Comments on: Wrap Wars: A New Hope

By: Elaine

Elaine — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:57:57 +0000

Just a quick word of caution. Many, many, um, MANY magazines and home-crafting sites that I’ve seen have promoted the idea of wrapping gifts with pages from the color comics. Cute, whimsical, inexpensive, yes, but there is a certain kind of person out there who finds this idea anything but. They find it tacky, tasteless and cheap. I know this because a co-worker from years ago described her bridal shower, in which one friend presented a gift wrapped this way. I don’t remember whether she liked the gift or not, but she (and her mother) sure didn’t like the paper and pondered whether or not to even invite the friend to the wedding. So, the moral here is twofold: Know your audience — are they materialistic snobs like my former co-worker? If so, they may take offense at a homespun idea for giftwrapping. Second, don’t assume that because you saw an idea in a magazine or on a website, that everyone will agree that it’s a great idea.

By: Eadie

Eadie — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:34:13 +0000

“Brown paper packages tied up with string
These are a few of my favourite things”

By: Courtney

Courtney — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:18:15 +0000

I’m loving the signature wrap idea! I did this for my wedding attendants gifts several years ago. My colors were ivory and periwinkle. I found some inexpensive periwinkle paper at the Party Store and used ivory curling ribbons and bows. It looked totally fantastic. Several of my girlfriends have now copied this idea.

However, I do agree with some other posters. There are two friends of mine who are really into beautiful wrapping and bows. I always try to do something extra special for them. But for the others, I say, bring on the signature wrap!

By: Camilla

Camilla — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:35:47 +0000

I stopped using ribbons, bows, and tags years ago. They are just more clutter to store, and to have to try to coordinate with the gift wrap. I write right on the gift wrap with a felt pen the to and from info. And as soon as I use up the odds and ends of paper I currently have, I am going to go with just one solid color that works for everything. Now to decide what color, and where to buy it…

By: Give LDS Gifts

Give LDS Gifts — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 20:48:59 +0000

I love this idea! I was just thinking about how great ribbons are for giftwrap. I think I will declutter to just the white paper I currently have and just use my ribbons from now on. Thanks for the great blog!

By: janice

janice — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:41:09 +0000

crate & barrel tissue paper is fantastic! it looks great with a colored ribbon – snowy! i’m always on the lookout for plain paper for wrap. different colored & size ribbons on a bunch of different gifts looks great. also, if that’s still too plain, sometimes i wrap one strip of a colored or pattered paper around the gift & then a ribbon (maps, decorative art paper, usually sells in 20″ x 30″ sheets or, salvaged gift wrap – a strip of reused wrap less obvious than a whole sheet.) For the record, my gift wrapping always gets rave reviews.

By: Sheila

Sheila — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:09:18 +0000

I love Peter Walsh’s idea of a signature wrapping paper and tried to pass it on to my clutterer relative. But in my relative’s case, the urge to buy every possible color and pattern trumphs the idea of being simple and elegant. (And that’s why the US has a negative savings rate.) At least I managed to convince my relative to return the huge plastic wrap tub for which said relative had no space. What’s the use of a huge container if you have to put it in the attic? Wrapping paper needs to be close at hand, which is why a couple of rolls stuffed in a coat closet and some ribbon and flat paper in a dining room drawer work fine for me.

I used the Sunday comics sections for kids’ gifts for many years. Another trick is to add stickers to the plain paper repurposed from some prior use. Young kids always seem to have leftover stickers around.

Truth is, I enjoy the art of wrapping presents and making them look special. Considering how modest the gifts themselves often are, making a nice presentation is added value, and depending on the receiver (most guys and children don’t care), is recognized as added love. It also makes a little look like a lot under the Christmas tree. But as a family, we have moved away from gift giving. This year I doubt if we will give presents at all. No one has any money.

By: Christina

Christina — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 03:01:16 +0000

I’m trying to minimize single-use anything in my life, and wrapping paper would fall in that category.

