Gift Wrapping

[VegasAngel]

Just venting- Makes me want to cry I hate it

, I''m terrible at it, my 9 month old can probably do a better job than me. Think I will buy some gift boxes/bags & throw everything in those. Really, the only gifts I want wrapped are my daughters & I will pay someone to wrap them for me.

 

[poptart]

Oh, I''m sorry... I love wrapping gifts. I always ask my mom if I can do it since she always buys things in nice little boxes!! She taught me how to wrap without any tape, so it''s kind of like a family trademark... and it''s fun!! If you hate wrapping.... there are always those BIIIIIIIGGG bags you can get at the store. Maybe?

*M*

 

[KimberlyH]

My sister and mom love to wrap gifts. Me, not so much. But it is growing on me a bit.

 

[Christa]

Arg, I don''t like it either. And this year I will NOT wait until Dec. 23rd (we open gifts Christmas Eve at our house) and stay up all night wrapping a huge pile of them. I won''t, I won''t, I won''t. Sigh. I probably will.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Bring ''em all to my house VegasAngel and I will gladly wrap your presents! I LOVE to wrap gifts; if there was any $ in it I have often siad I would be a professional gift wrapper.

On those rare occassions when the box and the paper are *just* the right size and the pattern lines up PERFECTLY -- PURE NIRVANA!!!

(I know, there''s something *wrong* with me!)

 

[Miranda]

Grrrr...I''m not a fan, either! I was wrapping some over the weekend with the help of my kitten and my 4 year old. They all looked saggy and lumpy with mismatched bows. I don''t mind wrapping gifts at other times during the year. I just dislike wrapping 20 at a time! Sometimes DH and I wrap together. He wraps and I do the bows.

 

[MINE!!]

I love love love wrapping gifts.

I actually started this past weekend. It is a special treat for me actually. I try not to wrap them all at once so I can stretch the time wrapping them out!!

I spend all my time thinking about how the person who opens it will feel when they rip off the paper.

This year I introduced my 8yr old to wrapping them. She helped with family presents and we talked about how much each present would mean to that person and why it was the perfect present for that person.

I find very relaxing and exciting all in one.

I know I am a dork.. but I LOVE IT!

 

[Kaleigh]

I love it too, worked at a gift shop when I was 14 -18 and became quite the expert at it. Bad thing is that everyone in the family wants me to wrap their gifts. Ughhhh.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I like it. Maybe you are using too much paper. I have only recently discovered how nice satin ribbon looks (instead of the normal gift wrapping ribbon). I think it is kind of fun.

 

[diamondfan]

I am a big fan of the bag/tissue/ribbon thing! Gets the job done. Unless you have LARGE gifts, most things can fit in some kind of nice handled bag...If I had to feed my kids gift wrapping in the mall during the holidays I have to say I think they would starve! I stink at it...

 

[monarch64]

I love wrapping...always have ever since my Dad used to show me how to wrap my mother''s Christmas and birthday presents. Then I worked in retail for a long time and learned how to make it look really nice... Honestly, though, if you can''t stand it and it causes you misery, I would definitely suggest those gift bags stuffed with lots of tissue (you CANNOT make tissue look bad as long as you use a fair to generous amount, lol!) and don''t worry about it! Gift bags are alway re-useable in many cases and that''s always a good thing!

Another suggestion would be to try to buy those boxes that look like they''re already wrapped--usually just regular shirt boxes in different sizes come in patterned cardboard and are easy to assemble. All you have to do is slap a bow and a gift tag on them, sign it, and voila--you''re done!

Vegas Angel, it''s SO not a big deal if your packages aren''t the best/prettiest ever. Because in the end, all your hard work is just going to be ripped to pieces anyway, and no one is keeping track of whose gifts look the best. (They shouldn''t be, anyway!) Don''t stress over it...you have a baby to take care of and I can''t imagine how you get much wrapping done, period!

 

[Ann]

OoooH, I love wrapping gifts!

I select wrapping paper in colors that work together - this year most papers are reds and golds, with 1 or 2 whimisical ones thrown in. I have 2 trees, so the one in the entry gets a few gifts that I wrap very nicely. I love to buy ribbon and I have many, many rolls of Christmas ribbon.

I can do a pretty good job on the paper, but I love making a fancy bow, maybe 2 ribbons together, then adding a little
charm/ornament for more color. I love the wired ribbon.

Never ever use those nasty stick-on bows!!!! And I avoid the bags, but sometimes you gotta!

