Posted on

Recycled-bottle Lilly Wrap

lilly-39I took a kefir bottle and cut off the printed wrap. Underneath it was a pure white bottle. I cut off the top area and then took scissors and cut down along the corners and back up again, four times. This made the four petals. I trimmed their tops to round them out. Working the petals with my fingers I was able to give them soft curves.

I wrapped the gift in orange tissue and placed it inside the lilly. Then I took the scraps cut from the four corners, and made the pistil stems. I made a small ring to glue them to and added yellow foam to the ends. It was necessary to add some ribbon around the gift in order to make the pistils’ ring stable on top of the gift. A few pieces of scrap foam made the orange gift more secure in its white lilly holder.

Posted on

Wrap Synergy

robotLegs-197

I have already posted the two separate wraps you see in this image (December 25 and 30, 2009). When these two wraps went under the tree, I suddenly saw that they were meant for each other. So, without the need for any additional fastening technologies, they rested one atop the other until Christmas morning, when they went their separate ways.

It is perhaps not so surprising that they would go together, a head and some legs. But I was pleasantly surprised at this amusing synergy arising from this year’s theme of animal wraps.

Posted on

Simulating a Common Christmas Toy

lego-212This is a quick wrap if you have been saving your carton-caps from milk or juice cartons. Wrap the gift in plain white paper. Glue on four caps. Now you have a scaled-up imitation of one very common piece of a common building-block toy.

I have saved up some green, blue and orange caps; next I must find the matching paper colors so that I can simulate more kinds of bricks.

Posted on

Sea Urchin Wrap on Silver

urchin-193

In keeping with my animal wraps this season, here is one that resembles that bane of coral-reef surfers: the sea urchin. The base wrap is silver paper from a fancy shopping bag. The black sticks are coffee-stirring  straws, which I saved from a recurrent meeting that I organize. I cut them in half.

There are a lot of straws here. The technique requires that one places six to eight dabs of hot glue onto the paper at a time, allowing the glue to cool. That way you can place the straws quickly and not have to hold them in position. This is not a quick wrap. But it has a distinctive feel, and one that is much friendlier than real sea urchins.

Posted on

Candy Cane Reindeer

candycane-deer189

I started this wrap with a scrap of a favorite wrapping paper from seasons past. Recycled at least 3 times, this paper is now in short supply. But I wanted a bold texture to resist and contrast with the very simple symbolic elements that would make the reindeer head. I used thin craft foam to make the antlers, ears, eyes and nose. I drew simple patterns for the antlers and ears, cut them out and traced them onto the foam. I cut the foam with an exacto knife. The label is a simple office label, placed on the end of the wrap, just underneath the deers nose.

Being small and light, this wrap can even be hung on a tree as an ornament.

Posted on

Brown Wrap Cow

cow-182

I’ve been thinking about animal wraps since last year, when I made a robot wrap with popsicle stick legs and arms. So this is my first of the season. The legs, neck, horns and tail are made with a very thick packing foam that I found in my dumpster last fall. It is .5″ thick, and thus is capable of bearing an impressive weight when made into legs. It is also very easy to cut.

I am using hot glue, which is almost essential for sculptural wraps. The head is a small wrapped box itself, which could contain a second gift.