Wrapping Presents Rant
 

Does anyone else hate doing this as much as I do? I just spent the last two hours wrapping my wife's Christmas presents and still have all of the presents for our son, families and friends left to go. Why did it take me two hours? Because I suck at wrapping gifts. They always turn out looking like my dog wrapped them.

What I would really like to know is why we wrap gifts. It seems like a waste of money to buy all the paper, tape, bows and ribbon (my wife insists on using all of it) just to watch it all be cut and torn to pieces a few weeks later. Anyone know how and why this started?

Thank you. I feel much better now.

if you dont wrap them, then you dont get to have the fun of unwrapping them. but i guess i feel that way since it is easy for me to wrap them. i always have to laugh at my girlfriend when she tries to wrap them though, since they never turn out the way she wants them to.

Get them wrapped at the Mall... then you don't have to do it.

Me? I love wrapping presents for some people... the ones who appreciate good wrapping...

Buy those fancy bags and a little tissue paper. I've been doing it for years.

I'm the one that ends up doing the majority of the wrapping around here.
I usually set aside about 4 hours a day for a couple or three days and get it all over with.
The only gripe I have about the process is the cutting of the paper off the roll.
By the time I'm through cutting all the paper with care, making sure to keep a straight line, my forearm gets a hell of a workout.
I wish I had some kind of tool that would cut it in one stroke, or at least not more than three.
If I try to zip my scissors across, it usually ends up tearing.


I looked high and low but couldn't find the history of gift-wrapping.
Gift-giving I did find, plus a few other customs.
I would hazard a guess that it started in the mid-to-late part of the 19th century when paper was cheaper to produce and buy.

I used to do that but the mall which offered that service closed. I use the bags for birthdays and anniversarys but I'm stuck wrapping for Christmas as it is expected for this time of the year by my family.

I enjoy watching everyone else open their gifts, like I said, I guess the biggest reason I don't like doing it is because I looks bad. Then I put my gifts next to the ones my wife wrapped and they look really bad. (She can wrap anything and make it look good).

I suck SERIOUSLY bad at wrapping presents. I mean even a damn perfect square gets slaughtered for me. The best part is that I always end up getting fed up with the scissors and I tear the wrapping paper off of the roll instead of cutting. Boy that's classy.

I like wrapping the gifts I buy even though I too SUCK as a gift wrapper. I like making crazy packages out of things. Wrapping a watch in coffee tin the putting that package in a box that a stand mixer came in and wrapping that again. Stupid things like that that make my friends and family work for it a bit. It's goofy but it's also fun. And it makes me thankful that I have people in my life withm whom I can enjoy the holidays.

Hey if you've done it already then shoot you're way ahead of the game....

i use old newspaper to wrap my presents in... that sounds crappy doesn't it?
mmmmm, it's not as bad as it sounds! in the months or weeks (ok day) leading up to christmas or birthdays i look out for interesting headlines and stories and then when i wrap it is giving a message too. failing that i wrap the pressie in the financial times because the colours look really good...

Im too poor to buy gifts, so I dont have to worry about stuff like that. :)

or sometimes there is some charitable group in the store/mall so I donate a few dollars and have them wrap it.

or I just dont wrap it at all cuz I suck like that.

I can wrap a box pretty good, so, every Christmas present I give, no matter the shape, gets thrown into a bigger box.

Stuffed animal? Goes in a box.
Anything in a bag? Goes in a box.
Video games? Thank god, they're in a box.

I bought a guitar for a friend a few years ago. Since I can't wrap any non-box gifts, I had to put it in a television box and use filler to make sure it didn't bang around. He was confused at first, but he eventually got it all the way open.

That's how a lot of my gifts go, me saying, "No, wait. Open it all the way...."

funny to find this thread right now...
i just crawled up in our attic to retrieve wrapping papers, bows, xmas cards, a few spattering of decorations, etc.

typically i don't mind gift wrapping much & i must admit i am a very fine gift wrapper, but this year it's quite a predicament due to lack of space to barely turn around in our home, because of major home remodel. we have been for the most part reduced from a 3 bdrm/2 bath house to essentially a 2 bdrm/1 bath apartment as we continue to reside in our home as the living room is being enlarged & the hall bath is gutted & being redone atm.

also, i have ZERO time for shopping again due to the remodel. luckily, the years gone by i've been crazy about purchasing pretty wrapping supplies & greeting cards, so i have more than plenty to use up.

on another note...
i have decided to drastically shorten my list to whom i will give gifts to.
it's really quite insane that people go broke over this holiday.
over the past couple of years, i've politely asked several folks to not buy for us & we'll not buy for them & everyone is quite pleased with that request!
for many years now, my husband & i don't even exchange gifts! instead we trade cards w/sappy words & go out for a nice meal.

