Tips for Stress Free Wrapping of all those Holiday Gifts
It can bring a lot of joy to a person to see their loved ones open gifts. The squeals of delight when they see what is in that package, makes it all worth it. That moment of happiness can make the stress of the shopping experience, lousy traffic and last minute rush wrapping, seem less bothersome. If you are like many people each holiday season, you have a million and one things to do everyday and just the mere thought of having to sit down and wrap a mountain of gifts can almost be enough to push you over the edge of sanity. Never fear, wrappingtipsand helpful suggestions are here!
Supplies
One of the quickest ways to raise your stress levels during a gift wrapping session is to figure out that you are out of clear tape or worse; not enough wrapping paper! Then there is the favorite: you have the paper laid out and are ready to cut sheets to fit gifts and discover the scissors have vanished into thin air! Take a deep breath, let that maddening image leave your mind. Now, the way to avoid these annoying scenarios is by making sure you have all the proper wrapping supplies before you begin. For example have two pairs of scissors (just in case one pair sprouts legs and makes a run for it), two or three rolls of clear tape, six different rolls of wrapping paper and more tags and bows than any human should possibly need in a lifetime! Seriously, before you start to wrap the first gift, make sure you have plenty of supplies.
Wrapping area
Pick a spot in your home where no one will bother you while you wrap gifts. Note: the bathroom is probably not a good choice! Once you have claimed your spot, set up stations where each wrapping component will sit. For example: a flat spot for the paper, a separate spot for the bows/ribbons, a different spot for the tags and a spot for the tissue paper and boxes/bags. The clear tape and scissors must have their own special spot in order to avoid misplacing them. Setting up a wrapping assembly line will help you stay organized, plus make the wrapping process go faster.
Wrapping party
Yes! Wrapping holiday gifts is a great reason to have a party! You may not want to add any "holiday cheer" to the eggnog for this party however, it might make it a little difficult to cut straight lines in the wrapping paper! The point to having a wrapping party is to enlist the cheer and helpful happiness of your friends and loved ones to keep the mood light and make the wrapping chore a little more enjoyable. The group can laugh and tell stories while wrapping gifts. Be sure to offer some treats and some coffee/tea. If you invite people to the party that have gifts you need to wrap, simply have that person go out of the room while you wrap! The truth is, any stressful chore can become a fun activity when surrounded by your favorite people.
Store gift wrapping
This could be considered cheating, and who cares? Many stores offer free or cheap gift wrapping when you buy things in their store. This is truly one stop shopping folks! When you get all of your gift shopping done, relax while they wrap everything up for you. Another advantage to this option is that you will not have to try and find hiding places for the gifts until you have the time to wrap them. The wrapping might not be as pretty as you would do it, but its worth giving up a little pretty for a whole lot of stress relief!
Gift bags
One last tip is to utilize holiday themed gift bags offered by most stores. Bags are offered in many different styles and sizes and are cheaper than buying rolls (and more rolls) of wrapping paper, clear tape, tags and bows/ribbons. All you have to do is buy the bags and some tissue paper, put the gift inside the bag and arrange the tissue paper in the bag so that the gift is not visible, and you are done! This option may not work if you have sneaky people in your home that will peek into the bags, unless you keep the bags locked in a closet until it is time to open them.
The holiday season is full of stressful events from parties to shopping to cooking and baking. You can eliminate some of that stress by figuring out creative and fun ways to wrap all of those holiday gifts.
