I am definitely not the person that is out at the store on Black Friday at midnight. Okay, my sister-in-law and I did it one year -- when “midnight” meant ten, but I prize my sleep more than a steal. Plus, the stores are far less crowded if you go later in the day. The selection of holiday themed bric-a-brac may be picked over, but if you have a big-ticket item, they might be able to order it and do a price match if it isn’t still in stock. I am a Target girl when it comes to Black Friday shopping, although, most of their Christmas goods seem to be gone by Thanksgiving because they put them out before Halloween.

I am also a fan of Michael’s for inspiration for ways to celebrate and add to decorations during the season. Bath and Body Works is a must, to stock up on the scents of the season and they always have killer deals on Black Friday. I saved 66% this year! Of course, I also try to buy some gifts. I am a Target and Amazon shopper as far as gifts go. But I also throw in the occasional Etsy purchase and Shutterfly creation. It depends on the person I am shopping for, and in the case of certain nephews, what their little hearts want Santa to bring them.

Once Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone and I have all those presents purchased, the next step is to wrap them. I will admit, this is not my strong suit. My mom was Ms. Efficiency when it came to wrapping presents and still is.  Bags and tissue paper. Some wrapping with the sticky bows right in the middle of the package. The basics.  I have tried making my own wrapping paper designs using stamps and brown kraft roll. I even tried just using brown kraft roll one year tied with festive twine ala “These are a Few of my Favorite Things” lyrics. As I have gotten busier, it is usually purchased paper or bags, but I try to jazz things up with a few different ideas.

One I have used is taking strips of other wrapping papers and crisscrossing it around the package like ribbon.

Mine did not turn out as cute 33 Shades of Green in the picture above.

Another creative take on that would be to take several different types of paper and wrap them all in one direction to get a striated look. I know it is a putzy, but sometimes those little embellishments make a smaller gift a little glitzier.

At some point, with my God son who is 14, I plan to use this idea from Play, Party, Plan and wrap his gift so he has to spend all night opening it.

What is your go to wrapping hack? I would love to hear any new ideas I can add to my book of tricks!

Holiday Cheer