Packaging material

Abstract

A decorative packaging material comprising a plurality of flexible strips of material integrally interconnected to one another. The strips of material may be interconnected via a border portion, and the decorative packaging material may be disposed in a container.

1 . A method of packaging an article, the method comprising the steps of:
 disposing a decorative packaging material within a container, the decorative packaging material constructed of a material selected from the group consisting of paper, crepe paper, polymeric film, laminated polymeric film, waxed paper and combinations thereof, the decorative packaging material having a slit portion and at least one border portion, the slit portion having a plurality of slits extending from the at least one border portion such that the decorative packaging material has a plurality of strips of material interconnected to one another by the at least one border portion, and wherein the slit portion and the at least one border portion are integrally formed of the same flexible sheet of material; and   positioning at least one article in the container and on the decorative packaging material.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein, in the step of disposing a decorative packaging material within a container, the decorative packaging material comprises a single border portion and a plurality of slits extending from the single border portion to at least one edge of the sheet of material. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein, in the step of disposing a decorative packaging material within a container, a first set of slits of the decorative packaging material extends to one edge of the sheet of material and a second set of slits extends to an opposing edge of the sheet of material. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the slits of the first set of slits are formed parallel to one another and wherein the slits of the second set of slits are formed parallel to one another. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein, in the step of disposing a decorative packaging material within a container, the flexible sheet of material has two border portions, and wherein the slit portion is disposed between the two border portions. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein, in the step of disposing a decorative packaging material within a container, at least a portion of the decorative packaging material is provided with a printed pattern thereon. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein, in the step of disposing a decorative packaging material within a container, at least a portion of the decorative packaging material is provided with a embossed pattern thereon. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  wherein, in the step of disposing a decorative packaging material within a container, the container is a basket. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein, in the step of disposing a decorative packaging material within a container, the decorative packaging material is resilient. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  wherein, in the step of disposing a decorative packaging material within a container, the decorative packaging material has a substantially flattened condition and a substantially fluffed condition, and wherein the at least one unit of decorative packaging material has a grass-like appearance in at least one of the substantially flattened condition and the substantially fluffed condition. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of bondingly connecting the decorative packaging material to at least one of the container and the at least one article. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  wherein, in the step of positioning at least one article in the container, the at least one article is selected from the group consisting of candy, eggs, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of removing at least one individual unit of decorative packaging material from a roll or web of decorative packaging material prior to disposing the decorative packaging material within the container, wherein the roll or web of decorative packaging material having a plurality of flexible slit portions and a plurality of flexible border portions integrally connected thereto, at least a portion of the plurality of flexible slit portions having a plurality of flexible slits extending between two flexible border portions such that the roll or web of decorative packaging material has a plurality of flexible strips of material interconnected to one another by the flexible border portions, and wherein the individual unit of decorative packaging material removed from the roll or web of decorative packaging material comprises at least one flexible slit portion integrally connected to at least one border portion.