, Jute, etc.

Pom poms

Washi tape

Craft paint

Pencil with eraser on the end

Scrabble letter pieces

Different colored sharpies

Basically any craft supplies you can think of to use to decorate with.

I am going to show you 5 different packages I wrapped. There is a basic concept for each one. Then you can feel free to change it up and be creative however you like.

1. Scrabble game pieces for gift tag

For the game pieces, you could look around at Goodwill or thrift stores for an old scrabble game and use those pieces. I found these wooden letter pieces at Michaels which look very similar and were reasonably priced. Plus you can always use a coupon to make it an even better deal.

Wrap your present with a pretty Christmas ribbon first so you will know where to place the game pieces. Instead of spelling out the person’s whole name with the letter pieces, I decided to just use the first letter of each name.

Once you are happy with how the letter pieces are laid out, you can use a sharpie to write the remaining letters and then glue the wooden pieces in place with a hot glue gun.

2. Reindeer Printable Gift Tag from By Dawn Nicole

I found these reindeer gift tags this week and had a fit. I love the reindeer so much! I just thought it was too cute. By Dawn Nicole has so many printables that are cute and perfect for your Christmas presents.

I first tied red and white bakers twine around the present and then used red washi tape to tape the tag to the present.

I love how it turned out. Who doesn’t love washi tape?

She also has a larger printable with the same picture of the reindeer that I plan to print and frame too.

3. White polka dots with jute

If you are looking for something that is simple but yet still elegant, then this design is perfect for you.

First tie your jute in place so you know where to paint. I also added a gold beaded tag for an extra flair.

Dip a pencil eraser in craft paint, and then stamp it onto the package in whatever pattern or design you choose. I did a zig-zag pattern to outline the jute. A grouping of three stamps all over would also be cute.

4. Christmas Flag Miniature Banner

I absolutely love this idea. I think the miniature banners are adorable for cake toppers or even now to decorate your presents with. Using some bakers twine, pom poms, and washi tape, you have the perfect decoration.

Place the bakers twine across the package with some extra to wrap around on the back to tape it in place.

Before attaching the bakers twine to the package, wrap washi tape around the twine and stick it to itself to make a flag. I then cut a triangle out of the bottom of each flag just for a little something extra. Continue with the rest of the flags.

Attach the banner to the present by taping the ends to the back of the present and allowing the banner to drape across the front.

Glue pom poms between each flag with a hot glue gun onto the twine. This will also help the banner to stay in place.

This present will have the recipient thinking you spent so much time decorating when actually it was quick and easy but very cute.

5. Pom pom cluster with jute

I especially love this idea of grouping pom poms together when you have a smaller package. It doesn’t really need a big bow on it to overwhelm it but these are perfect.

I first tied the jute in place and then placed the pom poms how I wanted them. Then glue each one in place using a hot glue gun.

A very simple idea but unique in its own way.

I just love how all of these turned out. I can’t wait to finish wrapping more Christmas presents and using these ideas to do all sorts of designs. You could even use the same techniques throughout the whole year and just change the colors to coordinate with whatever the celebration is for.

Now let’s face it. Sometimes we have something that is just an odd shape or need to throw it in a gift bag instead of wrapping it. If you like these ideas and want to use a gift bag instead, it would still work perfectly. The great thing too is that you can find plain tan gift bags that are similar to the kraft paper or even plain red and green bags.

Enjoy your Christmas shopping and even more now your gift wrapping!

Be sure to also check out all of my other fun Christmas ideas in a fun 12 Days of Christmas series.

Also if you have not already, please join me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. I would love to hear from you with any comments, suggestions, or ideas you may have.

Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers.