The Original Because of Love

"Professional Wrapper" - That is what my pin said that I wore on my Hallmark smock for 4 years. I earned it by completing my "In store Training", meaning I watched an hour video (yes -video) and then had my "Evaluation" where my boss checked off a list of requirements and gave me a score as he watched me wrap an empty box. (I earned a 9 out of 10. He took a point off because he said I used an extra piece of tape that was unnecessary. Whatever!)


Anyway, with my "training" and all my experience that I gained in my 4 Christmas seasons, I have learned to love to wrap presents. I like to take my time and make my presents look very nice and not just stick on one of those bows from a bag.


Here are a few of my favorites from this year:


Tulle is a great thing to wrap with! 25 yards for $1.99 at Hobby Lobby. Can't beat that!

Ok, I guess I did use one of those stick on kind, but this one is cloth and there are really 2 stuck together to make it more full. There was a pack of 3. I used two on this present and made a hair bow for Alyse out of the other one. Again, a great deal for $1.50 at Hobby Lobby.

There is a special way to do tissue for a gift bag. It drives me crazy when people just stuff it in the bag! The best way to do it is lay one piece of tissue laying flat horizontally. Then lay another piece of paper over it laying vertically. Use your fingers to pinch and then lift very quickly from the exact middle of the paper. It will be nice and petty and easy to place in your bag. Do this with your tissue until your bag is full. (It is also pretty if you use two different colors of tissue when you are layering them.)

I think all those packages wrapped beneath the tree are so pretty!


You may notice that there is a theme with our paper this year. My mom and I bought paper for everyone that matches my Christmas tree. So cute! Each year everyone has their own paper. We don't use tags. So on Christmas morning we know that all the presents with green and red polka dots are Alyse's. The silver packages are my sister's. The red and white striped are Josh's. The green and white striped are my dad's. My mom's are white with red polka dots, and mine are red with with polka dots.


Now I just have to keep Alyse away from all those for two more days so they keep looking all nice and pretty for Christmas morning.