With wedding season just around the corner, we thought we’d share some cute ideas for using our cellophane bags to package up wedding favors and gifts for your bridal party and guests. Clear cellophane bags work great because they’re both affordable and flexible, making them ideal for a wide range of stuffers… and you’ll have money left over to spend on the important stuff – what’s inside!

Wedding Favor Bags
Beautifully packaged treats make wonderful wedding favors. Cupcakes fit very nicely into our food-safe cellophane bags, but you could also use a small stack of cookies, a few chocolate truffles, or even a piece of cake! To incorporate your wedding colors, insert tissue paper into the bag before you place your treats inside and choose a coordinating ribbon.

Supplies & Tools: small cellophane bags • 1/4″ satin ribbon • scissors

Directions:
1. Insert your hand into the cello bag to open it up and flatten out the bottom to create a base.
2. Arrange your treats inside the bag.
3. Gather the top of the bag about an inch or so above the treat, and tie closed with ribbon (a friend’s help at this point comes in handy… get your bridesmaids or family members involved!).
4. Tie the ribbon into a bow and neatly trim the ends.
5. Trim the top of the bag if there is a lot of excess (I left about 3 inches above the bow in this sample). And done!

Gift Bags & Welcome Packages
Fill our larger cellophane bags with gifts and present to your bridal party Read the rest of this entry »

There’s something about the holidays that makes our creative minds turn to baking. Maybe it’s the comfort of something warm as the weather turns so cold or the yummy smells coming from the oven. We’ve found lots of festive ways to package little treats with our favor boxes, box mailers and cellophane bags. These adorable containers, along with ribbon and a gift tag, make it easy to share any number of goodies – cookies, brownie bites, fudge, spiced nuts, hot cocoa and marshmallows, chocolate covered pretzels, a mini loaf of bread…mmm, I need to go start baking!

Every holiday season growing up, my mom made sugar cookie dough and my sisters and I spent hours with cookie cutters, icing and sprinkles, which inevitably turned into a huge competition over whose cookies were the most artistic. We displayed them proudly in the kitchen, shared the ones we were able to part with, and saved a few of the best for Santa. I still love our family tradition of holiday baking and sharing little goodies with loved ones – it’s a simple thought and easy to do. It’s no wonder I ended up at Paper Source, where every day presents an opportunity for creativity!

P.S. If you’re short on time, there are always great store-bought options like peppermint sticks and festively wrapped candies!

– Karen
PS colors: moss, papaya & khaki
Latest fave: 2010 Paper Source Wall Art Calendar and Travel Tin Candles

If you’re looking for funky holiday gift ideas, listen up. Lately I’ve been into Mexican kitsch like “lucha libre” – a theatrical, acrobatic and campy form of Mexican wrestling. I was a luchador for Halloween, I own masks for spontaneous late-night wrestling with friends, and last year, I saw a live match at the Plaza del Toros in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. It was awesome! Sweat was flying, beer was flowing, and fans were munching on fresh-fried potato chips drizzled with hot sauce. The kids in the crowd went nuts for their favorite luchadores. I even got a photo with my favorite wrestler, Ultimo Vampiro.

Traditionally, a Mexican wrestling match pits good guy against bad guy, and the luchador never reveals his true identity by taking off his mask or he could be disqualified. Even when luchadores retire, they often still wear their masks in public, and some are even buried in their masks—like El Santo, the most famous luchador in Mexican history. Since my trip, I’ve been noticing lucha libre popping up all over the place: a new restaurant called Lucha Libre in New York, lucha libre toys in Tokyo, a new mural on Hubbard Street in Chicago, and, of course, that Jack Black flick now on cable. It seems like suddenly everyone’s going loco for luchas!

Being a buyer at Paper Source has allowed me to see how many others share my love of luchas! Read the rest of this entry »

I recently found myself needing a gift for a friend of mine… a friend who has everything. I came up with the idea of making him a set of decorative kraft letters in his initials. Although I’ve used glitter to decorate these in the past, I wanted to try a new technique that would create a handsome piece he could display on a shelf in his home.

Turns out heat embossing using a metallic powder creates an elegant and sophisticated finish. I used the VersaMark Watermark Inkpad on the kraft letters, sprinkled on embossing powders in a mixture of Jade Patina and Metallic Copper, and used the heat embossing tool to set in place. Combining those two embossing powders created a patina that looks similar to an old penny.

In the past I’ve decorated kraft letters with glitter by covering them in PVA, then sprinkling on glitter. These “JOY” letters in True Red Glitter make a great holiday decoration – use in a centerpiece arrangement or display on a mantle surrounded by evergreen branches. You could achieve a different red finish by using the heat embossing technique described above and Cherry Twinkle Embossing Powder.

My gift of the “JC” initials was extremely well-received, because it was personal and unlike anything he had. They turned out so well in fact that I decorated other kraft letters to display in our store!

–Ken, Paper Source NorthPark Dallas Store
PS colors: chartreuse & pool
Latest fave: Woodgrain A2 Embossed Stationery

What could be more personal than creating custom stationery for a special friend? By choosing specific paper colors, embellishments, and adding their name you are honoring their personality and creating a one-of-a-kind gift. A stationery set can be as simple as a collection of note cards and envelopes, but by adding other letter writing components like labels and pens, or personalizing the stationery with rubber stamps, you create something truly unique.

