creative gift wrapping with Darby Smart + Gap

Today I’m so excited to be sharing a project with you that I was lucky enough to work on as a Darby Smart designer. If you’re not familiar with Darby Smart, they’re an online company who works with leading designers to create simple DIY project kits that include chic materials and simple instructions, and send them to you.

A few weeks ago, Darby Smart notified their designers that they were partnering with the Gap to put together a gift wrapping package for this holiday season. Darby Smart asked us to submit gift tag designs for these kits. The five most popular designs were chosen to be a part of this limited edition gift wrapping. I submitted a gift tag design with my watercolor stag art that didn’t, ahem, win. no, I’m not bitter… Although it didn’t win, it really was a fun project and promotion to be a part of. And you can still get this tag – and all of my holiday gift tags in my Etsy shop. They’re downloadable files so you can have them today!

And then this week, I received an early release of the Darby Smart gift wrapping kit that will be in Gap stores – and through Darby Smart directly – starting today! It is awesome! They asked us to be creative with our gift wrapping and share it with fellow designers and you!

Here’s everything that’s included in this gift wrapping kit – it is so much fun!

• Baker’s twine
• Silver glitter washi tape
• Silver metallic pen
• Wooden gift tags
• DS designer created paper gift tags
• Kraft wrapping paper

You can get the kit here and share all your gift wrapping ideas with the Darby Smart community too.

I went a little crazy and created a mini winter scene to adorn my wrapped gift. I know this might not be the most practical gift wrapping solution but it was so. much. fun. to. make. And the houses were actually very easy to make – especially since I’m including a template for you to follow! So you can create your own mini winter scene and make your gift packages super fun too. Click here to download the template.

Here’s the instructions to create these mini houses and winter scene:

Print out the template.

Glue the template onto the back of colorful paper – such as scrapbook paper.

Trim out the house shape, fold it along the dotted lines and glue the tabs in place. My template makes 2″ square houses which is the perfect size to fit a standard LED tea light inside. Or if you want them smaller or larger, just reduce or enlarge the template when printing.

After the houses are assembled, you can add all the embellishments you’d like. I cut out paper to look like a flower box, a wreath, doors, stone pathways, and textured roofs. I also glued small dots onto string for the lights. I used the silver washi tape included in the package for a big star on the wooden house.

I continued the winter scene by adding a little skating pond. I just placed a piece of Press-n-Seal Saran Wrap onto a piece of blue felt.

I glued a few bottle brush trees and some fake snow and there’s my winter scene!

I added an LED tea light into my larger house for a little ambiance. I needed to cut a “door” into the back of the house to slide the light in. Instructions are on my template.

It’s quite the gift topper! Or, you could turn this scene into a holiday centerpiece. Put it on a piece of cardboard instead of a gift box and set it on a cake stand! Instant creative holiday decoration.

Or just keep it simple and make one small house to add some swag to your gifts.

So how can you get your hands on one of these boxes?! Just head to Gap! They’re being given as a gift with a purchase of $50 or more in 350 Gap stores nationwide starting today December 17th! Or click here to order one from Darby Smart directly. Be sure to visit Darby Smart to see other awesome ideas for your holiday gift wrapping too. And maybe you’ll create your own gift wrapping masterpiece with their supplies. And don’t forget to share your creation using #GapxDarbySmart!

I absolutely love creating new projects for my blog and I love being able to share them through Darby Smart as one of their many designers. Enjoy!