Even a modest gift takes on the cachet of a precious jewel when presented with imagination. Although a vast assortment of beautiful paper and ribbon exists, there is little holiday wrapping that reflects our culture. Instead of settling for Santas, snowmen or something similarly generic, why not create your own African-inspired packages? Rubber stamps, beads and decorative stickers offer cultural patterns and imagery that can be adapted easily to any season. Friends and relatives will be moved knowing the effort you put into presentation. Without a lot of fuss you can use these basic ideas to add your own cultural touches to centerpieces, ornaments and other holiday decorations.
MATERIALS
Some items we used are available at stationery stores, but overall you'll do better to check out these alternatives:
Your local crafts store is a treasure trove. Chains such as Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts or Michaels carry fabrics, trims, glue guns, beads, stickers, raffia and rubber stamps.
Fabric and trim shops offer a beautiful array of cloth ribbon by the yard. This is easier to work with than foils and cheaper than ribbon on a roll because you're not paying for the manufacturer's packaging. The assortment of hem trims is also varied, with designs that look African, Moroccan, Indian and Caribbean.
Rubber-stamp boutiques are generally a surer bet for ethnically inspired stamps than less specialized retailers. For example, we used a stamp kit of 31 West African symbols created for Chronicle Books ([800] 722-6657, or visit chroniclebooks.com). We found all our stamps at The Ink Pad in New York ([212] 463-9876), which has literally thousands of designs! These boutiques, as well as local crafts stores, often run workshops on rubber-stamping techniques. See Shop for contact information on specific manufacturers of the stamps we used. If you still don't find what you want, remember you can copy a design from a book and take it to an office-supply chain like Staples or Office Max and have it custom made for very little money.
Specialty stationery stores are the place for decorative stickers. Larger chains usually carry few cultural patterns and images; mom-and-pop paper operations are happier to place special orders. Mrs. Grossman's Paper Company in Petaluma, California, has an enormous selection ([800] 429-4549 for a store near you, or visit mrsgrossmans.com).
TIPS
* You can rubber-stamp right onto sturdy craft paper without bleeding through, but when stamping onto tissue, place a layer of cardboard or paper towels underneath to avoid staining your work surface.
* When using the same rubber stamp for various colors, remember to spray it with rubber-stamp cleaner and wipe it dry before proceeding to the next ink pad. Otherwise, colors blend and become muddy.
* Unless you are creating a repeating pattern on craft paper, wrap the gift and tie it with ribbon first, then apply stamps or stickers so you don't obscure their lovely designs.
* Apply fringe, rickrack and other trimmings with regular glue Or a hot-glue gun to borders, box lids and sides of boxes.
* String beads onto the loose ends of a bow and tie a knot so they don't slip off.
Source: www.findarticles.com
COPYRIGHT 2001 Essence Communications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group
