5 tips on postal-friendly decorated boxes

 

 

With the recent increase in global postage prices, I've been working on decorating postal-friendly boxes that would (hopefully) delight the recipient and save me some $$ in postage. Here are 5 tips on postal-friendly decorated boxes. These boxes are all recycled packaging of course. :)

1. Choose a lightweight but sturdy box that would fit your gift/s.

Since weight is an issue with shipping costs, it is important to choose a box that durable but on the lighter side. Except for a little wrapping tissue to make it more exciting for the recipient to open the package, I usually try to fill the box snugly so that the contents don't shift around during shipping and reduces the need for filler paper/bubble wrap (that would add to the weight of the package).

2. Keep the decorative elements as flat as possible.

You can still layer patterned paper and stickers to create the illusion of depth and texture but keeping the elements flat means you can skip the bubble wrap layer and just wrap up your decorated gift box with brown paper packaging.

3. Have fun with fussy-cut patterned papers and stickers.

Create a collage of fussy-cut bits and add some text to jazz it up. Even a standard cardboard shipping box can look cool by adding some colour! :)

4. Work with the original box colour.

Save time by reworking on parts of the box that need covering up (like the brand or instructions for use) instead of covering up the entire box. Here I had this beautiful aqua coloured box so I found a sheet of patterned paper that complemented it and just use that as the base for my "scene" on the box lid.

5. Stick to a limited colour scheme.

Here the base box was pink so I picked a base patterned paper that had some pink in it and just picked out elements from my stash with a similar colour palette (mostly pastels). Then I arranged them into a fun collage. 

There you have it, my 5 tips on postal-friendly decorated boxes. Do you have any other tips to share?