wrapping

For a long time I pretended to myself each Christmas that next year I would get my presents wrapped earlier - earlier than Christmas Eve. Finally I have realized that I like the last minute wrapping frenzy. Almost as much as I like the activity of wrapping presents. And I do honestly love it. I like selecting the paper and box, the ribbon or string, the tag, the embellishments, and then making it all come together in a beautiful package that says 'I love you'. A beautifully wrapped gift is an affordable luxury, one that is within the reach of anyone with the patience to take a little care and use the tiniest bit of imagination. 

I don't think gift wrapping needs to be over the top to be wonderful. It just needs to be neatly executed. Quality ribbon goes a very long way. As do cool tags. Some years I have spent more time than I should have crafting tags of one sort or another (always a ton of fun), other years I have purchased shipping tags or even price tags. This year I decided to use nothing but brown kraft paper or white newsprint paper to cover my boxes, red or black baker's twine, 'ribbon' strips torn from a piece of black cotton, bits of faux Christmas greenery, and velvet ribbons from my ribbon collection*. The tags (which I love) are from here and here. 

Simple. Beautiful. Done.  (Well..... almost. Just four left to wrap. And that is a record for me!)

*Every year I use, save, and re-use 'real' ribbon. I have a large plastic bin full of the glorious bits. It may be a bit eccentric (or maybe just plain weird) but my loved ones accept and even anticipate the collection and saving of ribbon. I like to think of it as being green.