My earliest recollection is when I was about 8 years old and we were living in Fairbanks, Alaska. There was a good-sized gift for me under the tree. When I opened it, I was disappointed to find a case of Camp Fire Girl mints! Not that I don't like candy, but I had been selling these for a while and was tired of them. Mama and Daddy just smiled and suggested I open the box. Inside was a pair of beautiful white ice skates! Lesson learned: NEVER trust the box.
- a stuffed Smurf with a can of refried beans in a shoebox.
- a skateboard wrapped up in a sleeping bag in a big box.
- an I-Pod wrapped and then put in another box, wrapped and put in another box, wrapped...you get the idea.
- a watch sealed up in a can. (In the early 80s, there were kiosks in the mall where you could have this done....where's the can opener?)
Anything you can do to disguise the size, shape, or weight of the box will cause the "snoopers" hours of frustration and much laughter on Christmas morning!
And when you've finished wrapping, you have to put a tag on the gift so it gets to the right person. But why would anyone in their right mind reveal the identity of the giver? Of course, there are gifts from Santa and Mrs. Claus, Rudolph, the elves. But it's the Sugar Plum Fairy (aka SPF) who brings the gifts that get opened on Christmas Eve (always new jammies so you will look your best on Christmas morn!). And an amazing variety of folks have delivered gifts to our home: George Burns, Johnny Depp's wife, Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Jack Skellington, and any number of actors, directors, and musical artists.
If you remember a particular gift-wrapping technique or gift-giver, post it in the comments section!
The Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories (ACCM) gives you an opportunity to write about and share your family’s holiday history 24 different ways during 24 days in December! Learn more at http://adventcalendar.geneabloggers.com. This post was originally published in 2010.
The Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories (ACCM) gives you an opportunity to write about and share your family’s holiday history 24 different ways during 24 days in December! Learn more at http://adventcalendar.geneabloggers.com. This post was originally published in 2010.
© 2012 Denise Spurlock
If a gift came from "Jack Frost" it was a new hat, scarf, or pair of gloves. There was quite a bit of creativity on gift tags under the tree when I was growing up (and even now, as my mother is still living, and loves to come up with creative gift tags).
ReplyDeleteMy mother is also a stickler for wrapping gifts beautifully and without scotch tape as much as possible, which I learned from her at a young age. Recipients know a gift is from her or me when they see there is no tape used ;-)
Elizabeth, I admire that you and your mother can wrap presents without tape. My family should buy stock in 3M because we use a ton of scotch tape in wrapping gifts!
Delete~Denise
The funniest gift under the tree one year was a set of clothes hangers wrapped by my nephew who painstakingly followed the contour of the hangers with strips of paper and then challenged his grandmother to guess what it was. We were all laughing so hard that we were crying.
ReplyDeleteWendy, It just seems that men and boys don't understand gift wrapping at all. I think most of them would prefer to leave the gift in the bag it came in than to try to wrap it!
Delete~Denise
Such fun ideas! I really enjoyed your post and included it on my list of Favorite links this week:
ReplyDeletehttp://leavesfortrees.blogspot.com/2012/12/follow-friday-favorites_14.html
Hi Heather, I'm glad you enjoyed this post. Thanks for visiting my blog and for sharing the link on your own blog.
Delete~Denise