Revved Up Gift Set

It is a fact, universally acknowledged, that masculine cards and gifts are harder to make than those with a feminine theme. Or maybe I (Lauren) am the only one who used to think so? But thanks to Eyelet Outlet I'm now definitely an Equal Opportunity Embellisher. For this gift set, I combined lots of EO Gear Brads, Compasses, Anodized Stars and manly washi tapes with papers from Prima Marketing's "Craftsman" collection. I think it's a bit of a match made in heaven!

I made the bag first. I added a nice thick band alternating layers of torn paper and Brick Tape, Circuit Tape, Map Tape, Road Tape, and Wheels Tape; but really ANY combination of tapes which work well together would be equally good. I adorned the picture wheel with tiny 1/16" Round Brads in gold, and added some old-school Brushed Brass Eyelets to the corners of the label shape. Finally I added the fabulous vintage car (snipped from an old falling apart book I got at a garage sale) and a few Anodized Stars. The extra eagle-eyed will notice that in with the gears I've slipped a few Film Cans from our Movie Brads and Faucet Valves from the Pipe Brad Set; because they both look like they belong, and you don't always have to just use things the way they were originally intended! ;)

When it came to making the card, I basically made a pared down version of the same design, but I added a sentiment. It's a combination of small foam letter stickers and my own larger diecut alphas, made from cardstock covered with Map Tape! The background again uses the Map Tape, Brick Tape and Circuit Tape and I've thrown in another Compass and some Anodized Stars.

When it comes to creative embellishing, Eyelet Outlet *always* has your back!

Lauren Bergold

has never been a "less is more" 

kinda gal!

Washi + Flowers + Bling!

Hi folks, it's Lauren here again. Everyone knows how much I love to wrap presents, especially for my nieces and nephews. So when my niece Lindsay Marie turned fifteen (15!!!) last week, I wanted to go big, which meant I needed ALL my favorite Eyelet Outlet embellishment categories: washi, flowers and bling!

I've mentioned before that I'm kind of... well... cheap, lol. So if I can buy plain giftbags inexpensively --or better yet-- if I can re-use a shopping bag, I'm a happy camper. In this case I started with a very pretty oversized bag from the New York Botanical Garden. It was exactly the right size and had that neat fern detail on the front and back. Unfortunately, it had the logo, too; in really large print. I tried putting ordinary washi over top, but the black typeface still showed through. Luckily, I had some glitter tape, which is very sparkly but not at all see-through. It also lets me avoid the wrath of Lindsay's father (my brother, Bill) who has declared glitter giftwrap and ribbon OFF LIMITS in his home, since he's only just now finally gotten all the carpets clean after last xmas' giftwrapping excesses.

I love to personalize presents. It is my belief that *everyone* secretly hopes the fanciest gift is for them, and that most of us totally get a kick from our name being on it! I recently found these beautiful, oversized, silver chipboard letters, and they looked good on top of the glitter tape, but my motto is: NEVER give up a chance to embellish!!! So I added a strip of Zigzag Purple tape and a fun Skinny Foil tape to each letter before adding them to the bag.

Lindsay's favorite color is purple (in case you hadn't guessed, lol!) so I finished off with some Purple Paper Flowers with purple Flower Jewels at their centers. I cut some older green flowers apart to serve as leaves, and finally added most of a package of clear Swirl Bling... cut apart and slightly re-arranged, in order to fit the space better. 

Don't forget to drop by again for designer inspiration, every day! ♥

Lauren Bergold

has rarely met a Sparkly Thing

she didn't love!

Giftwrapping, In the Bag!

Here's a shocking true confession: I (Lauren) hate buying gift bags! They're so expensive, and often not very good quality. The good news is, I have Eyelet Outlet washi tape and embellies, so instead of buying pre-made gift bags, I buy inexpensive plain bags in bulk and personalize them! 

This bag was made for my sister, Amie's, birthday gift. And I confess it was made a bit last minute, so I needed a few Ninja tricks to speed up the process. Trick #1: Washi tape covers a lot of ground quickly. Standard sized (5/8") tape is great, but at almost 1.25" our many beautiful EO Wide Washi Tapes are even better, and the Wide Lines Washi I've paired my butterlies with is 1.75". The latter has so many colors and patterns, it matches nearly every tape in my collection! Trick #2: Use a shoebox to hold the gift bag open. This will make it much easier to apply the tape, since the empty bag will want to keep folding up on you. You really needn't cover the entire bag; a few strips around the top of the bag add loads of interest. You don't have to take the tape 360 degrees, either, but the nice thing about tape is, it's one lonnnnnnnng piece that already has adhesive! So if you decide you do want to go all the way around the bag, it's easy! However much or little tape you decide to use, you'll want to start and end in the "folds" at the side of the bag, so you never see the ends of the tape. Apply one strip at a time, and if you're not confident enough to "eyeball" a straight line, a tiny pencil mark at each edge will keep you on track!

