DIY recycled gift wrap! (Bow style)

Hi there! Well, today I want to share with you a little DIY I made for a gift I got for my boyfriend. He is starting College this week and will study economics, so I thought a Moleskine was the best thing to get him! 

Well, now to the DIY, I normally make my own gift wrapping paper and sometimes the bows toobecause I think it gives a more personal touch to the gift; like an extra "I got this specially for you". So this is what I made for him, hope you like it!

For this DIY you'll need:

• markers or pens (to decorate your paper)
• recycled paper, such as Old newspaper, magazines, or extra paper (I used the leftovers I cut out whenever I make a drawing/painting!)
• Scissors 
• Making tape 
• And the gift you want to wrap!

For this one, I chose a page of a newspaper I liked, so I tore it and used it to wrap the moleskine notebook.

This is the fun part! I used some leftover paper I had from older paintings and drew vertical stripes with my markers! Any pattern is great, I did mine like that because the notebook has a yellow detail on the cover, and I thought it would be cool for them to match!
1. Start by drawing your pattern on the paper
2. Cut 8 long stripes (long enough to go around your gift) and 2 small ones. (we'll use these later)
3. Turn your strips upside down and join the ends in the center with masking tape or transparent sticky tape.
4. Put each piece over another until you have the shape of a star or an asterisk.
5. Staple them very carefully in the center.

For the center:
1. Take one of the smaller pieces and paste the edges making the shape of drop.
2. With the other piece make a little bow. (like the individual ones of the star)
3. Attach the small bow inside of the drop and then tape it to the top of the bow to cover the staple.

Once you are done is time to cover the rest of the gift to give the apareance of a complete bow:
1. First, take the remaining strips and tape them froming a cross on top of your gift.
2. Place your bow on the center and you are done!

Ta Da! Now you have a cute and recycled wrapping for your gift! I think this is a great way to customize your gifts and also re-use the paper we have! I normally do this, and have different "Styles" for it, so this is just one of a series. I really hope you liked it! (Hopefully my boyfriend does too!)

Lots of love, Monica.

Cerro del Chiquihuite

There's a beautiful hill near my house, it is visible from everywhere in my delegation. It is filled with little concrete houses that paint the hill in a gray color. I have always dreamt about them being painted in beautiful bright colors. So I made a little drawing of how it would look like if the houses were painted in bright colors. I made the whole illustration with Touch markers and for the outline I used a Pilot Bravo marker pen. I have been drawing and painting a lot for the last days, I was thinking about making a timelapse of a painting; they are really fun to watch, so hope it turns out well!

Hope you liked it! See you tomorrow for another post :D love,
Monica