It’s December 1st, I can’t believe it’s come round so quickly and Planet Penny is celebrating! It’s five whole years since the first tentative post, with that fear of having  nothing to say, to anyone!    Since then there have been over 200,000 visits, so to celebrate I’m trying something a little ambitious.  I hope I can keep up!

The first plan is the  Planet Penny Advent Calendar…

Everyday until Christmas Eve I shall be posting a Christmas make, recipe or link which I hope will give you a little inspiration for the Christmas Season.

Secondly, there will be a Christmas Anniversary Giveaway as a thank you for all the support  over the last five years and this will be explained over the next couple of posts.

But, to begin with, the Advent posts…and it’s …

Advent  Calendar- DAY 1

It’s wrapping time, and although pretty paper can be very expensive there are lots of ways to make very basic materials look special and individual.  I was recently send some pretty tape by the DotComGiftShop which has meshed really well with my current favourite Scandinavian theme of red and white.

The tape comes in a natty little box with a cutting edge so it’s easy to tear off just what you need.

I’ve used Kraft brown wrapping paper which comes in a massive roll and is a great background colour for lots of projects.  The red and white is set off beautifully by the buff colour of the paper and the tape is easily cut to mite the corners as shown here.

I’ve also experimented with wrapping leftover yarn and butchers red and white string, looks pretty doesn’t it…?

I also found this gorgeous woven Christmas ribbon which I shall use sparingly on very special pressies if I can bear to part with it!

If you run out of gifts to wrap and there are still a few centimetres of tape to use, it makes really lovely teeny tiny bunting, which can be hung across windows and around the Christmas tree or across the fireplace.  The tape is folded round fine cord, embroidery thread or yarn and cut to shape.  Really easy, and a fun project for older children to do.

Tomorrow I will tell you all about the Giveaway,  which will run until after the ‘Big Day’ , so do pop back then and every day to see what I’m getting up to!