If it's at all possible, I've regressed with the present wrapping. Out of 2 attempts on one box, I failed twice. Yes, both times I had to rip the paper off (expensive, gorgeous paper) and discard it. The box in question is now sitting unwrapped on the dining room table along with two of its cohorts, and I'm seriously considering writing the recipient's name on the damn box in colored sharpie. I'm that exasperated. Especially because in between those two failures, Sam thought he could fix my wrapping idiocy (it turns out he can't) and that one other wrapping attempt failed. I did salvage the paper that time, and turn it into some nice wrapping for the only kind of present I can wrap. A CD. (I take that back. I'm also quite lovely at wrapping DVDs, as long as they're not a box set.)
For years now, it's been a joke that I can't wrap a present, but the sad truth of it is this: give me a box to wrap, and I'm sadly, utterly unable to do so. No matter that more than one person has tried to teach me. No matter that I'm a fairly intelligent woman with all kinds of skill sets. It's just that apparently none of them extend to the wrapping. Next year, I swear to god, I am just buying bags. Tons of bags. I mean, it's just worse than ever this year, and it's given me a headache and made me cry, and that's enough. I'm done.
Obviously, I'm not, because there is still a PILE of unwrapped presents (including the aforementioned three boxes) and a dauntingly large number of large boxes. (At least three, which for me, is daunting.) If that's not bad enough, tomorrow my sister is bringing over a load of other things to wrap, and I swear I'm wrapping them candy-style. Enough with the tape and shit. Even worse, I don't think Sam really wants to wrap presents either, and man, they need to get done. He's at least middlingly competent at it, whereas I truly scrape the bottom of the wrapping barrel for my skills. He's going to have to do at least one of my bigger items (not one of the three aforementioned big boxes, sadly), but right now, we're not exactly speaking after the last box fiasco. The second time I ripped the paper off a box with it 75% finished. That didn't leave us in happy straits. We're strained right now, and over what? Present-goddamn-wrapping.
I don't want to even think about how the hell I'm going to wrap his presents. It's going to be awful.
Sharpie, here I come. Sigh.
I traded online for some cloth gift bags--you can probably find them for sale at etsy in a range of sizes and styles. They are SHEER GENIUS.
Posted by: frog | December 19, 2007 at 08:01 AM