Gina Tepper Adds Ribbon Flowers to Playful Doodle Garden Collection

Our popular new Doodle Garden Collection is a Nashville Wraps exclusive design created by our designer Donna Ritchie. If you are looking for packaging that will go from spring to Mother’s Day all the way through summer, it’s a great choice.

The shopping bags and tissue paper are made from 100% recycled paper and the gift wrap is made from 90% recycled paper – all made here in the USA.

Donna explains how this fun design came about. “I love to doodle and that was my inspiration for Doodle Garden. Since I’m always searching new design trends I saw that people were taking up this new drawing style called zentangle, which is a little more detailed than simply doodling. So I got my pens and paper out, and began drawing this floral medley, not being too concerned with the end result, no preliminary sketching involved. Once I added some color it looked really cheerful.” We think so too, and you can dress up Doodle Garden with our tissue paper and coordinating ribbon.

Ribbon Flowers by Gina Tepper

Our friend Gina Tepper shows you in this step-by-step tutorial how to add pretty ribbon flowers to the bags or gift wrap for an extra special gift. Gina is a crafting designer and gift wrap expert. Her designs have appeared on ABC, NBC & FOX affiliates in Washington DC. She has also served as a judge for Scotch Brand’s Most Gifted Wrapper Contest. Visit Gina’s website at www.giftdecorating.com and her blog www.ginatepper.com. 

You can create this fun and playful gift wrap design which is sure to bring a smile using Nashville Wraps’ Doodle Garden Collection. Layered vibrant ribbon and colorful raffia adds texture to this whimsical design. It’s wonderful for feminine birthdays, get well and thank-you gifts, and perfect for teen girls.

Materials Needed

• Doodle Garden Bags and Gift Wrap
• Ribbon
• Raffia
• Paper Flowers
• Rhinestones
• Craft Glue (for securing ribbon)
• Twist Ties
• White Jewelry Boxes
• Recycled White Gift Boxes
• Colored Tissue Paper

Doodle Garden Gift Bags

This gift bag is fun and playful — the layered tissue paper adds height to the presentation and makes it look extra fancy.

Making Ribbon Flowers for Gift Bags

1. Cut pieces of grosgrain ribbon and raffia the length of the front of the Doodle Garden bag.
2. Attach to the bag with craft glue as shown above as shown. Small amounts of glue can be added to the cut edges of the ribbon to prevent fraying.
3. Cut 4 pieces of the green ribbon. For this bow I cut 10″ pieces. For a multi-color bow, I then cut 4 pieces of pink ribbon 8″ in length.
4. Glue the ends together to form a loop. Apply glue to the inside center to create two loops. Layer the loops to form a flower, attaching in the center.
5. Make a second flower in pink a bit smaller for layering. Next, glue the pink flower to the green one.
6. Attach the paper flower and rhinestone to the bow with craft glue. Finally, attach the flower to the gift bag as shown above and fill with layered tissue paper.

Making Jewelry Box Flowers

For another ribbon flower how-to, I’ve used a similar technique for wrapped gifts. Use the Doodle Garden Gift Wrap on Jewelry Gift Boxes for small gifts.

1. Wrap a box in Doodle Garden gift wrap.
2. Wrap pink and green raffia around the box. 
3. Cut 4 pieces of pink grosgrain ribbon. I used 8″ pieces. Length will vary according to flower size. Glue pieces of yellow raffia on each piece of ribbon.
4. Glue the ends together to form a loop like the gift bag flower above. Apply glue to the inside center to create two loops. Layer the loops to form a flower, attaching in the center. 
5. Attach the paper flower and rhinestone to the bow with craft glue and attach to the gift box. 

Making Gift Box Flowers

Nashville Wraps’ Recycled White Gloss Gift & Apparel Boxes come in various sizes and can be used to wrap larger items.

1. Wrap a box in Doodle Garden gift wrap.
2. Wrap green grosgrain ribbon around the box and secure with craft glue. Accent the ribbon with orange raffia and attach tails as shown.
3. Cut 4 pieces of pink grosgrain ribbon. I used 8″ pieces. 
4. Glue the ends together to form a loop. Apply glue to the inside center to create two loops. Layer the loops to form a flower, attaching in the center. 
5. To create a small raffia bow, loop the raffia about 15 times and cinch with a twist tie.
6. Attach the paper flower and rhinestone to the bow with craft glue and attach to the gift box as shown above.

You can find more of Gina’s great wrapping how-to’s here.