I snapped up a couple of sheets of this gorgeous handmade paper from RiffeRaff (check out her excellent blog too), planning to frame and hang it, but if I’m going to step it up in the gift wrapping department, I might just need to part with it…I can wrap a perfectly decent gift.
I almost always eschew the bag and tissue combo in favor of actual wrapping paper, and I try to keep a couple of cute gender neutral roles on hand so I don’t end up showing up to a five-year old boy’s birthday party with a gift ensconced in hot pink festivity.
Where I fall short is in the extra credit category… That little touch that takes a gift from good to great. My friends Julie, Ann and Achlee are brilliant at this. Julie has a trove of pretty paper on hand, you know, the kind that you make every effort not to rip while unwrapping your gift. Ann always includes a little gift on top of the gift. A few years ago she topped cute IKEA dollhouse furniture with…little dolls. Perfect. And Achlee uses gorgeous vintage and found fabric, trim, and paper…My favorite was her period of wrapping baby gifts in vintage children’s sewing patterns found at a thrift store. Seriously cool.
The best part of these wrapping tactics is that they're not about spending a lot money or a lot of time, rather it’s about putting a little bit of thought into it, making the recipient feel extra special.
So I’m trying to raise my gift wrapping game for the holidays. Any other cool gift wrapping ideas out there? I’d love to hear…
