As a child I was taught to gift wrap by my mother and my auntie Maria, who are both big advocates of crisp folds, matched-up edges, and ultra-tight bows made with florists' ribbon. Really, it was almost ritualistic - this whole Christmas gift wrapping flurry we would fly into shortly after Thanksgiving. They seemed to derive pleasure from the neatly arranged assemblage of gifts, all in matching wrap (my mother preferred plain shiny red or green) with matching white bows. Learning how to wrap, I was dispatched to do all my grandma's packages for her - she wasn't so picky about how well it was done.
Eventually I developed my own gift wrap style - I changed to double-stick tape, for one thing, which means I can wrap a package in paper and have no visible tape anywhere - pretty cool. I also like to try all different sorts of papers and ribbons. If I want the gift to be really fancy, I wrap the box in colored tissue and then wrap it again in paper. I love paper. I love heavy, rich paper that feels good in the hands. I love a beautifully wrapped gift!
I also love really sharp scissors!
3 comments:
It's like the first day of school, when all of your supplies are shiny and new and have that new paper smell. I am nowhere near as good of a wrapper as you (I like your color choices especially) but I too get some serious gratification out of the presentation as well as the actual gift.
Do you make cards for the holidays, too?
Hi DivineD... thanks for stopping by! I have never made my own holiday cards, although sometimes I will make a birthday card. I like Crane's paper and cards a lot. So maybe I could get their plain white or ecru and decorate them for the holidays.
One thing I learned when working for Macy's in Hawaii (retail slave days) was the cultural nuances of wrapping. Our Japanese (as in, flying over for the week) customer was very conscious of how we treated the items. Tissue around garments or makeup required certain pleats, tucks and a gentle EASING into the bags. Wrapping boxes meant painful attention to corner matching, and handmade foofy bows were a bitch--but I appreciated the care taken from there on out. You are so artistic!
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