I wrapped the last two gifts today. I have been doing pretty well keeping up with the wrapping as the gifts were purchased so it wouldn't be so overwhelming at the last minute.
Well, the last two personalized gifts arrived yesterday from the seller I found on Etsy, and they are wrapped and under the tree.
Wrapping, like food prep, is time consuming (if done correctly and with care); and just like eating, the unwrapping takes no time at all.
From a roll of gift wrap, to neatly encased packages, to crumples of paper strewn hastily on the floor--the whole process seems to be over in a flash every year.
.jpg "Wrapping Paper Before...")
.jpg "Wrapped Presents")
When we had a cat, the use of bows was dispensed as all the cat wanted to do was eat or play with the decorative ribbon.
An amazing time saver was the invention of the gift bag. A few strategically placed wads of tissue paper inside the top of the gift bag, and you have yourself a very classy looking gift in a fraction of the time it takes to wrap a box with pretty paper. The odd-shaped boxes are especially good candidates for a gift bag.
I remember the year I decided to play Santa. I think I was 14 years old and had my first job with my own spending money. I used aluminum foil to wrap the gifts I bought.
My brother-in-law's idea of gift wrapping was a brown paper grocery sack and some strategically placed staples.
On occasion, I have even used freezer paper and newspaper to wrap presents.
One year, I made my own gift tags with several layers of card stock and colored paper, a fancy zigzag stitch around the edge, and a button.
My mom's neighbor made and sold sets of gift tags using images cut from recycled Christmas cards, construction paper, and ribbon.
A cousin on my mom's side uses a different wrapping paper for each one of her grandchildren--that way they can quickly identify which (and how many) gifts are theirs underneath the tree.
My mom made certain that the wrapping paper used to conceal Santa gifts appeared no where else under the tree, and leftovers from the roll could never be discovered anywhere else in the house. I tried to carry on with that tradition when I was a young mom playing Santa Claus. Like Mom, I would even wrap the stocking stuffers with that special Santa gift wrap.
There are so many creative ways to wrap (and disguise) gifts. The fact that the receiver wastes no time on the reveal just means it is better to pick up four to five rolls of gift wrap on an after Christmas sale and save some money on next year's wrapping.
That same red Snowman paper made an appearance under our tree this year. :) My mother did the same thing with the paper - "Santa" paper was special and was only from "him." She told me about that later on, and like you, I've done the same thing. (Although the paper does come back the next year, and yes, we have a mishmash of traditions going on here.) :) My husband and I have decided that "Santa" only brings a few presents, so that helps a little bit. We ended up wrapping the rest to be color coded... one color for each boy so we could tell them straight!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it funny how many traditions center around wrapping paper?? LOL! :)
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