~Presentation is Everything~

It's that time of the year again!
The holiday season is vastly approaching and I am excited!! Two reasons: First, I love love love Christmas music. Not really sure why, it's just something about hearing Mariah Carey (or Kelly Clarkson :-) sing "All I want for Christmas is you..." That's been a my jam since I saw Love Actually, my favorite holiday movie. Second, I go crazy about gift wrapping! I truly believe presentation is everything. After taking time to find the perfect heartfelt gift there is no reason to just throw it in an useless gift bag! Dreadful just dreadful... Take your gift giving this year a step further with some wonderfully decorated gift wrapping and accessories.

1) Stocking Stuffer

A Christmas Stocking is an idea "gift bag" for a bottle of wine or an embellished wine glass. Neatly double wrap the gift in paper then stuff additional paper inside the stocking for filling. Pull a few coordinating sheets of tissue paper from the top as with any other gift bag. You could also use ribbon to make a fluffy yet simple bow. Lands' End $20

2) Ornaments

For those of you who are bow-challenged try using ornaments to finish off the gift. When you've completed the task of wrapping the gift, use one long piece of ribbon to tie around the center in a knot. Then use one end to loop through the ornament and tie a regular bow. The ornament will take the attention away from your challenged bow and give character to the gift.

Great ornament for a teacher or professor. K-Mart $2.99

3) The Paper

Last but not least get creative with the wrapping paper. In a world of recycling why waste money on buying paper when you can use items from around the house. Newspaper, maps, or a magazine cover will work. For the business minded guy in your life try using an old Forbes magazine cover. Another option is to choose an inspiring scripture or a cute dictionary definition, like love or family. Then photocopy the page onto a 11 x 7 inch sheet of paper at the highest magnification, repeat as needed to increase the word size and squeeze in the choice part of the passage.
But if you must go out a buy paper... Kick it up a notch with a new design. The Container Store has a huge assortment of holiday paper & tools starting from $4.99

So let's get started. Feel free to post pics of your fabulous works of art when finished.

'Til the next time...
~Ciao