Banana Bread never looked so good gift wrapped with the Fobbie!

It's that time of year when we start looking through our recipe books to find the perfect banana bread, fruit cake or Christmas cookie recipe. We often show our love and caring for our family and co-workers with bringing them baked goods. My heritage is Czech, so at the holidays we always made big batches of kolochky, which are basically a cookie with various fruit toppings.

In Chicago, where I hail from, it was easy to get a can of fruit filling, not as easy in Colorado. When I find it I stock up.

Now you have these beautiful baked goods, how do you dress them up to give them the same flare that your delicious baking has? I like to go to one of the dollar stores and pick up a nice bread tin, attractive plate, or holiday themed platter. I bake the bread in the tin, but then when cooled take out and wrap it in cellophane. I pick the perfect Fobbie, get some ribbon and voila! A wrapping deserving of it's contents.

I have also popped popcorn and flavored it, or used everyone's favorite—caramel corn. A nice big decorative tin Fobbie wrapped is so festive. Or perhaps flavored or coated nuts in a tin.

I would think that if you do any type of "roll" that wrapping it in some colorful cellophane and finishing it off with the Fobbie would look nice. You could even do a three tiered grouping and hold them all together that way. You may consider using a piece of cardboard on the bottom for extra security.

If you are doing any fundraiser bake sales for the holidays it would be a nice touch, that way if folks are buying it for gifting to someone else, it already has a beautiful presentation.

You could then add some edible embellishments like candy canes, or aromatic ones like cinnamon sticks.

There are so many possibilities, so get creative this year, and gift your baked goods some extra flare!

Go Green with Your Gift Wrapping this Christmas

Going green with your gift wrapping this Christmas is easier than you think. One of the things that was important to me when I invented the Fobbie was that I wanted it to fit the reduce, reuse and recycle criteria. Even if you don't use a Fobbie in your gift wrapping, a lot of the ways I wrap with it can be used in your wrapping too.

So many of the gifts we give are beautiful just the way there are. They also present a challenge at times by being irregularly shaped, making it hard to fit in a box or get paper around neatly.

I keep all the ribbons used from previous years. If they aren't long enough to go around my gift I can use them as additional accent ribbons.

I enjoy going to garage sales, and especially estate sales. When reading the sales listings I always look for ones that include sewing and craft supplies. I have acquired quite a collection of material, lace and cloth ribbons. One of the pictures shown here is of a stack of towels I wrapped with cotton lace and accented with shiny ribbon.

Living in the mountains in a cabin I tend to be partial to an earthy look. When I had the idea for the Fobbie, it was due to me trying to figure out how to attach the ornaments I was making from my pine beetle killed trees. It was my way of recycling them. I'd cut a slice of log, sand it, and stamp it with a moose or bear.

The scrapbook I wrapped shown here had a "lodge" look, so I thought raffia and pinecones as an accent would be the perfect.

I also enjoy using tulle instead of ribbon. It's easy to work with, comes in several colors and gives a nice, full, fluffy look. In this example I used shiny accent ribbons too.

I have also gone to thrift stores and bought men's ties, and ladies scarves to use. How cute would a tie wrapped gift look and then use an old alligator type tie clip to attach a gift tag in place. These can then be used by the recipient when they come off their gift, or be reused in their gift wrapping.

If you have someone who likes to sew in your life, it's fun to use material instead of paper and then use a soft measuring tape instead of, or in addition to ribbon as I did in this example.

There are so many possibilities to reuse materials you can find around the house, or purposefully search out at sales or stores. If you are wrapping to someone's interests or hobbies, it's easy to use things related to them.

So be creative and resourceful this year and add some new flare to your gift wrapping!

Gift Wrapping a Fishing or Tool box for Christmas is easier than you think!

I can't help but look at an item and think how I could creatively wrap it with a Fobbie. I love being able to purchase gifts for friends and family that relate to their interests.

A friend of mine never seems to have any tools when she needs one and is always borrowing something from me. Being a woodworker and antique fanatic I collect all kinds of tools, old and new. I decorate my cabin with what I call "studies." I have several areas on the walls of my cabin that showcase nothing but antique tools such as wrenches, levels, rakes and saws. They are so unique and interesting to look at.

I figured for Christmas I would get my friend a toolbox and fill it with the essential new tools we use most often. I got a screwdriver and wrench set, some shop rags, various sizes of nuts and washers, a claw hammer, and of course duct tape.

To gift wrap it, I used a vintage holiday designed Fobbie and ribbon, but to give it more flair I threaded small nuts on to the ribbon to add interest. I also echoed what was inside by attaching a small wrench, screwdriver and shop rag with decorative holiday wire.

Additionally if you where going to give other tools like a belt sander, a drill or some type of saw that comes in those nice plastic cases, you could easily Fobbie wrap it. Again, you could attach accent items like a flexible measuring tape—I would get one from the sewing department, and use that as an accent on top of the ribbon. I have also taken long strips of duct tape and folded it in half and used it in place of ribbon.

If you used one of our D0-it-Yourself Fobbies, you could color, collage, decorate or leave it white and then attach a retractable measuring tape to the top or perhaps a small box of nails, nuts or drill bits. Anything that will attach on top will work.

Perhaps you have a fishing enthusiast in your life. I think you could easily do the same idea with a fishing tackle box. They are about the same size and have a of variety styles. Filling it with fishing tackle would be fun. Fishing hooks, line, bobbers, reels, spinners, etc. There are so many colorful lures you could use to hang on the outside of the box. Perhaps a colorful stringer could be threaded through as an accent on top of the ribbon. Some wooden carved fish hanging like a "catch" could be fun.

Maybe you have a picture of a "big fish catch." You could put that in a picture frame Fobbie, that way when it came off the package they could keep it and make it into an ornament to hang, or attach a magnet on the back and put it on the fridge.

I can't tell you how many hours I spend walking through various departments in stores and do nothing but think about all the creative ways everything I'm looking at could be turned into creative wrapping. The possibilities are endless!

Fobbie to Debut on QVC's Christmas Shop

An exclusive Fobbie holiday wrap pack will debut on QVC's Christmas Shop show, Wednesday, October 27th, at 8 a.m. eastern time. If you miss the show check out fobbie.com to view creative ways to wrap with the Fobbie for the holidays.

Use knitted strips in place of ribbons with the Fobbie

My friend Lori knitted these beautiful strips to wrap a Christmas gift. It just goes to show you there are a lot of great materials you can use to create a lovely package.

Fobbie to appear on the Today Show

If all goes well the Fobbie will be featured on the Today Show on December 2, 2009, during a Holiday Gadget segment with Kathy Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb. So tune in!

Gift Bag Wrapping with the Fobbie

People were always asking me how they could use a Fobbie with a gift bag. As with all Fobbie wrapping it's easy! Just pack your bag with your gift, add your tissue paper then then "seal" it with a Fobbie on top. Thread your ribbons like you would around a box, but thread them through the handles. Here is an example.