DIY gift wrapping idea (Starbucks mug)

I love gifts - giving them, receiving them, shopping for them, wrapping them, you name it....!

What with the birthday season (most of my family and friends are born between September to January so I refer to the colder months of the year as the Birthday season,) Halloween, Christmas and even New year just a few weeks away I thought this will be a neat idea. 

Have you ever experienced when you go out and buy an expensive gift for your loved ones and you spend just as much on wrappers, labels, tags and ribbons to make it look special? Well the idea I am proposing here will keep all of your pennys inside your pocket and give a great sense of achievement and pride when you are done. And also if the person hacks through the wrapper to get to the gift you will not feel as bad as you would otherwise feel because you have not shelled down any money at all.

It is my brother's birthday this month and he has been longing for a Starbuck mug since I was given a free tumbler by the store people (for being such a loyal customer and coffeeholic.) So I thought it would be a fun idea to gift him one.

Aw.. Just look at my brother in the centre... He is so pleased with his gift

Begin by purchasing a good size Starbucks mug and they will give the mug in a sturdy cardboard box. And when you are in the store deciding on which mug you should buy, get yourself a good pour over espresso (do not throw away the paper cup - bring it home with you.) Finally take advantage of the kindness of the staff of Starbucks and ask them if you can have few of their brown paper sheets. 

You will also need scissors, cellophane tape, a pen, a brown string and a couple of long golden strings.

Please forgive me.. I forgot to include the Starbucks brown paper (typical me...)

Step 1 : Finish you espresso in peace and cut the sleeve into two. Pry it off the mug gently; write a cute coffee quote on both and make a hole in a corner from the tip of your pen - keep it rustic.

The quote on the second half of the sleeve is from Justina Chen

Step 2 : Place the mug in the centre of the wrapping paper and stuff the ends in its mouth snugly.

I love this mug.. it gives such justice to the Starbucks logo

Step 3 : Tie the brown string around the wrapped mug and thread through one of the tags (I went with the second one) and tie again like you would tie your shoelace. Place this gently in the cardboard box. 

Look how the brown string is so shiny

Step 4 : Place the cardboard box on yet another Starbucks brown paper and wrap and secure with a cellophane tape.

I love the texture  and the print on the Starbucks brown paper 

Step 5 : Take a few long golden threads and twist them about to increase the thickness. Tie this golden string around the wrapped box and thread through the other half of the sleeve. Finally, tie the remaining bit of string like you would tie your shoelace and you are done.

Has brown on brown ever looked so pretty?

Give this to your favorite coffee lover and watch them unwrap and enjoy the smile on their face.

It was so satisfying to watch my brother try to carefully unwrap the present 

Go through the whole thing in black and white?

This effect came out so good - I couldn't resist it.

If you ever try this leave a comment below and let me know how yours came out and you can post a picture of you wrapped gift on my twitter account (#diywithranju). Also comment below and let me know if you eve did a similar DIY project.

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