I’m finally wrapping up my Christmas preparations!
It seems to take me as long as I have to prepare~
If Thanksgiving falls a week early,
it takes the extra week :)
I had several Pottery Barn shopping bags this holiday season~ several were double bagged for the weight of my gifts & purchases.
Too pretty to toss in the recycling bin,
I thought I’d recycle as gift wrap~
Since birds of a feather flock together,
they took flight to find a home
on and under my ladder tree,
among the other birds in my Potting Shed.
I added some fresh greenery, burlap & tartan ribbon, pine cones, acorns, feathers, eggs, lichen and bits of moss to decorate the packages with hot glue. If you look closely you can see the glue strings , you can make them disappear with a burst of heat from a hair dryer. :)
This plaid box from Pottery Barn held a diffuser and holiday candle I received as a gift, now dressed for Christmas, recycled but not regifted :)
Just ready to be unwrapped for the second time
with a different gift inside :)
A few gifts are wrapped in brown kraft paper with good wishes and greetings offered with reproduction vintage post cards~
Lenox Winter Song arrived with colder weather and more seasonal December temperatures for winter~
And this adorable Chickadee ornament
flew south from Philly to nest with me~
He migrated safely in a Christmas plaid tin
which made me Happier than a Pig in Mud :)
Thank you Lynn, I promise to
feed and give him a good home!
Hope you’re wrapping up all your Christmas preparations!
Thank you for your visit, sharing with:
Tablescape Thursday
such an abundance of joy and beauty… a storm is raging about us and yet you have given me a new calm… all is peaceful and beautiful at your home. i hope you will have a wonderful holiday, i know its a difficult time, but you make it all so festive i hope it that all your extra heart felt touches make it a special time for everyone.
as always, thanks so much for making my senses dance~
Love the ladder tree…how creative! I’m a big fan of bringing nature indoors & you make it look beautiful.
Dear Mary,
Each of your postings are like a big welcome mat – beautiful, warm and inviting! I wish we lived on the same lake!
Merry Christmas!
Suzanne
Mary, it is all so perfectly gorgeous down to the finest detail as you always do. Merry Christmas!
You already know I love Lenox and birds and postcards so I don’t have to say this post is right up my alley! :D :D Love recycling shopping bags. Sur Le Table had a great shopping bag, too. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Hugs–
Mary,
Everything looks beautiful! Love the recycling. Have a wonderful Christmas!
Your packages look like my bed! I treated myself to the “Winter Birds” duvet cover and shams, and the red throw for the holidays. Looking at your beautiful photos, I was struck by how they’d make such lovely Christmas cards. Merry Christmas to you and yours, Mary!
Love the birds, natural materials, recyclables paired so beautifully with your pretty Christmas Lenox china, etc. This post inspires me to finish my wrapping with a few more found objects!! Merry Christmas and much gratitude for your lovely blog!!
Yvonne, your blog is absolutely the most beautiful blog I’ve ever seen. You never cease to amaze me with your talent, photography and eye for detail. I hope you and yours have a Blessed and very Merry Christmas.
Mary, The paper is wonderful and all the gifts are beautifully wrapped. I hope you have a very Merry Christmas. Xx, Sherry
Mary, those are some amazingly beautiful wrapped presents! I hope you and your family have a marvelous Christmas!
Beautiful recycling ideas…we do the same! Even if it ends up in the landfill eventually, let it live several useful lives in between!
Merry Christmas, Mary…Thank you for letting us share your joy in your beautiful surroundings…
Hi Mary,
I LOVE all your beautifully wrapped gifts, and I love, love all the plaid! I can tell you had lots of fun making these packages so pretty and festive. Your potting shed looks prettier every day. :)
I wish you and yours a Joyous Christmas and a Blessed New Year.
Hugs,
Denise
More photos from that darling shed – If I were your neighbour I’d be asking to move in! Merry Christmas!
Everything looks beautiful Mary! Gorgeous packages and I love your pretty china and as always the napkins catch my eye-great paisley! Glad the chickadee found such a good home! Merry Christmas-enjoy:@)
I think I could spend hours perusing your blog, Mary. Everything is so fun, festive and so very creative. What a great idea to recycle those lovely bags.
I have to confess that I totally copy-catted you! I was in World Market yesterday to buy some of their wonderful coffee and spotted that adorable stainless with the Nordic stocking pattern. Would you believe it was on sale for 50% off, so a service for eight jumped right in my basket! I intend to use it for other occasions other than Christmas — right through the winter months, Valentines, and maybe even the 4th of July (I tend to just see the lovely colors that match a lot of my Fiesta dishes and not so much that it’s a stocking pattern — guess I’m a bit weird that way….lol!). Anyway, hope you don’t mind the “copy.”
Have a very Merry Christmas!
Carol
Absolutely beautiful, Mary! I love the idea of using the store bags as wrapping paper! Some stores have such good quality/pretty bags that it IS a shame to waste all that beauty!!! You have gone above and beyond this year in creating a fabulous Christmas-y home! Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!!!
Mary, I hope your pretty bird gifts are just for decoration, because they are too beautiful to open. Wishing you and your family a most wonderful Christmas. Hope Chloe and Gracie get lots of treats in their stockings. I’m sure they’ve been very good.
Mary, such beautiful wrapping, I love the natural pine and rustic burlap twines mixed with the prints. I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas, you have made my season richer.
Gorgeous wrap Mary…I got PB to give me a nice “roll” of their paper, saying that I would wrap things myself!!…I love how you saved the bags for wrapping…they packages are gorgeous!!….and we just ate on the Winter Song dinnerware…my daughter in law got the set for her birthday a few days ago…they are beautiful….MERRY CHRISTMAS MARY!!!
This is crazy gorgeous use of your birdies. Very smart to wrap w/the store bags. Love every professional looking detail.
I saved those PB bags, too. They were just gorgeous this year. I think they should sell gift wrap rolls. ;o) However, your presents are too pretty to unwrap. They need to go under a cloche. I love that Lenox pattern, too. If your house looks anything like the potting shed, it must be a sight to see. Hope Santa Claus is good to you!
Wow! Your gift wrap is a work of art…..I bet no one wants to open their gifts!! Everything looks just fabulous and oh so festive. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and all the best in 2013!
The packages are all wrapped so prettily. I love how festive your potting shed is for Christmas. It’s like a playhouse for you! I want one. Actually, I really want a greenhouse!!! Santa must not have read my letter yet. ;P
I hope you had a very Merry Christmas. We’re in Mexico, and I’m happy we missed all the tornadoes in the Southeast yesterday!
xo,
RJ
Your designs are truly lovely.
Mary your wrapping is so unique and special; love the natural elements attached!
Wishing you a wondrous Holiday and All the best in the year ahead!
Love and Hugs,
Karena
Art by Karena
I’m so inspired! Re-purposing the Pottery Barn bags is sheer genius. One of the prettiest displays of gift-wrapping that I’ve seen. Thanks for inviting us for a peak. Cherry Kay
I love how you’ve repurposed the PB bags for wrapping gifts. Those were too pretty to throw away. Happy New Year, Mary!
Perfect use of those bags. I thought the same thing when I first saw them at PB. Oh, I do love seeing your talent spread from the porch to the potting shed. Every detail is stunning. ~ Sarah
PS
Guess who is snuggled up beside me in a cozy RL throw? I need to send you a photo. ;-)
I love your posts they are always so beautiful but your Christmas ladder in your potting shed is to die for it is fabulous keep up the great ideas you inspire me so much. Happy Holidays to you and your family. susie Date: Sun, 23 Dec 2012 20:51:05 +0000 To: siameseguru@hotmail.com
This is your potting shed? You are putting the rest of us to shame! So, so beautiful! Plaid, birds, that rustic-refined tug, I love it all! I saw that ribbon at a fabric store and thought “ . . . but what will I use it for . . . ?” – my attempt to talk myself out of buying more “stuff.” Now I wish I had bought it. I, too, recycled the pretty bags from PB, although I just turned around and used them again, without much embelishment. This is such a lovely post!
How lucky are your family/friends to receive such beautifully wrapped gifts!! The ladder tree is amazing, might copy that idea for next year, although you have such an adorable place to decorate, I am quite amazed!!
Beautiful setting, Mary! You do everything so beautifully!
When I was in the Lenox Outlet last week I had to stop myself from buying some of that and the one with the cardinal. I had a great coupon and all the dinner plates were 7.50! Of course the salads etc are always so much more! It was very tempting though! I shopped for a lot of people that day. it was a Lenox Cmas for sure!
Thanks so much for your support of Let’s Dish with your stunning entries. You are always among the top visited blogs.
Happy New Year!
Mary:
You have such a magical touch! What a wonderful idea to re-use the bags.
– The Tablescaper
Some of the nicest giftwrapping I’ve seen! Love Pottery Barn and what a great way to recycle their beautiful patterns…
Linda at Beautiful Ideas
Love all your natural embellishments on very pretty paper. It would be so much fun to receive a package from you so artfully decorated.
Wow, your gift wrapping is exquisite and I adore your dishes. My grandmother loved birds. She would have loved your design. Just beautiful.
Beautiful wraps, so pretty!…Christine
I’m catching up with my blog reading!! lad I didn’t miss this one!! It’s beautiful- the wrapping, the dishes, the setting, but most of all-the photos!!
Love it all!
First time to your blog – what a delight! Love all your birdy stuff and the way you’ve put everything together so charmingly. I reused my Pottery Barn bags as gift wrap too – they were fabulous!
Your gift wrap is gorgeous but, I love that ladder tree! Such a delight! Thank you for joining Home Sweet Home!
Sherry
Mary,
I am featuring this today at Home Sweet Home!