That's a wrap!

I have wrap envy. While I own scores of beautiful papers and ribbons, the act of wrapping always evades me. I can do it for a shoot. And like many young girls, actually did that as a job to earn some extra money in high school yet today, it's more like slap on a tag on a brown bag and call it a day.  If Heidi Klum was rating my packages, I'd be asked to leave the runway.

Poor friends and family have been relegated to back of the bus, with presents looking more like a middle school child did them that adult with more style than she shows when gifting. So imagine my glee when one of my favorite stores, Anthropologie, started offering gift wrap this season.  Check out their facebook page for a fun video on ways to dress a present.

Here's a few other ideas :

Let the tag do the talkin' for you...

REALLY love this. Feels modern and fresh and you have to have a steady hand to cut the names out but the beauty is in it's simplicity. It's also a great way to use up that last little bit of paper that we all have.

With the onslaught of packing and Japanese tapes at craft stores, there's really no excuse to not dedazzle something this season.   This idea from Paul Lowe is nice because it uses the cylinder shape.

Paul gives really good ideas here too.  Blow up your child's artwork for personalized wrapping or use a beautiful image from a magazine.  Use old books (never tire of this one) or get a vintage silhouette from etsy or ebay and use. This involves advance planning so not so good for those of us who like to wrap on Dec. 24.  The office supply stores sells those tags for almost nothing.  Or cut out using scissors (old school) or tag maker (new school) in matching material.

Kate's Paperie has had a high bar in wrapping for years.   They really are artists in their creations.  I especially like this super-simple-yet-so-pretty number.

My favorite. Maybe it's because I just had my 20 year high school reunion but blowing up the yearbook and covering the box gets a laugh from the recipient before they even open the box.  That's always a good start.

Live large, 

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