I use and reuse gift bags with colored tissue paper (which can then also be reused), gift boxes which then become part of the gift and/or get reused, and I make wrapping paper out of used packing paper.

I bought some dishes at Crate & Barrel this year, and I know that all the packing paper they used to cushion my purchases will be getting fully crinkled (so it looks textured rather than “used”), flattened, perhaps decorated with drawings or stamps (if I have time) and then used to wrap stuff.

I have a variety of ribbon that I have simply saved from various gifts/flowers I’ve been given. (Collect a whole bunch of used ribbon in a container, and then iron the wrinkles out of a bunch all at once. It’s quick and easy.)

By: Rue

Rue — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:30:05 +0000

If you’re talented with ribbon, buy one set of pretty paper and jazz it up with ribbon! It’s a lot easier to store a bunch of ribbon than a bunch of paper.

However! If you (like me) think that wrapping gifts and making them gorgeous is at least half the fun of gift-giving, buy all the paper you want! There are plenty of gift wrap holders available now. Gift wrap only becomes clutter if you don’t use it and you don’t make a place for it.

By: Whyfly

Whyfly — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:03:22 +0000

We got the furoshiki route at my place, using handkerchefs. Some people keep them, and some give them back so we can use them again.

We also have fabric that is intended to be made into bags, but that hasn’t happened yet.

By: Sky

Sky — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:31:40 +0000

I’ve been putting gifts in the cloth grocery bags. It may cost a little more than typical gift wrap but hopefully the recipient will reuse it and cut back on plastic bags when shopping.

By: kelli

kelli — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 22:26:43 +0000

In the SF bay area you can get really cool outdated maps at the Menlo Park USGS. They just give these huge sheets of paper away!

We also use a roll of paper from IKEA on our IKEA easel. The paper gets fed through the easel and held with a huge binder clip. When the kids are finished coloring both sides, I can use it for wrapping paper.

Another fun place? Thai Silks in Los Altos — they sell silk scarves which are 36×36 inches for about $5 and they are beautiful (there are many sizes & colors). You can wrap kid or adult gifts in these and they can become part of the gift or reusable gift wrap. Kids can play dress up with them, too!

I also like reusable shopping bags — IKEA has some holiday themed bags which would be great for large gifts which are about $2 each. Beautiful reusable shopping bags can be purchased at http://www.reusablebags.com/ for under $10, or you can sew your own if you’re crafty.

By: freecia

freecia — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 17:45:16 +0000

This year I think I’ll go with cloth and put a copy of the furoshiki diagrams right at the bottom http://www.env.go.jp/en/focus/attach/060403-5.html

By: JSM

JSM — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 16:19:24 +0000

I’ve been using tissue paper of various colors for years along with one roll of curling ribbon with four colors (gold, green, red and white). The tissue paper is easily folded and stored with my other paper in a bin. I can get many different looks by crumpling the paper or taping a band of a different color across the middle of the wrapped package. I also like to change up the ribbon placement and ties (some curly, poofy and multi-colored; others squared off with one simple knot). And with every gift I give, I always include a well thought out note on simple stationary. That, to me, means more than the gift or wrapping (especially in this age of email).

By: Kate

Kate — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 13:39:40 +0000

Many years ago I picked silver paper for my christmas wrappings, everyone knows it’s me, it looks smart and tidy and a little different.

Also a solid colour paper stands out against all the multi-coloured wrapped pressents in a pile

Yes for the fabric bags thing – I did that a year or so ago, while fabric with a black swirly design and a red ribon to tie is up. Bags can then be used to hold undies when you go on holiday (or is that just me?).

One family member wrapped everything in the Finatial Times with red ribbons, looked really good – the FT is a distictive tan colour rather than regular newspaper colour.

I gave up gift tags years ago, they get lost – write their name and your name on the wrapping paper directly, one less thing – the tag – and more practical