Every year without fail I tell myself the same thing: This year I’ll be ahead of the game, by the beginning of December all the presents will be wrapped, stacked neatly under the tree and I’ll even have time to sip a hot chocolate and watch Christmas movies! hahaha.
Here we are middle of December and somehow not much is wrapped, in fact nothing is! The rolls of paper are still rolled, the ribbons untouched and the scissors are already missing! I even got my eldest to buy some new one's yesterday and those are lost too. The pile of gifts is more of a mountain and as much as I say I hate doing the wrapping, I am sort of looking forward to it. There’s something about wrapping presents that is part of the magic of Christmas.
I’ve tried over the years to have a proper place to wrap presents like at the dining room table or even sitting on the sofa but I always end up on the floor. It’s just easier. I spread everything out, claim a corner of the living room as my own and just deal with the fact that I will have a numb bum and legs for the next couple of hours.
The floor is where it happens, there's a mix of scattered paper scraps, sticky tape stuck to everything it shouldn’t be and a pile of all the price tags if I remember to pull them off. There’s something nice about sitting there, it’s part of the wrapping routine even with the the mess, losing the end of the tape and the way the paper always seems to roll back on itself . Hmmf.
I begin every wrapping, scissors in my hand, ready to slice through paper like a pro but 10 minutes later the scissors are gone! I know I had them, I can see myself holding them but somehow they disappear! Then comes the tape. It sticks to everything except the gift it’s supposed to stick to. I spend half my wrapping time untangling the tape from itself, trying not to scream and the other half of my time trying to find the end of it! I even have one of those tape holders which should make my life easier but it doesn't!
After years of mix ups and lost gift tags I finally found a system that works for me: one wrapping paper design for my eldest and a completely different one for my youngest. There's no guessing and no panicked moments on Christmas morning. The paper itself is the tag!
No wrapping session is complete without some background entertainment. For the last 5 years or so I have watched Avengers: Infinity War while I wrap one of my girls presents and my dad's birthday and Christmas presents. My reason being that it is a decent length film and gives me plenty of time and then when I have my 2nd day of wrapping my other girls presents and everyone else's I watch Avengers: End Game! In total the movies are about 5 and a half hours long so that's plenty of time to wrap everything! The films make the process feel less like work and more like a tradition. I don’t wrap faster, but I wrap happier!
The presents are never wrapped perfectly and it takes time to tidy up but it's all part of the wrapping routine. Even if I tell myself next year everything will be wrapped by the beginning of December I know deep down it won’t happen but that’s OK.
When do you wrap the Christmas presents and where?
I love how you´ve found a tradition that works for you! I agree- I always end up on the floor with a sore bum and back when it´s all said and done... and the scissors do always end up missing at some point :). I like the idea of how you use the same wrapping paper for each child. That is a good one! I tend to wrap presents when I have bursts of time. I´m so glad that I got some done a couple of weeks ago- I haven´t touched any presents since and they are piling up in our room. My goal for this weekend is to wrap a bunch. Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteI use a designated folding table in my room; I use one chair to hold the wrapping paper rolls, tissue paper, gift bags, etc. and the only thing on the table is the scissors, gift, pen, and label. Then I watch a movie while standing up wrapping. Typically I watch The Holiday and if I need a second day of wrapping I usually watch While You Were Sleeping since I've seen them both many times and don't have to fully watch to know what's going on. I have everything that has arrived so far wrapped but I'm expecting several large orders to come in over the next couple of days so I'll have to spend another day wrapping soon.
ReplyDeleteI also end up on the floor and always try to have a Christmas background, whether it be a show or music playing. I need to wrap this year! I have always tried to use different paper on Christmas morning vs any other gifts. Great post!
ReplyDeleteHappy Wrapping, this was a fun post to read my friend.
ReplyDeleteI wrap at my crafting table. I have all my supplies around me, paper, ribbon, bows, tape, tags... and I have Christmas music playing.
I usually use the table, but I love your set up! This year I am going "homestead style" with the wrapping and using brown packing paper saved from packages throughout the year, they will be tied with red ribbons and have a small bough of evergreen tucked in. #MMBC
ReplyDeleteWhen all 16 kids were still at home, I had to be super creative about wrapping. I'd gather a bunch of gifts and have one of the kids come help me wrap, in my room on the king sized bed, making sure of course that none of the gifts were for that child. Some of them really loved helping, and we made good memories. I wrap as I buy things, and now more as they get shipped here. With so many kids and 12 of them married, and 17 (going on 19!) grandchildren, the number to buy for is...46? Only two live at home, so they still get a pile, the other ones get one or two...and something nice for each grandchild, of course...losing the tape, and the marker, and the scissors, yes! I'm not the only one!
ReplyDeleteI'm terrible at wrapping presents, luckily I don't have too many to do but I try and do them as I buy them to get it over with! This year I finally invested in a tape dispenser which wasn't actually that expensive and has been amazing, I should have bought one years ago!
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