Many years ago, as an act of expression, and  in the name of creating, I decided to forgo purchasing traditional Christmas wrapping.  There didn’t seem to be anything unusual, or different, it was all the same old thing year after year!  That sparked the creativity inside me, and I started to look around the garage for something different to use.

My husband was a band teacher prior to retiring, and each year he bought a large roll of butcher paper at Costco to put on the bleachers during football season so his band had a place to sit.  Once the roll of white butcher paper was spotted, it was all over!  My mind went reeling, and for years everything, regardless of the holiday was wrapped with the left over roll paper.  It was über inexpensive, and easy to change the colors of ribbon depending on the holiday, or my mood!  A large roll of white butcher paper is my #1 suggestion for using something different to wrap with!

While that was a find, something else sparked my creativity after being tired of everything being white.  The neighborhood home improvement store, in my case, Home Depot, holds many opportunities for creating.  How about the brown paper that is sold in large rolls in the building supply section?  My #2  favorite is the brown paper!  I love the color, it looks perfect with gold paint on top, or  writing with a large paint pen, or marker, even stamping on top with my stamps.   My studio always has a roll of brown paper just in case!

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Bows are an entirely  different story!  I have used raffia, twine, fabric in strips, yarn, cord, regular ribbon, and more.  Anything that can be cut into strips is on the table for unusual, surprising adornments!  For that matter, fabric is a great choice for wrapping presents also.  Try netting, burlap, cotton, Batik, and anything else you may have just stacked in your fabric stash!  As in all creative endeavours, the sky’s the limit!

This time of year we are all pulled in many  directions, myself included!  At the moment, I’m multitasking, and finding myself going in circles.  Of course, when this happens, not much gets accomplished, and at the end of the day, I’m exhausted!  Looking back, I’m doing this to myself, but I love the holidays, and the gathering together with family we don’t get to see often, and friends that are busy with their own lives throughout the year.  December is a mix of chaos, and cherished moments!

This year things are going to be different!  After taking a look at the presents that have been purchased,  it dawned on me that if I wrap them up early,  last-minute stress could be avoided.  Admittedly, everyone doesn’t get my fancy wrappings any longer.  Today the kids, and usually the men get bags.  The fancy wrappings, are saved for “my girls!”  The boys, and men don’t understand or even care what it looks like.  Don’t get me wrong, I still make the bags look good, they always have bows on the handles, and tissue paper inside, but that’s easy, and fast!.  Once I realized the short time it takes for the kids to annihilate all the hard work, preceded by many hours of shopping, the strategy changed.  It looks so beautiful in the morning, and just a short time later it is ultimate chaos the living room a mess, the kids running around like crazy, and the sounds of those little voices wanting just one more present!  ” Please, isn’t there just one more for me?”  I don’t think they are greedy, just caught up in the frenzy!

My favorite time of Christmas has always been on Christmas Eve, with traditional Christmas music on the stereo, the room  all lit up with  twinkle lights, reds, greens,  and candles, the children fast asleep!   We would sit there in the early hours of the morning, exhausted, enjoying quiet time with each other, and an eggnog!  Those were priceless moments I fondly remember!

Today,  our home isn’t nearly as decorated,  we get up,  scurry around pulling it all together, loading the car so we can get out to the grandkids, my daughter holding them off, only letting them open a couple of presents until we arrive.  We get there early, spend most of the day, and leave early enough that we have quiet time, in the evening,  and everyone can settle down after a frenzied,  fun family day.  It’s hectic, but those are the most cherished of times!

Some of my boxes have been pulled out to be wrapped, others just need interesting adornment.  My hope is that in some small way, my words have sparked your creativity, and give you ideas for your own wrappings.  It doesn’t matter what holiday is celebrated, half of our family celebrates Hanukkah, and other half Christmas, I just change-up the colors while having fun making each present just a little different.

Happy creating…….