Vintage BHG Gift Toppers and Our Modern Iterations

This holiday season, we're reimagining our favorite vintage gift wrap ideas from past issues of BHG.

Katy Kiick Condon is a home and lifestyle editor for Better Homes & Gardens focused on interior design, cleaning, DIY projects and crafts, and all-things holiday and entertaining. Katy has hundreds of hours invested in testing cleaning equipment and products (just ask, and she'll introduce you to your perfect robot-vac match). She has hands-on DIY experience, including wood working, outdoor gardening and building projects, crafts, and painting. Katy has edited publications detailing high-end interior design including "Country Home," "Décor," "Elegant Homes," "Country French," and "Tuscan Style." She has contributed works to The Magazine ANTIQUES, MODERN Magazine, Art in America, and the book "Utopian Images and Narratives in Advertising: Dreams For Sale."

Katy Kiick Condon started her career as a historian, earning her M.A. in the history of design from New York's Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum and The New School. She's never lost touch with her background as an intense researcher and is the self-proclaimed Better Homes & Gardens historian. Between stories on interior design trends and holiday crafts, she can be found flipping through her favorite archival issues: The WWII-era magazines when BH&G exhaustively covered ways to do more with less (wash your garden tools, people!), and attending numerous trade shows and houseware launch events to stay up to date on what's new and next. Katy holds a B.F.A. in the history of art from Syracuse University, along with a minor in English and Textual Studies. She earned her M.A. in the history of design and curatorial studies from Parsons School of Design and the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, writing her thesis on "'The good life' in post-war America."

ADAM ALBRIGHT

Vintage Christmas decorations are all the rage this season, but they're not limited to trees and fireplace mantels! We dipped into our archives and found some of our most creative gift toppers through the years. From '70s-inspired tie-dyed paper to woven raffia designs from the early '60s, we're revisiting these colorful gift wrapping ideas with a contemporary twist.

This season, adorn your packages with these easy wrapping ideas that combine a modern graphic look with the charm of something you make yourself.

Better Homes and Gardens, December 1975 Issue

Adam Albright

In our December 1975 issue, we touted an easy (and inexpensive) dip-dying technique. In an article titled Modern Magic from Paper, we showed readers how to “turn ordinary tissue paper into a galaxy of dazzling gift wraps" with our clever folding techniques. "If you love the graphic look, you won’t be able to resist this terrific gift-wrap technique," we promised. And it still works!

How to do it: The key to success in making fold-and-dye gift wrappings is to learn how to fold the tissue paper. First, pleat the paper into a fan shape. Next, fold the fan into triangles, squares, and rectangles, experimenting with how each folding pattern appears once dip-dyed. To dye the paper, use either food coloring or colored inks. Pour the colors into shallow dishes and use pliers or metal tongs to dip the paper — one corner at a time — into the liquid. Blot well with paper towels, then unfold the paper and allow it to dry flat. Then, press the paper using a warm iron. To turn your tissue creations into gift tags or cards, cut out the desired size and glue it to heavier paper.

Adam Albright

In 1964 we got a little obsessed with the idea of weaving a grid of ribbon around a gift box. Satin, velvet, organza ribbon—we tried them all. This year we used raffia, and we love the texture it adds to this pattern.

How to do it: Tape the end of your raffia or ribbon to the back of a wrapped box. Neatly wind it around and around the box until you've reached your desired width. Tape the loose end at the back to secure it. Wrapped ribbons should touch, but not overlap. This will be the warp of your weaving. Next, cut pieces of ribbon long enough to wrap once around your box. These will be the weft of your weaving. Weave a ribbon through the warp, alternating the over/under pattern between rows and leaving the ends loose for now. When you’re satisfied with the number and placement of weft rows, wrap the ends of all the ribbons around the box and tape them to the bottom under the warp.

Better Homes and Gardens, December 1988 Issue

ADAM ALBRIGHT

"Let the gift’s shape determine how it is wrapped," we suggested in our December 1988 issue. This technique works well for soft gifts, like a scarf or t-shirt. We wrapped ours in crepe paper, but you could easily use this technique with fabric gift wrap as well.

How to do it: Center a folded scarf widthwise, then fold the sides of the paper over the scarf. Fold the top corners of the paper to meet at the corner. Roll up the package loosely from the bottom. Place a drop of glue or small piece of double-sided tape under the pointed tip to secure the package if neccessary, then thread a strand of yarn or ribbon through the center of the rolled gift and tie it in a bow.

Adam Albright

String art—the stuff of ’60s camp projects and wall hangings—is officially back. The originals involved nails, but our take is just embroidery floss threaded through holes poked in the lid of a paper mache box. We love this gift-wrapping idea because the box can be reused for years to come!

How to do it: Find a paper gift box in your desired shape and size. We love the star pattern on these round boxes, but you can use any shape. If you can't find a box in a color you like, grab a plain one and apply a coat of crafts paint. (Just be sure to let it dry completely before you get started.) When you're ready to create the string art design, use a needle or brad to poke 16 evenly-spaced holes in the lid, about 1⁄4" from the edge. Starting from the back of the lid, pull floss up through a hole and count over seven holes clockwise. (It will be one space to the left of the hole directly across.) Pull floss down through that hole and repeat with different colors of floss until you're happy with the design. Cut a piece of cardstock to fit the bottom of the lid so the ends of the strings are hidden and secure with glue.

Produced by: Jessica Thomas, Katy Kiick Condon, and Mary-Beth Rouse; Photography by: Adam Albright; Crafts by: Kim Hutchinson