Wrapping Things Up: Gift-wrap stories and ideas

There are those of us who think a gift is a gift, whether it comes wrapped with a bow or wrapped in tissue and stuffed in the shopping bag from the store. My mother has always been in the former camp, much to my chagrin when I was growing up. In the big holiday gift-wrap effort, I could never get away with wrapping a gift in paper and calling it a day. Today, I cannot give a gift without a ribbon because I will hear my mother’s voice in my head, and then I feel guilty because I feel like I am cheating the recipient. (So many voices…and I’m sure my children are going to say the same. But that is another story.)

My friend Sarah Sampson says that her husband Philip’s aunt, who is apparently a great cook, once told her that if you are a good cook, you don’t like wrapping gifts. “I’m not sure about this correlation, but maybe it’s because when one’s time is spent in the kitchen, especially around the holidays, one does not have the time or patience at the gift-wrap station,” Sarah muses. “Or maybe it was an excuse to have stores professionally wrap her gifts.”

Beyond creative Tina Pyne says one year, she gave her grandchildren money inside of blown-up balloons. “They were like 10, twin girls, and I took a package of 50 one-dollar bills, put them in little tubes, and shoved them into balloons, then blew them up. They had so much fun with that.” Another year, she stuffed the money inside teddy bears. Another time, she took stacks of one-dollar bills to Kinko’s and had them bound so the kids could peel off the dollars one at a time. “It has to be new money,” she warns. “But that’s fun.”

Those same granddaughters are now 19 and in college. “I have to be more creative,” Tina says, “and I need so much more than 50 bucks!”

Just as creative, Nancy Beck says she starts buying Christmas gifts in July, keeps a list of what she bought, and wraps the gifts immediately. Her clever wraps: maps of foreign countries correlating with the province of purchase; for grandchildren, photos of their parents at the same age printed out and glued together; for books bought in Paris, original canvas bags from the bookstore tied with glittery macaron ornaments and French flag grosgrain ribbon. 

Books, Joy Yeager stresses, are the perfect gifts, not only because you can find books tailored to anyone you need to buy a gift for, but also because of the gift-wrapping options. “The possibilities are endless,” Joy says. “Mysteries, cookbooks, board books, historical fiction. And perhaps the best part is they are super easy to wrap!” Joy likes to align the straight edges of a book with the lines on the undersides of some wrapping paper. Then she adds grosgrain ribbon. “It’s pretty and easy to tie. And a second or third color in the top bow [adds] extra flair, using the colors of the wrapping paper for inspiration.”

If you’re traveling, carrying gifts can be tricky. Sarah Dyke reminds us: “The TSA recommends no wrapped presents.” (I will add from experience that they have no problem unwrapping your prettily-wrapped gifts at the security checkpoint, and they will not be careful.) Sarah shares that she bought drawstring canvas bags with Merry Christmas printed on them in red from Orientaltrading.com. “I thought they were cute and an easy way to wrap up presents,” she says. “Don’t get me wrong. I love a beautifully wrapped present. But my back will thank me this year.”

Consider incorporating botanicals. Liz Wozencraft is a Garden Club of America floral design judge, traveling around the country entering and judging flower shows and giving lectures and workshops on floral design. “Buy some dried plants [or flowers] from Michaels and some fresh, which could be from the grocery store even,” she says. Wrap the gift in brown butcher paper, and tie wide a burlap ribbon around. Use a hot glue gun to affix the flowers and plants (like succulents) to the ribbon. Liz also recommends U Glu Dashes glue dots (Amazon.com), to keep things super-clean.

Sarah Sampson shares that another family member says the gift can be anything, as long as the wrapping is lovely. Sarah herself says she thinks wrapping is a waste of paper. “That being said, every year I tag numerous clever gift-wrapping techniques on Instagram,” she says, “but have yet to try one. Okay, maybe one. Pretty sure the receiver made no comment, so there you have it.”