When I was little, my dad, not my mom was the wrapper extraordinaire in our house. When it came to gorgeous wrapped gift boxes, my dad was king. My mom was the shopper, and like MC Hammer himself, you couldn't touch her when it came to shopping (then and now), but when it came to present the present, mom had no game.
Mom had five kids and she had to do all the shopping for said five kids, so I guess I'll give her a pass on the Martha Stewart package presentation. I can vividly remember sitting on the floor with my dad, roll of wrapping paper on the floor in front of us, and getting a meticulous tutorial on the proper cutting and folding of a piece of wrapping paper for a Christmas gift. Corners were the most important and dad made sure that the gift wrap was cut perfectly so that corners looked neat and tight.
Then there was the tape. No vertical strips sloppily criss crossing the precious package. No, strategically placed vertical strips sealed dad's packages and he preferred the invisible scotch tape to the frosted. I often wonder if dad would have had a field day with double sided tape if he had it. But that's where it ended for him. Dad was more than content with the bows from a bag, a "to and from" card and he'd call it a day. I took the next step to a whole new level on my own.
Throughout the year, when I see gift ribbon on the cheap, I buy it by the roll. A complete sucker for color and sparkle, I have tons of rolls of amazing ribbon. Some is wired, some is fabric, but all is fabulous and I even have my own "gift wrap room". I have a small walk-in-closet in my basement that has shelves on either side of the walls. Inside, on those shelves, I house all my gift wrap supplies. I have boxes, tissue, gift bags, tons of gift wrap, bows, ribbon, gift shred (for boxes or gift bags) and right now is when I utilize 80% of what's in that room.
I love to give almost more than receive, and nothing makes me happier than putting together a beautifully wrapped gift. As a matter of fact, I took the day off today so that I can go work my magic in my little Santa's workshop down in my basement.
And I know my dad will be with me. Even though he's been gone for almost 20 years, he's never really too far from me.
13 comments:
I to have a hang-up for ribbon by the spool! Love the glittery ribbon with wire to make big bows.
What a great way to remember your Dad and feel close to him in spirit.
Merry Christmas!
I'm just useless at wrapping!
I've been known to pay for people to do it... not cos I'm lazy but that I want a decent result
What a sweet memory to have of your dad. With every gift you wrap you get to re-live those special moments with him.
Happy Holidays Girl!
OH this was just wonderful!!
Merry Christmas Candy!
:)
I've always liked wrapping presents. Unfortunately, none of my brothers did, and I always ended up wrapping all of their shit too.
BTW, I just learned how to make a bow out of a magazine page. I am awesome.
some say its all about the wrapping...
well it doesn't hurt
I can wrap a box, but am hopeless at anything that isn't perfectly square!
I Loooove beautiful gift-wrapping. One year I wrapped everything in brown craft paper with beautiful colorful Japanese paper origami butterflies as gift tags.
I use to use the packaged bows, but I just purchased a Bowdabra, which allows me to do justice to the beautiful ribbon with spectacular bows. Seriously, I'm addicted to the thing and everyone's present now has a huge "handmade" bow on them.
My mom does the rapping, and it takes her FOREVER to emerge from her workshop. I like when people do a good job at it, but I must admit that I'm a sloppy one.
Awwww. I remember sitting on the basement floor with my dad wrapping my mom's Christmas gifts too. My dad was a stickler for tissue paper. One piece was never enough. :-)
And personally I think I prefer the wrapping to the shopping.
I always try so hard--so very hard--at wrapping. And yet, it always looks a bit rubbish. :(
Your post is sooooo timely. Today, I finally finished all my Christmas shopping and stood at the dining room table meticulously wrapping everything. I say "stand" because I just can't sit to wrap...there's too much back movement involved.
I wrapped with precision, ribbons, bows, wrapping paper and tape. I've always thought that the way a package is wrapped is 50% of the giving. It doesn't matter how exquisite the gift is, it's the wrapping that makes ALL the difference. If the wrapping is great, people remember it. If the gift is not, you better hope they remember the wrapping!
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