Holiday giftwrapping tip 3: get sentimental

One of the simplest, most charming ways to add a personal touch to gifts is to use a special photo in your design. This example isn't a holiday gift; it for my friends Greg and Carolyn's wedding. All the same, it's easy to see how a well-chosen photo can make a gift come to life.

The happy couple shared their engagement portraits with friends, and I just downloaded an image, printed it and added it as the feature focus of the wrap. With photo sharing sites like Snapfish, Picassa, and Flickr, it's easier than ever to do the same.

This idea is especially fun for young kids, because there are no gift tags to read. I made this one for my niece when she was two.

Supplies:
- a beautiful photo
- solid and/or patterned paper (keep patterns subtle)
- cardstock
- ribbons of varying colors and widths
- vellum sheets
- stick-on gems and other prezzie-bling
- double-sided tape
- Glue Dots
- super-sharp scissors
- decorative edge scissors

How-to:
- Wrap your gift (use a box!). I like 2-piece, top-and-bottom boxes because you don't have to tear the paper to open it, and something like this makes a sweet keepsake.

- Apply your ribbons in a pattern of your liking. I've used a basic criss-cross here, but you could easily use the woven plaid pattern from holiday gift wrapping tip #1. *Secure your ribbons using glue dots; double sided tape is too wide for most ribbon, and regular glue is not strong enough. It will also make a big mess.

- Prepare your photo. You can simply crop it or make an overlay frame with the vellum, as I have here. To cut a window out of the vellum, center your vellum sheet over a ruled cutting mat, and use a ruler and X-acto knife to carefully trace the window. *Use an extra sharp blade, too. Dull blades will fray up what you're cutting, and they force you to press harder than you need to, which is dangerous if you slip.

Next, Apply a glue dot to each corner of the photo, and carefully align your vellum window layer over it. Since the glue dots will show through the sheer vellum at the corners, cover them with a ribbon. Cut a short width of ribbon, and wrap it diagonally around the corners and secure them on the back with another glue dot. This creates a ribbon photo corner that will attach to your cardstock frame to add color and dimension.

- Make a frame. Using the decorative edge scissors or punch, add texture to the edges of a sheet of cardstock. I've used a scalloped-edge scissor here, but there are tons of choices in craft stores. I love the zigzag of pinking shears, too. Super cute. This example has two layers, but you can do as few or as many as you like.

- Put it all together. Attach the photo to the frame, and dress it up with your favorite prezzie-bling. I used little rhinestones, pearls and a tiny bow for this gift. Then attach it to the box, over the ribbon.

That's it - a picture perfect gift. And be sure to take lots of photos this holiday - you can use them for next year's gifts!