 

[galeteia]

I love wrapping gifts too. Mine are often done without tape because I rarely can find it, so they always have these strange origami-like configurations on them that make people unwilling to open it because it will ''wreck it''.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Poptart and Galateia -

OK, I'm intrigued. HOW do you wrap without tape? How do you do the ends in particular? I need detailed instructions and pictures of this magic please! (I can feel a whole new aspect of the holidays coming on...

)

 

[VegasAngel]

I want to know how you wrap without tape too!

Really, my wrapping is HORRIBLE absolutely TERRIBLE. This year there is no way I''m handing out crappily wrapped gifts especially since I am known for them. Gift boxes/bags are the best thing for me. I ordered most everything online I should have paid extra for gift wrapping.

 

[Mara]

I LOVE wrapping gifts!! I usually hoard all the gifts in bags and then wrap them in spurts on about 3 nights before Xmas. I have a ton of wrapping paper, I buy a bunch when I see things I like and after holiday there are always the best sales. I''m not the BEST gift wrapper ever but I can make it look pretty!

 

[ellaila]

Another gift-wrapping fiend here -- I love it!

Worst gift-wrapping experience I had: my mom used to own a toy store, and we had one customer who bought two big plastic cases and a ton of instruments, and we had to wrap each instrument invidually and put them in the case. Ever tried to wrap recorders and tambourines and xylophones?!

But give me a square box, and I can make it pretty

 

[lili]

Date: 12/4/2006 5:24:06 PM
Author: poptart
Oh, I''m sorry... I love wrapping gifts. I always ask my mom if I can do it since she always buys things in nice little boxes!! She taught me how to wrap without any tape, so it''s kind of like a family trademark... and it''s fun!! If you hate wrapping.... there are always those BIIIIIIIGGG bags you can get at the store. Maybe?

*M*

Poptart, you must share the secret with us. How do you wrap without tape?

 

[poptart]

It''s actually really easy. You just need the right paper and ribbon. I either use heavy wrapping paper, or that thick wrapping paper that is similar to foil as it holds it''s shape when you crease it. It''s usually metallic colors and they sell it at michael''s. Anyway, you turn the box you are wrapping upside down, and measure the paper so that one edge is overlapping the other by about an inch. Then you crease the sides as normal, slide ribbon under the box on the side of the creases (it helps if it is wire ribbon) and when the ribbon meets in the middle you cross them over each other and go up the other two sides of the box (the sides where the paper is flat against the box). Make sure you are holding the ribbon tightly at both ends and flip the box over and tie your ribbon. I hope this helps. If it doesn''t make sense I will clarify it for you. I wish I had pictures for you to see instead of words.

*M*

 

[Dee*Jay]

OK, so it's the *ribbon* that's holding the package together, right? Now I get it!

My husband lived in Japan for a few years and when he found out what a nut I am about wrapping he told me about these gift wrappers who would wrap a whole present with one pice of paper and then tuck the one remaining corner that was left into some secret spot and - voila!

So I had this image of you doing this crazy origami (sp?) type wrapping where everything looked like a swan when you were done, LOL!

 

[partgypsy]

My sister Anna is the wrapping queen. She LOVES wrapping gifts! She looks throughout the year to find interesting wrapping paper (or unusual paper that can be used as wrapping paper) and saves it up, uses real cloth ribbons fuzzy pipe cleaners, wire! for wrapping and loves ornamenting the present with yet other things whether it be artificial foliage/berries/flowers, wrapped chocolates, ornaments or smaller wrapped gifts. She''s really creative with it.

Myself I prefer the simple look. Although I''ll buy a couple rolls of new wrapping paper a year the majority of things I wrap in brown craft paper or tissue paper with contrasting ribbon since it''s cheap but still looks nice.

 

[mrssalvo]

I love wrapping gifts when I don''t have too many to do at one time. if I let them pile up then I start rushing just to get done and they start getting sloppy. I normally start my Christmas shopping in Oct. so I normally wrap the gifts pretty quickly after I buy them. I''m currently all caught up but still have some more shopping to do which means more wrapping

 

[FireGoddess]

Oh gosh, can I come wrap them? I''ll do it for free! I love wrapping presents. I don''t know why, just do. Really puts me in the holiday spirit. Now shopping for them...that''s another story altogether.

 

[anchor31]

I love wrapping presents! We use more and more reusable bags, though.

 

[poptart]

Date: 12/5/2006 3:01:01 PM
Author: Dee*Jay
OK, so it''s the *ribbon* that''s holding the package together, right? Now I get it!

My husband lived in Japan for a few years and when he found out what a nut I am about wrapping he told me about these gift wrappers who would wrap a whole present with one pice of paper and then tuck the one remaining corner that was left into some secret spot and - voila!

So I had this image of you doing this crazy origami (sp?) type wrapping where everything looked like a swan when you were done, LOL!

