Creative Gift Wrapping with Yarn!

Posted on December 20, 2012 by agy123

Although most people are excited to find out what’s inside a gift box, we take an extra bit of pleasure from the outside, too. A creative bit of wrapping is the icing on the cake, especially if it’s fun to do. Luckily for knitters and crocheters, the perfect wrapping supply is something we have in great abundance: yarn!

We’ve been scouring the web for fun gift wrap ideas as the holidays draw closer, and there are tons of great ideas out there for making the outside of your package just as pretty as the item inside. Here are a few of our favorites:

Monogram Gift Tags

Use your favorite wrapping paper and add a custom gift tag. The yarn-covered ombre monogram letters at the Catch My Party blog caught our eye – their yarn-covered letter is wooden, but we’re going to try the same technique using a smaller letter cut from cardboard or posterboard. Just cut out your letter and start wrapping with yarn! Brushing a bit of glue on the back as you go will help the yarn stay in place. Use holiday colors, the favorite colors of the person receiving the gift, or mix it up with whatever you have in your stash. These letters are perfect to use as-is, or you can embellish them even further as shown in the photo.

Pipecleaner Package Decorations

For a more free-form approach, try the yarn-wrapped pipecleaners idea from the Bloesem Kids blog. Form a pipcleaner into whatever shape you’d like, then wrap with yarn. Easy! And since pipecleaners are so flexible, the options on this project aren’t just limited to names and initials. Make a tree, a star, a heart – the options are limitless. Best of all? Add an extra loop of yarn and your wrapping can be hung up as a decoration!

Yarn Block Prints

If making your own wrapping paper is more your style, you can still work yarn into the process! Block-printing with yarn is easy, quick, and a great project to do with kids. Simply grab a block of wood (or some other hard flat surface that you don’t mind getting paint on), and a bit of yarn. Wrap the yarn around the block in a freeform pattern and tie or tape it off on top of the block. Brush a bit of paint onto the yarn on the bottom of the block, then press onto your blank paper. Voila! Repeat this painting and stamping process until you have as much wrapping paper as you need, and then let it dry. You can find full instructions for this technique on the Whip-Up blog.

Ribbon Replacements

If you’d like the yarn itself to take center stage in your wrapping, use it instead of ribbon to wrap around your gifts. In the Fun Lane has great photos of how simple brown kraft paper allows yarn to shine. Wrap it in a freeform path for an organic look. Or, for something more geometric, wrap several strands vertically and then weave several more strands through horizontally. Keeping all the yarn in the same color scheme will make all your gifts look coordinated no matter how much you experiment with creative wrapping ideas. And of course, a few yarn pompoms never hurt! Here’s our favorite easy technique for making pompoms with a fork.