Holiday Gift Wrap: What’s Your Style?

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wrapping

With the holidays quickly upon us, we brace ourselves for the time honored tradition of gifting the ones we love and appreciate. For some, this means shoving all presents into gift bags. But for others, it can be a carefully planned, heartfelt process with color-coordinated and on-trend sentiment.

This year, I was able to attend a lesson on holiday gift wrapping secrets. In addition to a new appreciation of double sided tape (to hide under the paper for perfect gift presentation), I also gained a perspective that all moms have a different take on how get ready to gift their families and friends.

So fellow moms, what’s your gift wrap style this year?

All Thumbs

Are your presents bumpy, lumpy but not full of coal? Do you pass off your wrapped packages as something your five year old helped you with? Do you purposefully shop at Pottery Barn Kids for their free in-store gingham gift wrap to save face every year? If so, consider yourself All Thumbs.

Fear not, folding-challenged mommas, the gift wrap industry has your back. Use those handy squares on the back of wrapping paper to measure the perfect fit. When circling around, give yourself about four extra lines of squares. For the sides, just choose enough paper to evenly fold to the top. Don’t forget the timeless rule of thumb: measure twice and cut once.

DIY Superstar

How many plastic bins of holiday wrapping supplies do you have? Four? Five? Do you have a dedicated craft space and table to spend the weeks before the holidays perfectly adorning your gifts? Have you taken lessons on how to fold your own gift bags?         

Congratulations, your hard work has made you a DIY Superstar!

This year, spread the holiday cheer by teaching others new tricks. Hold a Girls Night In (complete with wine and munchies) to instruct others on how to make their presents magical (or at least how to smooth out those rough corners).

On-Trend Target Shopper

Did your recent garbage bag and hair conditioner run to Target turn into a $75 bill for holiday supplies? Do your wrapping paper, ribbons, and tags coordinate with your tree topper and skirt? Do you attach Target ornaments to compliment the personalities of your loved ones  (check out this dapper lamb ornament for your guy!)? If you might as well use Bullseye plastic bags for your gifts, you are the On-Trend Target Shopper.

This year, challenge yourself to go beyond the basic Target pairings and get creative and funky with your embellishments. Hit up your favorite craft store for velvet ribbon, sparkly trinkets, and woodcut pieces to custom paint. (But don’t forget to hit up those 90% off Target after holiday sales to stock up for next year!)

Thrifty Mama

Do you keep every gift bag ever given to you? (Specifically, do you stockpile the red ones to do triple duty as Christmas, Valentine’s, and gender neutral birthday gifts?) In the weeks leading up to the holidays, do you save your newspaper “funny” pages for backup present wrap? Can you keep your label and ribbon spending under $5 by scouring the aisles of your local dollar store? If you penny pinch like me, call yourself the Thrifty Mama.

Instead of ironing out those old gift bag creases this year, try buying bulk kraft paper and twine for an understated rustic butcher look that won’t break the bank but will look heartfelt and classic.

Gift Bag Aficionado  

Who has the time to wrap? Between soccer practice, baby dance classes, buti yoga sessions, and everything else we moms fill our calendars with, who can actually sit down to wrestle with tape and paper that’s going to be torn off in five seconds anyway? There are perfectly good bags out there with the right message and cute design to get that tin of reindeer hot cocoa safely to your child’s teacher’s desk, right? I’m with you, Gift Bag Aficionado.

Use less tissue paper this year and treat a loved one to a package wrapped with love. Buy a good wrapping paper (with measuring squares on the back) and seek out tips on Youtube and Pinterest to speed up your efforts. As an added bonus, wrapping paper costs less than bags which means you can spend more on those you love (or treat yourself to a little gift of your own).

Luxe and Deluxe

Did you rush to your mailbox for the 2017 Paper Source Holiday Catalog and spend hours envisioning how to correctly embellish their adorable Hedgehog Hanukkah and HoHoHo Sloth prints? Are your custom-ordered to/from tags three dimensional laser cut with embossed patina trim? Do you spend an hour adjusting the warm lighting around your tree for that perfect 24 karat glow from your gifts? If this describes you and your Amex Black bill, then your style is Luxe and Deluxe.

This year, keep doing what you’re doing. So long as you’re having fun and spreading the holiday cheer, there’s no harm in a little over the top adornment.

So what’s your style? Comment below!

1 COMMENT

  1. Such fun suggestions. While some years are more impressive than others I always love to try and at least start out in a fun and creative way. Using recycled paper is great to cut down on the holiday waste.

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