To take it over the top include a custom return address embosser plate – an easy and elegant way to add a return address to envelopes. Finally, be creative in your presentation – put all of your stationery items into an adorable suitcase, or organize them inside a linen folio.

Here are some things you might need:
• Flat cards & folded cards
• Envelopes
• 8.5″ x 11″ text paper
• Labels
• Stickers
• Pens
• Return address embosser plate
• Rubber stamps – try alphabet rubber stamps to add a name or monogram

As the holidays approach, consider making a set of personalized stationery for family members, or as a thank you gift for a teacher who has made a difference in your child’s life.

p.s. If you’re looking for inspiration on making your own stationery, sign up for our Personal Stationery – Handmade Gifts Workshop taking place at all stores tomorrow – Thursday, November 12.

–Linda
PS colors: chartreuse & pool
Latest fave: Saddle Stitch Notebooks

We welcome one of our newest crafting accessories: clear cellophane bags! Though the product itself is really basic (how exciting can clear bags be?), there are literally hundreds of ways you can fill and decorate these handy food-safe bags. Here a few easy gift wrapping ideas, perfect for the upcoming holiday season!

Halloween Goodie Bags
What you might need: Papaya #10 Folded Backing • Small Cellophane Bag • Bone Folder • Metal Ruler or Straightedge • Black 1/4″ Satin Ribbon • Scrap Paper • Skeleton Rubber Stamp • White Colorbox Inkpad • Opaque White Embossing Powder • Heat Embossing Tool • 1/8″ Hole Punch

1. To create the skeleton tag, cut a piece of scrap paper to your desired size (I cut a 1 1/2” x 6” piece, which folds in half to create a 1 1/2” x 3” tag). Stamp the skeleton with the White Colorbox Inkpad, sprinkle with Opaque White Embossing Powder, shake off the excess, then heat emboss. Punch a hole in the top corner of the tag to attach to the bag with ribbon.
2. The #10 folded backing becomes a colorful liner for the cellophane bag. To do this, use a bone folder to score the backing card 2″ from the bottom, then fold to make an “L” shape. Insert the backing into the bag – the short folded portion will line the inside bottom of the bag, and the long portion will line the inside back of the bag. Make sure to place the backing against the back seam of the cellophane bag so the seam doesn’t show from the front.
3. Fill the bag with goodies!
4. Fold the top pre-scored portion of the backing card down over the top of the bag to close. Use a 1/8″ hole punch to punch holes through the bag itself where it intersects with the pre-punched holes in the card.
5. Feed 1/4″ Satin Ribbon through the holes and knot in the front. Before tying a bow, string the skeleton tag through the ribbon to attach.

That’s it, so easy! If you’re making several goodie bags, remember that it’s always easiest to work assembly-line style. So score and fold all of your #10 folded backings first, then cut all of the ribbon, then create all of your tags, and so on.

Valentine Goodie Bags
This lovely bag doubles as a Valentine’s Day card and a special gift! Read the rest of this entry »

I’ll admit there’s some pressure when you’re giving a gift to a fellow Paper Source employee – they know the products and secrets all too well. We recently threw a baby shower for our lovely and talented coworker who is having her first baby, and I put together a gift basket on behalf of the group. Filled with all kinds of special baby goodies tied individually with satin ribbons, the basket came together nicely…but I wasn’t quite satisfied.

Though full to the brim, the basket itself was lacking so I added a banner strung across the front with miniature paper animals secured to a ribbon with tiny wooden clothes pins. Irresistible and easy, I promise. I cut out the animals from sketch drawings I did on the back of our dots gift wrap keeping the silhouettes simple and rounded. If animal shapes seem too detailed for you try cutting triangles for a pennant banner instead. This extra special detail made the gift one to remember.

p.s. We are so excited to announce the birth of Molly – congratulations to new mom, Carolyn!

–Kristen
PS colors: pool & chocolate
Latest fave: Gold, Pink Dots Nesting Box – great to have around for last minute gift wrapping.

This past Sunday I turned 37. How can I be 37? My birthday always makes me think of back to school time. I still remember being 7 or 8 and getting my new school shoes in early August and letting them sit in their box in my closet until I got to wear them on the first day of school. I would open the box every day to smell the new leather and would plan what to wear for the first day of school for about a month. Too bad I don’t get a new outfit and shoes bought for me every August anymore….boo hoo….being an adult is so hard! I am however excited to buy myself a new date book. This fall I’m going to buy the L’apres Midi Date Book. It’s so cute with little watercolor illustrations and French sayings painted throughout. It’s also really cool because it is an any-day diary, meaning it comes without specific dates. You just plug in your own schedule. It seems so happy to me and I like that quality in something I have to look at every day!

There are a couple of other new things Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes trying to be environmentally conscious and still loving to shop puts me in a bit of a bind. We all have that one friend who claims to care about the environment but nevertheless drives a three-ton suburban mini-tank to her yoga classes, or happily sucks down 14 plastic bottles of water a day. Fortunately, in my ongoing quest to avoid being a total hypocrite, I have discovered a few gift ideas that we carry at Paper Source that are both environmentally responsible and attractive. One problem that I’ve always had with eco-gifts is that I love bright, saturated colors, but “green” items tend to be full of neutrals—lots of burlap and browns. Lucky for me reusable and colorful Read the rest of this entry »