I asked my 13 year old daughter Ruby to share a gift wrap idea post with us. She has her own Esty shop called Ruby by the Sea, and is an amazing photographer (she takes most of my product photos) Thanks for sharing Ruby!

Since I was 7 years old I've enjoyed giving Christmas presents to my family. This is the first year I'll have enough money to give real gifts (as in not a set of 30 self-made finger knitted necklaces!), and I would really love to have those real gifts packaged pretty.

Here are 10 Christmas wrapping ideas that I hope inspire you too.

Simple brown paper decorated with a cute stamp!

Below are two stamps I love on Etsy...

Bee Stamp from Nora Jane Etsy Shop.Tree stamp by Talk to the Sun

How about re-using the old road maps you haven't needed since Google Maps came around?

Cute & simple. I love how the brown paper and twine make the antlers pop! I saw an antler stamp at the craft store the other day... might have to invest in that! (found via We Lived Happily Ever After)

I will definitely have to try this! Feathers and stamped brown tags.

Brown paper with white polka dots, twine, and a doily. Isn't this just beautiful?!( Found via Pinterest.)

Click here for the DIY via Love That Party

Simple white paper and string and a sprig of rosemary! This would be pretty with any greenery... perhaps eucalyptus?

A colorful assortment trims.

So now you need a gift tag? 1) cut out a little pear shape from a scrap of fabric and glue it to a square of brown paper 2) Make the scrap of fabric look like a little bird by adding details with a fine tipped black pen. Found here.

Or click here to download these free printable gift tags!

Quite a few of these ideas are featuring brown paper. If you don't have any on hand, I find that an inside out paper grocery bag works great!

Did you try any of these packaging ideas? I'd love to see what you came up with!

For more, visit my Pinterest board, Gift Wrapping.

I am so excited to introduce to you the first of many guests posts by Ruby, my thirteen year old daughter! She has so many amazing talents, writing and crafting are just a couple. She has her own Etsy Shop, "Ruby by the Sea", and her own blog (which is private until her mama thinks she old enough to go public). Today, she teaches us how to paint a feather...

For the Annual Los Osos Craft Fair this year, I'm going to sell painted feathers. Today I'm sharing the how-to for the those of you who can't make it to the Kid's Craft Fair!

Gather Your Supplies:

First, collect your feathers. I simply picked up a few in the backyard from the chickens, but you could go to the beach, a lake, really anywhere with birds, or a craft store.

Simply soak in warm soapy water to get them clean. Once they dry, you can preen your feathers to get the individual feather barbs in order, just like a bird would, except use your fingers instead of your beaks.

Decide on paint (I used acrylic), and grab a paint brush (I found that smallest brushes work best).

Start Painting!

With one hand, flatten out the feather onto a piece of scratch paper, and with the other hand, pick up a paint brush and start to paint! I leaned towards stripes and dots when I was deciding on designs. Be gentle with your brush though, it can easily separate the feather barbs if you press too hard.

A few things I learned along the way:

"Zip" your feather strands together before you start painting! That way your feather is smooth on both sides, and it won't look ragged and stringy once painted.