Christmas Gift Wrapping Ideas & Inspiration

I can’t believe Christmas is only a week away!  If feels like everything having to do with the holiday has been a scramble this year, and wrapping presents is no different.  I’ve mentioned before that I love to make gift wrap just as meaningful as the gift I’m giving, so I always put in a lot of time and energy when it comes to wrapping.  I usually find most of my ideas and inspiration on Pinterest (surprise, surprise), which you can see on my board.  There isn’t an extreme about of pins, so here are some examples of presents I’ve wrapped in the past.  Enjoy!

Musical Christmas Gift Wrap

I sometimes like to hint at what could be inside the wrapping, and this present was a CD!  All I did was print out free sheet music of Jingle Bells onto some pretty resume paper I had, then I attached a few small bells to ribbon and tied a bow.  This was one of my favorite wrapping ideas, and I loved how it came out!  You can usually find bells at any craft store, especially during the holidays.

Daniel and I have always loved Disneyland ever since we began dating, and we ended up gravitating towards Minnie and Mickey (as most couples do).  I usually like to throw in something of them when I’m wrapping gifts for Daniel.  I found this brown gift bag at Target and wanted to make it a bit more personal.  So I found this super cute photo of Minnie and Mickey, printed it out on cardstock and made a gift tag!

Minnie and Mickey Mouse Christmas Gift Tag

Disney Christmas Gift Tag

Another year I used the same photo as the main event!

Disney Christmas Wrapping Ideas

Penguin Christmas Wrapping

I often reuse wrapping from packages, such as brown paper from Amazon shipments.  This penguin tissue paper came in a pair of shoes Daniel bought from Penguin clothing company.  I thought it was way too adorable to throw out, and it ended up being the perfect size for a small gift I had!

Sometimes all you need is a variety of ribbons and bows to make standout gift wrapping.  I especially like this basket weave technique because of how clean and modern it looks.

Basket Weave Christmas Ribbon

I made this big bow with some wrapping paper scraps!

DIY Gift Bow

Here are a few more examples of things you can do with ribbons and bows!

Christmas Wrapping Ideas

Blue Christmas Wrapping

Blue Christmas Wrapping

Ideas for Christmas Wrapping

I found this fun plaid wrapping paper at a 99 cent store!  I’ve often found great wrapping and trimmings at discount stores, and Daniel and I always take a trip to Target after Christmas.  The sales can be amazing, we’ve found things as low as 60 cents!  It’s a great way to stock up for next year!

Gift Wrapping Ideas for Christmas

Red Ribbon and Brown Paper Christmas Wrapping

Sometimes I like to choose a theme when wrapping, you can see here I chose brown paper and red ribbon as my theme.  This gave a very nice elegance to my presents, and I thought it could work for both men and women.

I also like to play with different color combinations.  I did green on green here!

Green on Green Christmas Wrapping

I was going for more masculine colors when I did this brown and gold combination.

Brown and Gold Christmas Wrapping

At some point during our relationship, coloring books became a “thing” for us.  One year I was giving Daniel a gift certificate, but I wanted to present it in a meaningful way.  So I decided to make my own envelope using a coloring book page (featuring Minnie and Mickey, of course)!  I used this template and it turned out great, take a look!

DIY Coloring Book Envelope

This would also be great for homemade cards!

Disney Coloring Book Envelope

Well, I’m happy to say that I only have a few gifts left to wrap, and I will hopefully be done before the weekend!  I hope all of you out there are finding time to relax amidst the holiday rush, and hopefully this helped you find some gift wrapping ideas and inspiration!


Christmas Time at Disneyland

Disneyland Snowflake Entrance

Ok, so if you read my Halloweentime at Disneyland travel post, you know that it’s my absolute favorite time to visit.  But a VERY close second is during Christmas Time at Disneyland!  Seriously, if you love the Christmas season, this is the perfect time to plan your Disneyland trip.  Disney goes all out with their decorations, festive food, and entertainment.

The entire park is adorned with holiday touches, aromas of gingerbread waft from cafes, shops have a variety of Christmas gifts and ornaments – but don’t take my word for it, check out some of my photos and tips below!

As you walk into the park, you’ll see Main Street is all decked out!

Main Street Christmas Decorations

Disneyland City Hall Christmas Decorations

Make sure to get your picture taken in front of the HUGE Christmas tree!

Disneyland Christmas Tree

Daniel & Michele with Disneyland Christmas Tree

Sleeping Beauty’s castle gets a Christmas makeover as well.  Another great photo opportunity!

Christmas Sleeping Beauty Castle

Daniel & Michele with Christmas Sleeping Beauty Castle

Sleeping Beauty Castle Christmas Decorations

I love how they decorate New Orleans Square within the theme.

New Orleans Square Christmas Decorations

New Orleans Square Santa Decorations

Disneyland Christmas Desserts

I’m sure you can guess that Disneyland’s bakeries would have a plethora of Christmas treats, well, you’re right!  My favorite treat that I had to get every year was the hot chocolate!  I was sort of expecting it to just be a packaged Swiss Miss-like drink, but was pleasantly surprised at the richness and quality of the chocolate.  So good!  Plus, it will help to keep you warm as the sun goes down!

Tip:  While some of you from colder states may think:  “how cold can LA possibly get?”  You’d be surprised!  I’m originally from Maine, and I was often taken aback at the how cold it got, especially at night.  Certainly not that face burning, nose hair freezing frigidness, but it still manages to chill you to the bone!  We would always see tourists looking pretty miserable, because they were unprepared for the cold.  I suggest dressing in layers, wearing warm shoes, and having a stash of gloves, hats, and scarves.  Take advantage of the lockers at the entrance of the park, so you don’t have to carry everything all day long! Read more »


Portland Pumpkin Patch

Corn Field Panorama

Pumpkin Patch Sign

It’s that time of the year again…  Halloween is fast approaching and we need to buy some pumpkins.  And this year we got to explore an Oregon pumpkin patch!  After researching a few places, I found The Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island.  It’s only about 30 minutes away from Portland, and offered a lot of fun activities in addition to picking out pumpkins. Read more »


Halloweentime at Disneyland

Halloweentime Disneyland

Fall is officially here!  Now that I’m living in Portland, I’m starting to miss one of my all time favorite fall activities – Halloweentime at Disneyland!

Disneyland was a favorite pastime for my friends and I when living in Los Angeles, so I’ve pretty much seen Disney decorated for every holiday and many non-holidays.  It could just be because I love the fall and I love Halloween, but I think Halloweentime is the most magical time to visit.

If you’re thinking about a trip to Disneyland, but haven’t set a date yet, read on and maybe this will help you decide when to visit!  Read more »