Inspiration Tip: Pretty Packaging

Whether you make beaded items for sale or to give to friends, having something beautiful to send it in is always a nice touch. Everyone loves to open a gift or pretty package tied up with string, and even if the item inside was a purchase, it’s still fun to dress up a trinket or treasure.

Fortunately, being green is not only really trendy, it’s also really affordable. So there’s never been a better time to try making your own gift packages to add that little something extra to your beadwork. Using repurposed materials like old calendars, coloring books and magazines is not only economical, it’s also really creative and charming, too.

To make the paper gift bags shown here, I searched through some of my old fashion magazines for nice, bold pages with big pictures. Then I took apart a small store-bought gift bag that had been re-used many times, and figured out the folding pattern that would transform my fashion pages into tiny gift bags. After making two or three, the technique becomes almost second nature. Different sizes of bags can be made without using scissors, just by changing the width of the top and bottom folds.

The paper bows are also made with magazine pages, using a tutorial from How About Orange. I made the smaller bow by cutting away the rough edge of a magazine tear-out, and cutting the strips width-wise, about ½ thick. These bows are a metal-free version of the original design. Instead of using staples, I glued each component together. This method works great, as long as you don’t mind waiting for the glue to dry between steps.

If you give handmade packaging a try, you might be surprised to discover how much it can inspire beadwork. You’ll be eager to create some beaded treasures to hide inside!

Copyright 2009 Inspirational Beading