by Noella Noelophile®
The following article contains affiliate links. If you click on one, I do receive a small commission.
How can anyone love giving Christmas gifts–yet put off wrapping them till it’s almost too late?
Maybe you have the answer to that question. I don’t.
But it happens every Christmas season.
In this article, I’d like to share some gift wrapping ideas. Starting with those for the Noelophiles® among us who love to wrap and will spend hours making those gifts look “just so”, and progressing to those who tend to realize, “Uh-oh, I forgot to wrap Aunt Mary’s gift,” at 5 pm on December 24th!
- A gift, dressed up as a…
One Christmas–and only one!–I wrapped every gift as a different item. Packages became Santas, steam engines, toy soldiers, Christmas trees, cats, dogs and, in one case, a skating pond. (Construction paper, sequins and white glue were constant companions!)
The downside? You guessed it–time. One gift could take an hour to wrap: “Hmm, maybe add a mouse with long whiskers to this Christmas grandfather clock?”
There’s also the obvious question: “Aren’t people going to just tear through them and throw the wrappings aside?”
Sure, in some cases. But one aunt actually took home her gift with the skating pond wrap intact! It’s a fun craft if you have extra time or want to get some family members involved.
- Enhanced presents!
Start with a wrapped box–usually in a solid color like gold or red. Now, what could go on that? A silver-paper snowflake (takes about five minutes to fold and cut)? A stack of three progressively-smaller green bows that, when arranged just so and glued together, look like a Christmas tree? (Red sequin trims or small beads for “ornaments” are optional, or you may want to add tiny foil-wrap cutouts.)
Or, maybe you have two gifts, one in a flat box and another, smaller rectangle box? A festive “chimney” on a snow-covered roof is pretty easy to accomplish by wrapping them in red paper, hot-melt gluing the smaller box to the center of the large one (white glue could work, as well), and then adding cotton and/or silver sequins for a “snow” effect. (I almost recommended silver glitter, but it tends to get everywhere–even if it comes preattached to the bows!)
- “Uh-oh-I-forgot-to-wrap-it” gifts
As far as I’m concerned, the shift from wrapping boxes to putting items in decorated gift bags is a great gift, in and of itself.
Here are my affiliate links for Bags and Bows, which offer, among other things, specialty tissue paper and gift bags with reindeer and white snowflakes. (With one warning: they sell in bulk. At the time I became an affiliate, I was under the impression that they sold to consumers, but they’re really more geared to small businesses. So if you’re in need of a lot of gift bags, their case of 250 “Joy” bags for $50 plus tax, may be right up your alley. (So might their reams of tissue paper!) But if you need smaller quantities, you might want to consider local craft or party stores instead. You could also consider Blick Art Materials–this is also an affiliate link–which has tissue, gift bags, sequins, and beads in smaller quantities.)
Toss a gift in the bag, add crumpled tissue paper and a bow, and possibly an inexpensive artificial flower or a glass ornament from the local discount store, and–ta-da! It looks gorgeous and festive, and you’re ready to enjoy the look of delight on your recipient’s face.
Whatever you choose for the gifts you give this Christmas season–up to and including giving “intangibles”, which can be the absolute best gifts of all!–may it be a fun and festive experience, for you and those you love.