Trick #3: An oversized monogram is a really fast way to personalize your bag. My giant letter A is almost 5 x 8" and I printed it as an outline, on plain white cardstock, using a free font called "Storybook". I applied the same tapes I used on the bag, but you could use a coordinating-- or even a contrasting-- design to get different looks. Trick #4: Since most washi tape is translucent, you don't need to pre-cut-out a monogram to use as template! In this case, I just applied the tape right over the outline, and as you can see, it was still perfectly visible for me to trim up afterward. I use an Xacto knife for interior cuts (like the triangle at the top of the A) and regular scissors for the rest.

 

Trick #5: A coordinating mat makes your monogram stand out even more. Having said that, the "ghost effect" of the un-matted dimensional letter gives a totally different, but equally cool look. In this case, though, I did use a mat, which I chose to go with the Solid Color Paper Flowers I added for a little more color and interest. Since they come in nine colors, it's not hard to find a shade that will match perfectly! Trick #6: Green flowers are an awesome addition to your collection, because you can snip the petals apart and make them into leaves, as well, like I've done here. 

Again, this is hard to beat for speed and ease: I attached the flowers to the monogram with some beautiful oversized Pearl Brads and affixed the monogram to the bag with a few strips of foam tape, for extra dimension. Finally, I applied a strip of extra tape to a scrap of cardstock and fussycut a few extra butterflies to perch on the flowers.

With hundreds of varieties of washi tape in the Eyelet Outlet Store, I'm confident you can find LOTS of designs you'll love... and lots of ways to use them! ♥

Lauren Bergold

really, reallllllly loves

wrapping presents!

Gift Wrapping Is My Bag, Baby!

I (Lauren) may have mentioned that before. But I never get tired of making extra-fancy presents for my friends and family. Especially (...but not limited to...) the kiddos. It's amazing how quick and easy it is to make a plain boring giftbag from the big box store into something infinitely more colorful and fun... with Eyelet Outlet Washi Tape!

You've seen me make washi tape into patterned paper before, just by applying tape in neat strips on plain white cardstock. And that's what I did this time to make the star bag, but instead of choosing one pattern of tape, I made a washi rainbow! I used a homemade star template from my computer to trace the star and cut it out with scissors. Then I matted the whole thing onto a scrap of glossy black cardstock and cut it out again. For the heart bag I used a store-bought stencil for the shape, and this time I applied the tape in a sort of plaid pattern, alternating between placing the tapes horizontally and vertically, so it would be more interesting. I matted that one on a coordinating shade of purple. I machine-stitched around the edges of both shapes to add a little extra texture.

I affixed both shapes to their bags using a few pieces of foam tape. But first I wanted to add a little more color to the bags. The nice thing about washi tape is that it comes in lonnnnnnnnnnng rolls... so you never have to worry about how wide or tall your project is. I marked an even point on the right and left sides of the front and back of each bag. Then I applied my tapes carefully, one at a time, in long strips that went alllllllllllllllll the way around the bag! By starting inside the fold at the side of each bag (and working neatly) I was able to hide the place where each strip of tape overlaps at the end of its run. I love how it looks seamless, and I can tell you that when non-papercrafters see something like this, they have NO IDEA how you've done it! (So when you make your own version, if you want to tell them it was *MAGIC* your secret will be safe with me!) ;)

On the star bag, I used: Red Dot Tape, Blue Stars and a couple of Skinny Print Tapes for variety; the star itself has: Heart Washi, Orange Stars, Crayon Tape, Blue Stars, Purple Checked, Skinny Yellow Dots, Skinny Green Stripes and Confetti Tape.

On the heart I added a stack of Paper Flowers with an Enamel Dot center, and these tapes: Pink Checked, Purple Zigzag, Pink Dots, Skinny Pink Dots and Skinny Pink Checks plus Heart Tape; with Wide Star Washi and Skinny Glitter Tape on the bag. But really... both of these designs would work with literally ANY combination you'd like to use! You could work in a specific color group--either the recipient's favorite combination, or to commemorate a school or team. Or use the entire rainbow--either randomly or in the ROYGBIV spectrum. You could even combine tapes thematically, for an occasion like a birthday or holiday. The only limit to the variation is your own imagination!

Need even more great ideas for using Eyelet Outlet Washi Tape, Brads or Bling? Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see all the latest makes from our amazing design team! ♥

Lauren Bergold's favorite color 

is RAINBOW!!!

