Holiday Gift Wrap Pairings

Okay, show of hands: who gets just as excited about finding the perfect wrapping paper during the holiday season? Or really, any time of year! My color palette changes from year to year, but I always enjoy mixing traditional holiday patterns with non-traditional (aka year-round) gift wrap patterns. So today I thought I’d show you how I’m wrapping my holiday gifts this season and how I’m mixing and matching my holiday gift wrap pairings to create an eclectic holiday vibe. Oh, and the ribbons! That might actually be my favorite part. Plus, I’ve got a fun DIY gift tag coming up tomorrow that adds just the perfect amount of sparkle to your holiday gifts. Let’s jump right in!

Each year, I start with a color palette. In past years I’ve done kraft paper gift wrap with red and white accents, I’ve done all metallics, and last year I went with pink and green in honor of my daughter’s favorite colors. I’m normally not a traditional red-and-green-Christmas kind of girl, but this year I was definitely feeling it â€“ so I decided to just roll with it! My color palette for this year ended up being red, white, and black mixed with pops of green, gold, and silver. I’m loving it!

Once I have my color palette established, I pick out 1-2 patterns in the following categories: traditional, modern, and non-traditional. This year, my traditional patterns were plaid and tiny polka dots, my modern pattern was large painterly dots, and my non-traditional patterns were iridescent white and green marbled gift wrap. I find it’s easiest to mix linear patterns (like stripes and plaids), polka dot patterns (large and small), solids, and one organic or abstract pattern like marbling or hand painted patterns. You can definitely mix illustrated gift wrap patterns, but make sure you pick different pattern sizes (not all large scale illustrations or all small scale illustrations) and keep them in the same color palette to avoid clashing.

Let’s start with the traditional patterns! I can’t resist a good buffalo check, and I went all in with a plaid ribbon, too! It looks so pretty with a bit of greenery tucked into the ribbon! I also love the plaid ribbon layered over white iridescent gift wrap from the Target birthday party supply aisle.

Buffalo Check Gift Wrap | White Iridescent Gift Wrap | Plaid Grosgrain Ribbon | Glitter Wire Ribbon | Gold Metallic Line Ribbon

You can’t go wrong with polka dots! I love the contrast between the tiny red and gold polka dots (from this year’s Sugar Paper for Target collection) and the larger multicolor hand painted dots from Our Heiday. And those new Drittofilo cotton ribbons from Angela Liguori? An instant favorite!

Red and Gold Dot Gift Wrap | Hand Painted Dot Gift Wrap | Drittofilo Cotton Ribbons (in Natural with Black, Red, and Gold edges)

Don’t they look so pretty all mixed together? When wrapping a set of gifts (these are Star Wars books for our nephew) with multiple patterns, I like to keep the ribbon fairly simple. This gold tinsel ribbon is simple but very festive!

Hand Painted Dot Gift Wrap | Red and Gold Dot Gift Wrap | Buffalo Check Gift Wrap | Gold Tinsel Ribbon

This iridescent white gift wrap is pretty much my favorite thing ever. That shimmer! And I love the way it can look surprisingly traditional or completely modern depending on the trim!

White Iridescent Gift Wrap | Plaid Grosgrain Ribbon | Wood Spool Stripe Ribbon (in Natural/Black) | Silver Tinsel Ribbon | Mint Color Twist Wool Ribbon

I’m completely obsessed with this green marbled gift wrap. The color is just perfect for the holiday season! This particular design is from Katie Leamon in the UK, but this fair trade handmade paper is also really pretty and can be found at Paper Source if you want it in time for Christmas.