We’re Going Dotty for Personalized Polka Dot Gift Wrap

Pixel Weave Gift Wrap

The pixel weave is an old classic here at Brit HQ — our co-founder, Anj, introduced it waaaay back in 2011! We thought we’d give this weave method a little V-Day spin for these gifts.

Tools + Materials:

— wrapped gift

— paper (2 colors)

— tape

— paper cutter or scissors

Instructions:

1. Cut your paper into one-centimeter-wide strips.

2. Line up your first set of paper strips in a row on top of your wrapped gift. Fold the strips where they meet the edge of the gift box, then tape each strip to the side.

3. Weave the second color through the taped strips to create a heart pattern.

4. Tape down the second side of your first set of strips once you’ve finished weaving. Then carefully tape down the other set of strips.

To begin, cut one-centimeter-wide strips of paper in two different colors. We cut nine strips in dark pink and eight strips in light pink.

Next, line up and center the first set of strips on your wrapped gift. Fold each strip where it meets the edge of the box, then carefully tape each strip to the side. You can use double-sided tape for this step if you don’t want your tape to show.

Now, for the fun part! Carefully weave each strip of your second set through the taped strips. Study these images to get the heart shape down, or go rogue and make your own pattern. It’s kinda hard to make a pixel weave look ugly, so have fun with it! When you’ve created the pattern you like, tape down the second side of the first set, then tape each side of the second set of strips.

This technique would also work using yarn, ribbon or fabric strips. There you have it! You just gave your V-Day gift a facelift in less than five minutes.

Confetti Tape Gift Wrap

We challenge you to find an easier way to dress up your gift wrap. Seriously.

Tools + Materials:

— wrapped gift

— confetti

— double-sided tape

Instructions:

1. Place a strip of double-sided tape on your wrapped gift.

2. Cover your tape in confetti. That’s. It.

First, place a long strip of double sided tape on your present. You can keep it simple with one strip, or add more to amp up the drama.

Next, place your confetti on the sticky tape. Because we used large confetti, we placed each piece on one by one, but you’re welcome to us a “dip” effect, too. The smaller the confetti pieces, the harder it is to mess this one up :)

Another pro tip — go with a very simple wrapping paper pattern if you’re using multicolored confetti. This way, the viewer’s eye will not feel overwhelmed by all of the differing shapes and colors.

Look at that gorgeous gift wrap! A little confetti goes a long way, huh?

Peek-a-Boo Heart Gift Wrap

Like with the confetti tape hack, using simple wrapping paper patterns is best with this technique.

Tools + Materials:

— wrapped gift

— wrapping paper

— pen or pencil

— X-Acto knife

— scrap paper

— tape

— cutting mat

Instructions:

1. Make heart stencils: Draw different-sized hearts on your scrap paper, then cut each out with your X-Acto knife.

2. Trace half of each heart stencil onto your wrapping paper.

3. Cut along the traced lines with your X-Acto knife, then fold over the cut piece so that it creates a heart shape.

4. Tape the wrapping paper to your wrapped gift. Voila!

First, draw different-sized hearts on your piece of scrap paper, then cut them out with your X-Acto knife. These are your stencils for the peek-a-boo hearts.

Trace HALF of each heart stencil onto your wrapping paper, and repeat as many times as you’d like. Be sure to space out each trace so that they won’t overlap when you eventually unfold each heart. When you’ve drawn all of your half-hearts, cut along the lines with the X-Acto knife. Then fold over your cut piece to create a full heart.

Once you’ve unfolded all of your hearts, tape the wrapping paper to your wrapped gift. Be careful as you fold and tape the paper, ensuring that you don’t squish the folded hearts.

Not that we’re picking favorites… but this technique is kind of our favorite ;)

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This post has been udpated.