♥♥♥

Very Merry Monograms

If you're anything like me (Lauren) the week before Christmas is all about getting those holiday presents wrapped and delivered, either in person or via the mail. Here's a fast and easy idea for personalized gift bags, and best of all, it uses something I know you already have in your crafty stash: gorgeous Eyelet Outlet Holiday Washi Tape!

Customized monograms are simple to make, thanks to the fact that our computers come loaded with beautiful fonts. Having measured the front of my plain white, medium-sized, big-box-store gift bags, I knew my oversized initials needed to be just under 8" tall, and no more than 6" wide. Since these bags are for two of my favorite kids, Carlos and Isabel, I tried a few different styles before settling on a free font called Vexler Slip. I gave the letters a medium thick outline in black, but no fill color, so that when I printed them on plain white cardstock, I could apply the washi tape directly on top of the outlines, and still see exactly where to cut out when I was done! Then came the fun part: playing with all my pretty red and green tapes!

I decided to start in the middle of each letter and work towards the top and the bottom in a sort of mirror image arrangement, but honestly there is no bad way to do this and neither precision nor a plan is needed! In fact, this would be a great project for the kiddo's to do: let them go wild adding as many (or few) different styles of tape, in whatever order or pattern they like, until the entire monogram is completely covered with washi. 

There's really only one absolutely necessary step, that comes when all of your tapes are on, but before you cut the letter out: be sure to burnish the tapes really well, to make sure every single one is firmly stuck down. You can use a bonefolder for this, or I use the hard plastic handle of my scissors. Then it's time to cut neatly around the outlines, which, as you can see, are still perfectly visible through the tape. Et voila! Fancy holiday monograms that can decorate a card, a package, or even be strung together to spell out a holiday greeting!

I've used mine, as we know, on a pair of gift bags for my young friends. You can seriously use ANY combination of tapes for a project like this, but in this case my letter C features: super-cute Green Santa Tape, Holly Tape, Skinny Merry Christmas, Solid Skinny Bright and Pastel Green; while the design behind the letter on Carlos' bag also has: Skinny Gold Dots, Red Dots, and Vertical Red Trees. 

Remember to look at all your tapes in the planning stages; I've got quite a few non-holiday reds, greens, pinks and even gold mixed in with my more specifically Christmassy patterns. Basic designs like dots, stripes and solids really do go with everything. On Isabel's initial and bag, I used: Santa Washi Tape, Red Dots, Merry Christmas, Skinny Pink Tape, Wide Tree Tape, and Season's Greetings.

Of course good design is important, but really... EVERY gift that's given with love looks beautiful under the Christmas tree, doesn't it?

Wishing the happiest and most joyful of holidays to you and your family! ♥♥♥

Lauren Bergold

spends more time on her blog 

outside the holiday season, honestly!

Just Say, "NOEL!"

What's your favorite crafty thing about the holidays? For me, (Lauren) it's got to be fancy giftwrapping! Don't get me wrong, I love making cards and presents, but it's my belief that upon seeing a really beautiful package, everyone kind of secretly hopes that it's for them! The good news is, it doesn't take much effort to make that be true for everyone on your list. My secret weapons: plain gift bags, bought in bulk; and Eyelet Outlet holiday washi tapes!

There are soooooooo many beautiful varieties it's hard to choose... so I didn't, lol; this bag has five tapes and five brad styles! But this idea would be just as lovely (and more CAS!) if all the letters had the same pattern. I really love the way different tapes mix and match, though, so I've used Holiday Ornaments Tape, Pine Tree Tape, Heart Washi (who says hearts are just for Valentine's Day?!) and Holiday Dots Tape. To construct the sentiment, I've lined up neat strips of tape on scraps of white cardstock, traced around some old chipboard alphabets, and hand cut each letter. But to save time, you could use alphabet dies, or dress up storebought diecuts.

After my letters were complete, I trimmed a piece of holiday sheet music and added a border made from Christmas Washi. Finally, it was time to add a few embellies. I decided on a Poinsettia Brad, a Cardinal Brad and a Holly Brad, as well as some Elf and Snowflake Brads. But again, you could still get a beautiful effect by choosing just a couple... why not mix and match a few new treats with styles you already have in your stash? Remember that hearts, flowers, foliage, musical notes and many other motifs can work for ANY occasion, so feel free to combine holiday and non-holiday elements!

I hope you'll be inspired to consider using items from your own crafty stash when it comes to wrapping presents this holiday season!

Lauren Bergold 

has nieces and nephews who don't realize you can BUY 

giftwrap and cards in a store, lol! :)