Last year, Ann brought us together when she gleefully confessed that she is a Wrapaholic. Slowly, confessions trickled in from others who admitted their obsession with color, coordinated style and perfect corners. Her post was like a safe place for fellow Wrappers to disclose the amount of time spent preparing packages or share in the joy of present perfection.

This year, Ann revealed her secrets to perfect packages in our latest gift wrapping video. In it, Ann talks about five main components she credits for helping her stay cool, calm and coordinated.

Scissors
Ann recommends having two pair of scissors — one for paper and one for ribbon — but make sure you have at least one pair solely dedicated to gift wrapping, so they stay nice and sharp.

Tape
Always have a full roll of tape on your spool. If you’re a fellow Wrapper, we suggest using double-stick tape — it keeps your adhesive hidden and works really well with ribbon application.

Solid Gift Wrap
Select a few rolls of solid wrapping paper to have on hand. Mix up the colors, so you have a base for any occasion that might come up.

Ribbon
Store a few spools of ribbon, in various colors and sizes, so you can accent boxed packages and gift bags.

Patterned Gift Wrap
It is hard to choose just one, so Ann recommends having a wedding print, a gift wrap for kids, and a colorful polka dot gift wrap to cover events throughout the year. Read the rest of this entry »

From road trips to nurseries to unpacking boxes labeled HOLIDAY DECORATIONS, it seems everyone is ready to deck the halls. And, in many cases, the holiday tree is one of the highest priorities. (Runner up to outdoor lights, for those who brave the conditions for sparkling eaves.)

Personally, my decorating effort is limited. Partially due to our city-sized living quarters and holiday travel, but also due to my husband’s flashbacks of decorating the family tree as a child (It might be familiar to some of you). Despite our modest effort, we do enjoy pulling out the holiday ornaments and remembering all the people and events that have contributed to our collection of keepsakes, even if they never make it on the tree. My mom is responsible for our ornament base, gifting me one each year of my life. Adding to the collection are wonderful handcrafted creations by my father-in-law and gifts from friends and family. Read the rest of this entry »

No one is more excited about the holiday season than your kids, and we have the perfect outlet for their joy and laughter. This weekend our stores are hosting a Kids Holiday Crafting Play Day where your kids and their friends can celebrate the season with festive paper crafts. Using a few of our new holiday kits and our assortment of embellishments, young crafters will create jolly keepsakes to adorn your home or your holiday packages.

Your kids will walk away with gnomes, mushrooms, elves and other colorful creations and you enjoy 10% off of purchases made that day. It’s a play day for crafters of all ages!

Kids Holiday Crafting Play Day
Saturday, November 19th
11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (local time)
For more information or to register, visit our website.

Remember, sign up with a friend (or siblings) and save $5 off the price of both tickets. Kids ages 8 and under require an adult chaperone – contact your local store to inquire.

Happy Holidays!

From picking a turkey to assigning side dishes to cleaning house, few obligations toe the line of exciting and stressful quite as well as hosting Thanksgiving, so — to help you along — we dug up some of our favorite fixings for a grateful table. With the help of a paper kit or one of our Thanksgiving How-tos your guests can savor the color of the season along with the feast.

Centerpieces & Table Accents
Try your hand at creating something unique using a fall wreath or paper leaves. Last year, Paper Source Designer Karen showed us three table accent themes built from our kits. This lovely Leaf Light How-to is another great option. Read the rest of this entry »

Create a lovely garland of thanks for all to enjoy this Thanksgiving.

Materials Needed:

• Garland of Thanks How-To PDF
• Printable Label Template
• Turkey Shapes Pack
• Paper Wraphia in Natural
• Superfine Soft White 2.5″ Round Printable Labels
• Small Die Cut Fall Leaves
• 1/8″ Hole Punch
• Transparent Tape
• Scissors

Instructions:

1. Using the Printable Label Template, print the words “GIVE THANKS” onto Super Softwhite 2.5″ Round Labels.
2. Stick labels onto alternating colors of turkey shapes. (Note that we have turkeys facing each other in pairs.)
3. Layout shapes and use transparent tape to adhere them to Paper Wraphia.
4. Stack several leaves in various colors on top of one another and use a hole punch to make a hole through the layers.
5. Thread leaves through end of Paper Wraphia and knot end. Repeat so that each end is finished with a stack of leaves.
Share and Enjoy:
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To help make your holiday season exceptional we are hosting two days filled with free holiday demonstrations. Drop by your local Paper Source store on November 12th and November 26th from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (local time) and get inspired!

Our Holiday Demo Days are free to the general public and feature everything from Thanksgiving table decor to holiday favors to perfect gift wrapping.