As a Power of Women honoree, Mariska was recognized in regards to her work as an advocate for sexual assault survivors. She took the stage and used her platform to discuss rape and assault conviction reversals, shining a light on the recent overturned ruling in Harvey Weinstein's landmark NYC case. Here's what she said:

Today I want to talk about reversing convictions, and more specifically I want to talk to you about how impossible it is to reverse mine. It’s impossible to reverse my conviction that survivors matter. It is impossible to reverse my conviction that what happens to us matters, and that our society must respond to survivors with a more a compassionate, holistically, deeper, and more nuanced understanding of what healing means.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that after a trauma, survivors can reclaim lives of hope, of possibility, of audacious risk, beautiful intimacy, and glorious, glorious abundant joy. And I stand before you as evidence of that statement.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that we must listen to survivors as experts on what justice means. It is extraordinary how little their voices are consulted, let alone incorporated, in the process of deciding how to repair harm. Justice is not a one-size-fits-all journey.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that patriarchal impunity has to end. Patriarchal impunity is when a male-dominated system exempts perpetrators from punishment. Studies show that only 20% of all rape cases in the U.S. are reported to the police, and that between 5 and 0% of all rapes result in a guilty plea or a conviction. So why do 80% of victims not report? Because they're met with a system that grants impunity to perpetrators; a system that blames victims; a system that accepts only those victims who are experienced as "real" rape; a system that completely misunderstands the neurobiology of trauma, which causes behavior in women that doesn't fit the picture of how a "real victim" would act.

Is that change needed that victims should just pull themselves together? Just buck up and report anyway? No. No, it's the system that receives them that needs to change

It is impossible to reverse my conviction — and the conviction of my extraordinary team, The Joyful Heart — that the backlog of untested rape kits can be brought to zero; that the testing of all new kits must be mandated; that we need a statewide kit tracking system; and that survivors have the right to access the status of their kits.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that grammar — yes, grammar — that we use when we speak about rape must change. In the sentence, "A woman is raped," there's a crime and there's a victim, but there's no perpetrator. Where's the perpetrator? Where is he? Statistically, as we know, most likely he's walking free. He's so free that he doesn't even appear in the language about the crime that he committed. Is that not extraordinary? It's extraordinary that in the very grammar, the perpetrator goes free. Reintroducing perpetrators in the language of rape will make some very unwieldy grammar, but that's the nature of change. It's unwieldy, it's messy, it's uncomfortable, but it's necessary.

Hargitay continued on in her prolific speech to describe that rape shouldn't be considered a "crime of passion" because it's "not simply the next step in the trajectory of his passion" when a man takes a consensual hookup too far and assaults a woman against her will. She stated that it's "an exercise of power," doubling down that the language we use is important.

The speech went on to address that rape is both about power and control, as a "construct" that was "built, and assembled, and reinforced over time." She noted that there are people with these positions of power — and she specifically called out those in the entertainment industry — that could make a difference and aligned themselves to victims and survivors.

After this and some other remarks, Hargitay specifically called out the Weinstein conviction reversal. She said:

I do want to say something about the Harvey Weinstein conviction, specifically about the reason that it was overturned: too many women's voices. Too many women's voices were allowed to speak. Hallelujah! Amen! I can't imagine anything more beautiful than that. The Daily podcast episode talked about how it was so risky for the prosecution to have that many women testify. Risky to let women speak? You're damn right it is!

Too many women speaking brings change. Too many women speaking shakes the establishment. Too many women means we get listened to more, and people might actually hear what we have to say. Look what happened when women started saying just two words, right? Me too — just as an example — a tidal wave of change. Me too.

And then of course, there was the response: the Me Too Movement. The backlash. The examination of whether the changes that have come are lasting, or are even positive. Of course there's a backlash! What did they expect? For women to speak repeatedly, loudly, together, with a purpose — for there to be no backlash? The backlash is evidence of how powerful those voices were, how powerful those voices ARE.

Watch Mariska Hargitay's Full Speech Here

Turns out that your TV heroes really can be your IRL heroes after all. Long live Olivia Benson! Long live Mariska Hargitay!