When materials are limited

Ever needed to wrap something with limited access to fancy materials? Never fear. There is always a way to make something look just that little bit special without a lot of effort (or money!).

A roll of brown paper, a clever quote that relates to either the gift or the recipient, a bit of coloured paper, printer, scissors and your in business.

I recently created a design in Illustrator that my Mum fell in love with when she noticed I was using it as a bookmark. We came up with the idea that it would look great in a white box frame and set out to find one. While the Country Road option was great quality, the price was a little more than what I intended to spend (especially since you can get the same thing for half the price in a number of other stores).

After some more searching, I found a medim sized white stand alone frame in the Reject Shop in Byron Bay for just $19.95. I printed out the image to size, removed the white board from the inside of the frame (I could have left it in but wanted as much space as possible for the print for more impact) and whola! Instant gift.

My intention was to give the gift to my Mum as part of her Christmas present but after hearing about a difficult situation she had to deal with at school (she's a primary school teacher), I thought the frame could be just the thing to pick up her spirits.

The only set back was I had everything ready to go at work but no wrapping paper or ribbon. But that didnt stop me from thinking outside the box. With a little brown paper from the stationery cupboard, a little folded red paper ribbon (that wont get crumpled when packaged) and a nice quote glued to the front, it's cheap, effective and will most certainly make her feel better.

If you're wondering what the quote was I used, here it is:

The mediocre teacher tells.

The good teacher explains.

The superior teacher demonstrates.

The great teacher inspires.

William Arthur Ward

For a massive list of fantastic quotes, I use The Quote Garden. Almost every subject you can think of, and more!

Hopefully when my Mum receives the gift she might leave a comment on how it went down when she opened it (hint hint Mum!).

Till next time....

d+s