Saturday, November 12th
11:00 am – 11:30 am: Wine bottle presentations
11:45 am – 12:30 pm: Thanksgiving place cards and favors
12:45 pm – 2:30 pm: Holiday card making
2:45 pm – 3:30 pm: Elegant accents

Saturday, November 26
11:00 am – 11:30 am: Holiday favors
11:45 am – 12:30 pm: Place cards and holiday kits
12:45 pm – 1:30 pm: Holiday card making
1:45 pm – 2:30 pm: Gift tags
2:45 pm – 3:30 pm: Holiday gift wrapping

Visit our website to see details for these events and other in-store demonstrations taking place throughout the season. We are sure these free tips will help you Do Something Creative this Holiday!

We have so many splendid ideas to share with you at our Annual Seasonal Table Event that I couldn’t resist providing a little sneak peek at the collection of ideas we are featuring at Thursday’s Crafter’s Night Out.

These colorful holiday favor pouches provide the perfect opportunity to create something unique. We will be adding stamped accents to make them fun and personal. Imagine these on your holiday table?!

Or, perhaps you are a cookie aficionado – baking goodie bags for your work colleagues, like so many of us at Paper Source. (I know. Aren’t we lucky?!) These cellophane bags will be the perfect inspiration for your holiday confections, complete with fun retro accents cut from 12×12 decorative paper.

We also have other unique ideas using our new rubber stamps, like this one from a wonderful French Canadian vendor. They are sure to add charm to your seasonal presentation.

Be sure to sign up early, and enjoy $5 off your seat when you sign up with a friend! Sip wine with fellow crafters, nibble on treats, create stunning decorations and shop the night away with your 10% off coupon.’

Seasonal Table Collection of Ideas – Crafter’s Night Out
Thursday, November 10th
6pm – 8pm (local time)
To sign up, stop by your local Paper Source store or register online today.

–Linda
PS colors: paper bag & persimmon
Latest fave: Academic Great Big Calendar

On Monday, Paper Source Facebook fans got a peak inside the Halloween festivities that took place at our Corporate Office. We were not surprised when comments poured in over the wiley owl costumes created by our Custom Print & Invitations team – everything from the colorful paper to the unique details of each winged character left everyone in awe.

To let you savor the magic we experienced in person we snapped photographs of the parliament and asked Betsy Campbell, manager of Custom Print & Invitations, to tell us how they came up with this idea.

Here is the story…

When the Paper Source Halloween Costume Contest was announced in mid-October, our Custom Print Team decided – This year, we will NOT be beat! Each person was asked to come up with a group idea (If we dress as a group, then we had a better shot at winning!) and a prize was determined (free pizza, of course!). After a week of thinking, we all got together and tossed ideas around:

Zombie Wedding: Too cliché and had nothing to do with what we do, except for wedding invitations of course!

Paper Source Colorscope: Each of us dress as a Paper Source color from head to toe; unfortunately, we did not have enough people to create our whole color palette!

Paper Gnomes: Turns out the Machine Room staff was already dressing as our Holiday Gnomes (BUMMER!)

Paper Elves: But, come on, elves are so Christmas. This is Halloween!

And then it hit us when I flipped to the calendar spread in our fall catalog – OWLS! We could totally dress as owls! How fun would that be?! Everyone seemed in agreement – though we had a few people who were a little wishy-washy at first, within an hour it was coming together! Read the rest of this entry »

This little fella, who I often refer to as my nephew (admittedly not blood relation though), turns one year old today. Happy Birthday Grayson!

Grayson’s mom is my oldest and dearest friend (next to my sister), so I was happy to help her create a birthday party invitation to fit his celebration – a football-themed gathering, complete with beer and wings! Come on, we all know a first birthday party is for adults.

The original concept was a football field with various photos of this dimpled monster. But, after spending time in my husband’s childhood closet, I suggested a trading card invitation. (If only my influence could steer them back to the Bears.) Dad took on the task of getting him to sit for a photo and Mom and I got busy replicating an old-fashioned trading card.

The design is printed on Paper Bag to make it look authentic. I printed four to an 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheet and trimmed down to fit the coordinating 4Bar envelopes. The Paper Bag labels were printed using the Word template provided on our website.

The celebration is supposed to be team neutral, though I suspect it will be a sea of Reggie Wayne and Peyton Manning jerseys, so we focused on Night and Pool and added Curry accents. My favorite part of the invitation is the stat chart, an essential element of any trading card and a great way to share details of the first year.

Along with finished invites, I mailed a dossier to Grayson’s parents (pardon, his talent agency) with extra invitations, labels, envelopes and digital files. Everything fit perfectly into a Pool presentation envelope and gave them an easy way to store invites for mailing or upcoming press events.

–Crazy Aunt Liz
PS colors: fig & gravel
Latest fave: Personalized Note Pads