It's a wrap!

I am finished wrapping gifts! I even had time to play a little with making pretty packages, which is almost as fun as crafting.  I love making them pretty, especially now that I have the right supplies.  A couple of years ago, I realized why I struggled to pull together a cute "look" on my packages and tags. My gift wrapping never measured up to my expectations, and my stamped gift tags never seemed to coordinate.
So I came up with a plan...

1. I chose a color scheme to stick with for a LONG time--red, cream/white, brown
2. I purged everything that did not fit the new color scheme by donating it to my local clothes pantry.
3. I purchased a roll of brown paper from Lowes*, some white and kraft gift bags in various sizes,  and a few rolls of gift wrap in the new color scheme.

* the brown paper from Lowes is pretty heavy and isn't as easy to work with as normal gift wrap

For birthdays, I use the same supplies, except I added a package of solid colored gift bags in a variety of colors and colored tissue paper. I coordinate yarn or ribbon and homemade gift tags to finish off the look.

Things work together much better now: