How can I possibly follow yesterday’s post? I remain joyously dumbfounded by being chosen for WordPress’ freshly pressed page and the response it generated. I never spent any time going through the freshly pressed page before and I had not realized that the posts on it are selected for the honor. I always thought it was randomly generated. I was humbled by being chosen and I’m grateful for your kind responses. Thank you! It definitely made my month, and possibly my year. I also would like to welcome new readers. I’m really excited that you’ve joined me in this space.
My drive to work is definitely enviable. It only takes me about 25 minutes to get to and from work each day, and the majority of the drive is on a road that curves alongside a river. Yesterday as I was driving home, there was the most delicate steam fog hovering above the river; it was eerily beautiful. For once,I put my money where my mouth is and actually stopped when I wanted to. I may not have had my DSLR with me, but I think my little cell phone captured the moment beautifully. 
I took a short walk and then went home to craft up some more wrapping paper. I used the same materials and method I described in this post, but this time, I fashioned variously sized circles into overlapping Christmas ornaments . I only painted a few of the ornaments a deep fuchsia (which looks burgundy in the photos). I really like simple, clean designs but I can never achieve that understated beauty. I tend to over add to my crafts. For this wrapping paper, I was able to control myself and I’m delighted by the result. It’s understated and pretty and I like that when I see it, it gifts me with the childhood urge to find a coloring book.
Has anyone made their own wrapping paper? Do you prefer clean, simple, and understated design or intricate, over-the-top design?
Great pictures. It’s a big thing, that being freshly pressed and replying to so many comments, still you did not forget posting something new. Great job keep going.
Thanks. I enjoy blogging. Connecting with people brings me joy.
You are such a great crafter. I had no idea you got “freshly pressed.” In fact, I don’t even know what that means, so I will look into it!
Thanks Rose! It means there’s a link to my blog on the wordpress home page, so it generated a lot of traffic here. I was blown away!
Hey Frankie, it’s me again. About how long did it take you to make this wrapping paper? And you didn’t color each bulb? I made a lot of jarred gifts this year and sort of want to put them in paper bags (to save on the cost of Christmas bags that are tossed anyway.) I just want to make sure I’ll have time to do it before Christmas!
Using paper bags is a great idea. This paper took about half an hour, but I was also taking pictures as I went, and talking to my friend on skype. I imagine it could take a lot less time, if you just do it to do it. I only colored in a few bulbs, one color. It looks pretty like that but if you wanted to color them all it would be pretty too, although it’d take longer. You could also color in only a few bulbs in a variety of colors. If you decide to do it, please take a picture so I can see how they turn out (I’m sure they’ll be awesome no matter what!).
The picture along the river is awesome!! Your phone did a GREAT job ! Looks like a super cool path. What part of NJ is that ?
It’s central NJ, near Princeton.
The path really is lovely. I should go more often.
Congrats on being “Freshly Pressed”! That is so exciting and well-deserved
Thank you!
Great idea about making your own wrapping paper, especially in view of the upcoming holidays! Will try to do one using patterns. I’ve never created wrapping paper “from scratch” before, but I did a collage once, taping together many leftover pieces that I could not use for anything else to wrap one big box – it was like a paper quilt, but less tidy – does that count? To answer your question: I usually prefer simple, clean and understated design, though my collage turned out to be exactly the opposite! Congratulations on being Freshly Pressed!
Thank you! I make paper quilts with wrapping paper too! Especially when wrapping big things. I hope making your own wrapping paper is enjoyable.
That fog is sooo creepy! And I love that wrapping paper!
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