Tuesday's Tip

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Christmas is only a few weeks away.  Are all your gifts bought?  Is all your holiday baking done?  Are the decorations and lights all up?  What is left to do?  Wrap presents?

Wrapping presents is one of my most loved and most hated jobs that needs to be done.  The first couple of gifts are fun, exciting and the anticipation of the recipient opening the gift on Christmas morning makes me want the gift to look perfect....especially when I have either handmade the gift with love and care or found a present that I just know they are going to love.  BUT after a few are wrapped to perfection, then wrapping becomes a chore.  It isn't exciting and fun anymore....now I just want everything wrapped so I can move on to the next job that needs to be done and my wrapping can become hurried and less than so called perfect.

So to help keep the wrapping fun and exciting as it is with the first few gifts, I have found the following tips really keep me humming those Christmas carols as I finish up the wrapping....

1. I have a tote box filled with all the wrapping supplies I need.  In this box I keep scissors, tape, tags, ribbons, bows, flat wrap, pens, tissue paper, little ornaments (that I sometimes like to add to the top of a gift), mini candy canes (again for the top of presents) and any other little items I might need.  I never have to stop wrapping to go and hunt down a pen or a pair of scissors which takes up valuable time as I tend to get easily side-tracked.
2. Invest in a one-handed tape dispenser.  Mine is old but works oh so perfectly when I am attempting to hold down paper on a less than easy to wrap gift while trying to get that single piece of tape I need to get the paper to stick.
3. When you can, use boxes.  I save all my little boxes throughout the year so I have many shapes and sizes available at Christmas.  Wrapping that stuffed teddy bear is oh so much easier in a box.
4. Tags.  Make your own! If you do, make them well in advance.  Using last year's Christmas cards, cut them so they are visually pleasing and the recipient's name can be written on them.  Punch a hole in the top and add a ribbon.  Frugal and earth friendly.
5. Don't buy cheap, poor quality paper.  You will end up using more as it tears easily or worse, the gift can be seen right through it!
6. Ribbons are your best bet.  Ribbons are, in the long run, cheaper than the regular gift bows, can be dressed up with some sprigs of holly, pine cones or bits of pine boughs.  They can be dressed up or kept plain.  They also will not fall off the gift as bows always seem to do.  If you must use bows, tape them on!
7. Use gift bags if you cannot find a proper sized box.  By adding festive tissue paper and streamer ribbons, any gift will be festive!
8. Don't waste wrapping paper!  Make sure you measure the paper properly before cutting so no paper is wasted.  If you do need to cut some off the edge to ensure a proper fit, save the strips....they can be used to wrap stocking stuffers or other small gifts.
9. Put that Christmas CD in the stereo or tune into a Christmas radio station if you are planning a long wrapping session.  Listening to music helps to set the mood and make wrapping less of a chore.
10. Last but not least....do not wait until the last days before Christmas to start wrapping.  If you wrap three gifts a day starting December 1st, you will have 60 gifts wrapped by the 20th of December!  I can wrap three gifts while waiting for dinner to cook and this is where the wrapping tote comes in handy as it is easy to grab and put away quickly.

Wrapping can be a chore but when having a plan, it becomes less of one.  Have fun wrapping...it only comes once a year!  Here are some fabulous wrapping ideas I found on the web.

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Remember to give your loved ones a hug.