How Good Is Your Giftwrapping?

[rastahomie]

Back in third grade (1978ish), our class made pizelles as "holiday" gifts for our families (we had a Jewish girl in class, so the teacher was loathe to say "Christmas," the Establishment Clause having made its way to central Illinois by that time), and we then had to wrap them. The girls' wrapping jobs were utilitarian if not professional: straight cuts, clean folds, etc. The boys' wrapping jobs looked like they were done by, well, third-grade boys.

To this day I can't wrap a gift to save my life, and I"m pushing 50. I can't cut straight, I can't fold cleanly, I sure as hell can't estimate properly how much paper I need to cover this side of the box or that. Anything I wrap immediately harkens back to my elementary school pizelle-wrapping job.

Mrs. Homie's wraps are like those of my 70's girl classmates: functional and well-done, if not particularly noteworthy. However, I've known women who take giftwrapping to Martha Stewart levels. I'm talking ribbons and bows curled and tied and zhuzhed this way and that; if the State Fair gave out ribbons for giftwrapping, these women would win them all.

How's your giftwrapping?

 

[lynxstch]

My gift wrapping is good. You do know you can buy wrapping paper that has lines drawn on the back , so you can at least cut it straight, right? lol My Mother taught me how to wrap, and I love making gifts look pretty. I take the time to add ribbons and bows, or flowers, or ornaments. Very seldom do I resort to a gift bag, unless the gift I have won't fit in anything else!

 

[kimblebee]

My gift wrapping is AMAZING. It’s my favourite part of Christmas..most people say it’s the unwrapping lol

I lost my Christmas stuff in a garage fire a few years ago but I’m slowly building up my stock again. I had 37 rolls of paper, a Rubbermaid tote full of bows and ribbons and matching gift tags.

I honestly wish I could turn gift wrapping into a home business but, when I started a thread about it, too many problems were pointed out.

 

[amberpi]

I'm exactly like @kimblebee. I have done the wrapping for my folks (and my own obviously) for years and love it. All the gifts look perfect. My favorite is cloth ribbons with wire for the bows.

 

[amberpi]

My gift wrapping is good. You do know you can buy wrapping paper that has lines drawn on the back , so you can at least cut it straight, right? lol My Mother taught me how to wrap, and I love making gifts look pretty. I take the time to add ribbons and bows, or flowers, or ornaments. Very seldom do I resort to a gift bag, unless the gift I have won't fit in anything else!

That's me. Only the weirdly shaped gifts get bagged. A big giant Mickey from my parents to my nephew had to be bagged, and no is even going to try to wrap the power wheels SUV they bought!

 

[Micca]

I'm awful, a third grade boy would do a much better job than me. I only wrap for DW's gifts, she has to tackle the rest.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Well, I won't go as far as to say I am Martha Stewart. But, maybe ALMOST!!!!
My gifts are sometimes 'presentations'.

 

[lorimay]

Meh! at best........

 

[loves to dive]

If I try mine is pretty good but I have to be in the mood. Some of my gifts end up in the boxes that you can buy that look like they are wrapped and some I go all the way out with and put ornaments or flowers or toys on them. We don't exchange gifts any more since we are truly that couple that has anything we could possibly want or need so told our family not to get us gifts and to give to charity instead if they must. Since all of my family live in different parts of the state/country and honey's family lives in south Georgia it's usually the 3 of us on Christmas anyway (honey my son and me) so it's always a nice quiet day to sleep in and my son and I go to a movie. I do usually have one or two gag gifts under the tree just so it doesn't look naked.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I’m a solid B-. I can’t cut a straight line to save my life, but I can fold like nobody’s business

 

[Hikergirl]

All I can say is thank goodness for gift bags

 

[Spencer Wright]

I would be reasonably proficient if I didn't have two active tabby cats who show interest.

At least they like to be involved in the daily running of the household!

 

[cabanafrau]

I think I do a respectable job, most of our family gifts are wrapped on the plain side, not a lot of flash. When I pull out all of the bells and whistles in an attempt to make a real presentation it seems to get quite a response. Just last night my husband was asking me yet again how I managed to learn how to wrap gifts well and I gave him the same answer I have for over 30 years now -- by the time I was no older than seven I would help my dad shop for my mom, we would bring the gifts home and haul them into my room where he would tell me to get them all wrapped up and under the tree. My mom had shown me the basics of applying the wrap to a gift and I just had to work it out from there.

I had a harder time trying to help my dad complete the shopping for the list he got from my mom. It was one thing when she gave a perfume that she liked, but my dad assumed that because I was a girl that by the time I was of school age I should inherently be able to sort out clothing items my mom liked, as well as the size. He never was able to understand why my mom could not simply say size 8 or 10 pants or skirt, etc. and that you walk up to the rack, pick up the size and be done with it. Stores were quite different in the early seventies. We would go into my mom's favorite haunts, a clerk would ask if they could help us find anything, my dad would tell them I needed help with x, y and z and he would head off to their little sitting area and I had to work with the clerk to see what we could come up with. I'd show my dad the choices, he would very occasionally nix something he really didn't like and we would pay and move on to the next shop. Luckily by the time stores were moving away from such personalized service I was maybe eleven and pretty used to steering dad through on my own. My mom and I still crack up when we talk about how my dad just assumed the fact I was a girl and had started school I would be able to figure out all this stuff when he had zero clue himself.

 

[soccerdad72]

Eh, I'm ok - passable. My wife is very good - nothing overly fancy, but she's very efficient. For years as a kid, she used to help her mom wrap presents, often wrapping her own gifts (without knowing it). Her mom would pass boxes to her and she'd wrap them not knowing who it was for or what was inside.

 

[RedAngie]

Yep, gift bags rule.

I once bought a wedding gift for someone and had it wrapped at the department store. The woman just eyeballed the size of the box and pulled the wrapping paper off the roll to the exact millimeter.

Decades ago my mother would often wrap things elaborately, then got upset when the recipients just tore off the paper without appreciating the effort she put into it. Eventually she gave up.

 

[lovesmurfs]

Functional. I'd love to be Martha Stewart with bows, but I'm just not.

My wrapping is seasonal and covers the gift. If there's a bow or curling ribbon and you're one of my kids, it's a special gift. If there's a bow or curling ribbon and you're not one of my kids, I must not have had to ship your gift.

 

[foodiddiedoo]

As someone who is more than proficient at gift wrapping and loves to add ribbons and bows and make sure a gift looks as good as it possibly can, every year at Christmas my hastily/poorly/looks like my 3 year old could have done a better job gifts from my husband (who can't even bother to stick a bow with a back sticker on half the time) are a MAJOR disappointment. I take pride in making the gifts look as good as possible, and mine always look like crud.

 

[ashley0139]

I'm okay, but not great. Growing up, my dad was the gift wrapper in the family. His always look great. Mom always asked me to wrap my dad's gifts. Believe it or not, being able to wrap gifts has nothing to do with the gender you are.

 

[rastahomie]

Believe it or not, being able to wrap gifts has nothing to do with the gender you are.

Of course not! But then again, in my mind anyway, giftwrapping is just one of those things that women are generally better at than men. Also decorating and entertaining. There are men, gay and straight, who excel at those things, and there are women who suck at them. But in the main, women are better at it. That's not a sexist statement, it's an obvious fact (in my head, lol).

 

[dish rag]

Good eniugh.