Friday, Nov. 28, 2008

Don’t Get Unravelled Over Gift Wrapping

By Ellen Sackett

Contributing Writer

With Thanksgiving just behind us, the countdown to Christmas has begun. And in the race to get every gift bought, and every detail right for the ensuing holiday, some folks forget one crucial step: wrapping the presents.

Wrapping gifts, though time-consuming, can still be fun. Here’s how.

Find your niche: Not everyone is a master gift-wrapper. But find a unique flair to place on your gifts to set them apart from others .

It could be a certain type of paper, or an interesting gift tag. Discover your niche and embrace it. For example, professional gift wrapper Connie Rheas said that in her experience, "there are certain techniques that you must follow for a great gift but in the end, it’s all about the bow." So maybe your niche can be creating fabulous bows to adorn the gifts you wrap.

There’s fun in numbers: What’s just about everyone you know doing this time of year? Shopping for and wrapping presents and attending parties. Why not marry the activities for a spectacular evening? Host a gift-wrapping party. Everyone volunteers to bring a specific set of supplies and one person hosts the venue. Have snacks catered or simply order out for pizza. With the chatting and working going on simultaneously, you’ll get through that mountain of gifts in no time.

Skip the paper and go for the bag: Gift bags can be the time-crunched gift-wrapper’s saving grace. These bags come in all sizes and require just about a minute’s time of packing to make gifts look great. What’s more, gift bags can be reused over and over. To further expand the recycling power of gift bags, choose solid-color or holiday-neutral bags so that their reuse won’t be restricted to Christmas.

When all else fails: For a small donation, many stores offer gift-wrapping. Take advantage of this service. Shopping on off-hours will ensure the lines at the wrapping area will not be too long.