Yea, the ribbon holds it together. I wish I could make it look like a swan or something, haha.

*M*

 

[galeteia]

Date: 12/5/2006 5:43:43 PM
Author: poptart

Date: 12/5/2006 3:01:01 PM

Author: Dee*Jay

OK, so it''s the *ribbon* that''s holding the package together, right? Now I get it!


My husband lived in Japan for a few years and when he found out what a nut I am about wrapping he told me about these gift wrappers who would wrap a whole present with one pice of paper and then tuck the one remaining corner that was left into some secret spot and - voila!


So I had this image of you doing this crazy origami (sp?) type wrapping where everything looked like a swan when you were done, LOL!

Yea, the ribbon holds it together. I wish I could make it look like a swan or something, haha.


*M*

Err, mine looks like crazy origami when I''m done...

I do I lot of pleating and twisting and tucking... sometimes, the paper itself is shaped into a pseudo-ribbon that looks like an obi and that''s what I use to ''fasten'' it. I also do a lot of fans when I have extra paper sticking out.

I never have a set ''plan'' I just improvise with whatever paper shapes and present shape I have to deal with. Stiff heavy paper is the key, like Poptart said. The bottle of fish sauce I got my mother as a stocking-stuffer style present (but for her birthday) wound up looking like a gigantic rose bloom at the top because I used tissue paper. I sort of ''wove'' the ribbon around the paper for the ''barrel'' of the bottle so it held it together and then did the rose-thing at the top. It was pretty, and tapeless.

Ribbon is a fast and and easy way to fasten things if you don''t have tape, so I use that too.

 

[poptart]

Date: 12/5/2006 6:12:59 PM
Author: Galateia

Date: 12/5/2006 5:43:43 PM
Author: poptart

Date: 12/5/2006 3:01:01 PM

Author: Dee*Jay

OK, so it''s the *ribbon* that''s holding the package together, right? Now I get it!


My husband lived in Japan for a few years and when he found out what a nut I am about wrapping he told me about these gift wrappers who would wrap a whole present with one pice of paper and then tuck the one remaining corner that was left into some secret spot and - voila!


So I had this image of you doing this crazy origami (sp?) type wrapping where everything looked like a swan when you were done, LOL!

Yea, the ribbon holds it together. I wish I could make it look like a swan or something, haha.


*M*

Err, mine looks like crazy origami when I''m done...

I do I lot of pleating and twisting and tucking... sometimes, the paper itself is shaped into a pseudo-ribbon that looks like an obi and that''s what I use to ''fasten'' it. I also do a lot of fans when I have extra paper sticking out.

I never have a set ''plan'' I just improvise with whatever paper shapes and present shape I have to deal with. Stiff heavy paper is the key, like Poptart said. The bottle of fish sauce I got my mother as a stocking-stuffer style present (but for her birthday) wound up looking like a gigantic rose bloom at the top because I used tissue paper. I sort of ''wove'' the ribbon around the paper for the ''barrel'' of the bottle so it held it together and then did the rose-thing at the top. It was pretty, and tapeless.

Ribbon is a fast and and easy way to fasten things if you don''t have tape, so I use that too.

HOW do you do THAT??? Diagrams, pictures, hints? I have to know...

*M*

 

[Tybee]

YOu really do need to post pics!
I''m so very curious to see!!

 

[galeteia]

Uh... that''s like asking someone who cooks by instinct for a recipe!

Er. Well, I think I kinda remember how I did the obi thing, if that would help?

I used it for something flat, in this case a CD. I took an east-west rectangle of paper (thank you, diamond terms!) and set the CD in the center. I folded the top edge and bottom edge of the paper over the CD, so they almost covered it, leaving two long ''wings'' to the east and west of the CD. Then, I took the wings and brought them together so they met at the base, thus covering the CD. These leaves you with a towering whack of paper sticking up from the very front of the CD. I pleated this tower so it lay in folds/pleats flat against the surface of the CD. Think a frilly tuxedo shirt, or something with vertical stripes, that''s what the pleats looked like. Then, I took the strip of paper left over from cutting the square of paper into a rectangle, and pleated that as well, until it was maybe and inch or inch and a half in width. (Still totally flat, though. Not accordion pleats, more skirt pleats, it that makes sense?) I used this like a ribbon, running east-west across the wrapped CD. I folded it like a belt, I think, so it would have a flat-ish knot that would stay together, with one ''tail'' pointing north and one pointing south.

That might be totally confusing. I''m sorry. I tried! Like I said, it''s always improvised. When in doubt, use ribbon!

 

[galeteia]

Err, did that scare everyone off?