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Tag Archives: Christmas
Gift Wrapping 101
We’re probably all finished or at least down to the wire with gift buying and are ready to wrap (pun intended) it all up!
When I working in retail many, many years ago (20), gift bags were not the way to go. One of my tasks working in the display department was to wrap empty boxes for displays and do the gift-wrap wall so customers would gladly pay for a “professionally” wrapped gift. Trust me. I was good at gift-wrapping. And I learned a few things along the way.
Believe it of not, 99.7%* of gift recipients prefer to unwrap a gift instead of pull it out of a tissue-paper-filled bag.
What do you prefer to do? Unwrap or dig-for-your gift?
I thought so. You prefer to unwrap a gift. Who wants to dig for their gift unless you are an archeologist?
So, here are my (ergonomically correct) thoughts on gift wrapping.
- Decide now if you want to wrap all of “John’s or Jane’s” gifts in the same paper/ribbon color or if you want to use whatever paper you have on hand. If you decide on one particular paper pattern/color per recipient, you will need at least one roll of said pattern/color of paper devoted to each recipient. Or specific color of ribbon. I love the two-sided wrapping paper!
- Do NOT wrap gifts at the dining room/ kitchen table. The typical table height of 29-30 inches is not high enough and you will hurt your back. Do wrap at a 35-38 inch tall counter. Your back will thank you.
- Gather ALL your wrapping supplies together: paper, tape, scissors, ribbons/bows, tags, and/or any other embellishments you wish/have on hand.
- Write out the tags BEFORE you wrap any thing.
- Wrap the BIG gifts first so you can use any scraps of left over paper for the smaller gifts.
- Tag each gift as soon as you finish wrapping it. Seriously, you will forget even if you have a specific color/pattern of paper for each recipient.
- Attach ribbons/baker’s twine/premade bows/embellishments to the package.
- Stack gifts under the tree OR hide gifts.
Good luck with your gift wrapping.
I actually do all of these things before I wrap any gifts. I have learned the hard way to not trust my memory. And my back thanks me every year.
BTW, Mr. Aitch either gifts with gift bags or has the gift sent already wrapped. Some people just don’t have the confidence with paper wrapping and that’s ok.
*made up factoid
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Gifted Knit 2016 Part 2
Still catching up on 2016 knits…
The other gifted knit was a pair of felted mittens for one of my grandson using a generic mitten pattern that I tweaked, made larger and then felted.
The wrist ribbing was knit with Lions Brand Wool-eze in a dark green that won’t felt and the hand part of the mitten was Cascade 220 in Primavera that did felt.
Before felting, I drew around on of the mittens so I could see the difference.
I felted the mittens by hand so they aren’t as “solid” and machine felted ones but I think they will do the job of keeping his hands relatively dry and warm.
I filled two bowls with water, one cold and the other one HOT.
The mittens soaked in the cold water for several minutes.
Then dipped and swished in the hot water.
Cold water…
“scrubbing” the mittens to felt the yarn…
…then back into the hot water.
Add hot water periodically to keep the temperature contrast. I had to wear rubber gloves to protect my hands from the heat.
and repeat again, and again, and again until the item is felted to your liking.
They didn’t felt as small as I thought but then again, I did this by hand. Machine felting would have definitely been better but this was a small project and I wanted to have more control over the process.
The process took about 20 minutes of switching between the two bowls and rubbing the mittens together to get them to felt.
They are a bit big but he can grow into them.
If any one is interested in the pattern (I made up as I went along), just leave a comment below.
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Gifted knits 2016 Part 1
Fingerless mitts were on the needles of knitted gifts for my granddaughters this year.
The twins wanted mitts just like the ones I knit for their mother. I used some stash yarn I purchased years ago for sweaters for them (that didn’t get made). The difference is the edging color so they can tell them apart. Easy care acrylic yarn that is machine washable and dryable.
Shirl’s Mitts. Using worsted weight yarn and dropped down to size US 5 needle so they would be smaller.
I understand that as soon as these were unwrapped on Christmas morning, the girls put them on and wore them all day!
My other granddaughter wanted fingerless mitts as well. I decided to use a more complicated pattern since I only had to make one pair.
Point Reyes Mitts from Classic Elite. The pattern called for a wool/bamboo yarn but once again, I shopped from my stash. The color was the important part along with easy care so I used Cleckheaton Country 8 ply yarn, 100% washable wool. I also went down one size needle to US 3 to make them smaller.
Fun pattern that is both written and charted.
They fit her perfectly.
Knitting In Flashes 