You know, I think wrapping gifts is ok. I'm none too good at it either. But it's a nice thing to do. It shows you took the time and then there's the element of surprise.

So even though we wrap it badly, I think it's still very much appreciated. It's cool that you care enough to write about it.

I think if we spent a little more time and care, we would find that we could do an alright job. If I was building a shelf unit, or shed I would spend time and care. Use the same approach when giftwrapping. That type of attention goes a long way.

wrapping presents has always annoyed me, so I usually try to do something creative, last year, I wrapped everything in a couple of layers of duct tape.

*blinks* How did people actually OPEN these presents? :lol:

I'm not great at present wrapping...but for some odd reason, I still enjoy it. With bigger presents, I usually do a "collage" of wrapping paper, make it look all jazzy and strange.

And I'm all about surprises...what fun would it be for someone to just hand me my present, all naked & stuff?

...wait. if someone handed me a present while THEY were naked...oh, never mind, I just totally lost my train of thought :D

I love wrapping gifts. I believe I inherited this trait from my grandmother. She made quite a presentation with her gift wrapping. Now, I do the same. Gift wrapping is a unique outlet for my creative side. When I was in college I worked in a clothing store and spent the few weeks before and after Christmas in a small store room wrapping gifts and making bows at a very old bow machine. Now, that was fun. I have acquired one of those very old bow machines and still make my own bows. It's a huge part of the holidays for me.

*grin* slowly, and carefully.
thankfully, most people realized that it was a joke, and weren't too annoyed...

I personally love all the boxing, wrapping, and taping. I usually wrap everyone's gifts in kids paper just for fun. :)

I must have the gift wrapping gene or something, but my gifts look great! It does take some time, but be honest - don't you LOVE opening gifts?

Of course you do. Take then time to at least attempt to wrap and, if you are truly hopeless, use a gift bag. Gift bag = wrapped gift w/o the bulshit. Try it, it's just as valid as wrapping paper.

Good Luck!

Peace,

Pierre

I used to hate gift wrapping, until I worked in a toy store and was forced to do it all the time. The secret to wrapping gifts with less stress is to have:

1) A large flat surface like a kitchen table
2) Sturdy wrapping paper - don't buy the cheap stuff - preferably the kind that has the grid on the back so you can cut in a straight line
3) Good scissors
4) No cats. :)

Our store had a nifty contraption that had the wrapping paper on it - like a huge tube - and a perforated metal edge so you could just pull off in a straight line.

Is it still annoying? Definitely. Is it a waste of time, effort and money? Kind of. I love the way people look at presents when they're wrapped, trying so hard to figure out what could be inside - and the happiness that overtakes them when they peel off an edge, suddenly figure out what it is, and start wildly ripping the paper off.

I also like getting that feeling myself. :D

So I don't think it's a waste. I find it's well worth it.

I absolutely detest wrapping presents.
Therefore, I use the gift wrapping services as much as possible. The Omaha Area Jewish Federation always has a kiosk set up at every mall. Not only am I saving myself the headache of wrapping...I am providing my community a service by helping to keep little old jewish ladies off of the streets. ;)

Don't forget to tip your friendly neighborhood wrappers tooo :) last saturday and this saturday I'm gift wrapping for charity (which is pretty funny considering I'm all thumbs) but it keeps me off the street and out of trouble.. .:)

My own crap, I hate to wrap... Hate it hate it hate it... :D

I like wrapping presents, I try to have fun with it. I'll take an item, say a shirt or something that's fairly light and add small weights and stuffing to the box so it'll rattle and be a bit heavy completely throwing off those trying to guess the contents. Sometimes I'll use clear shipping tape so its a huge bear to try to unwrap. My wife is a fair wrapper but has little patience so I try to wrap elaborately adding all the ribbons and bows in a show of one-up-manship! Ah, its all the little gouges to the psyche that make Christmas fun!

I'm pretty bad at wrapping as well. The worst part is I always end up buying weird shaped gifts for people, making it about 10000 times harder. :(

I think it's sweet. Knowing my husband took the time and pains to wrap something for me himself means a lot. I don't care if it's not picture perfect. I'm sure your wife and family don't either.

I love wrapping presents and using things for decoration besides those huge bags of crappy bows....and mine usually look pretty good. Hubby can't wrap worth a darn, but I love knowing that he took the time to wrap it, because it makes it that much better :) And whoever said buy good paper was right, the cheap stuff rips too easily and if its white or light colored is often see-through. It's one of the few things I really splurge on at the holidays.

I hope your wife appreciates your wrapping her presents, since you don't like doing it!!

I order them on-line from the major retailer's and have them shipped already wrapped for the occasion. Might cost an extra $5, but it's worth it to me. Also, use the gift bag/tissue for the few i get locally.
I too hate the chore of wrapping.

:thumbsup: