Christmas Card Problems and Fantastical Gift Wrapping

 Today, it is dreary and coolish, 41F. Plus, it is cloudy and there is a slight breeze after a rainy night. Alltogether, a good day for a nap which I won't get. 

I managed to finish half my Christmas cards, not without pain. I bought gel pens, thinking I also was getting a green. No. In the package was red, gold, silver, and white. What is more, the red is rather pale on envelopes. On the card, the red pen is a bright red. So, I am hoping machines can read the pale red on the envelopes. 

Once I found the envelopes on Saturday, I put them back in the box and put it away until Sunday. Something happened. All the envelopes were wrinkled like they had gotten damp. 

Using the gel pens was slow-going since they smudged easily. I had to let envelopes and cards opened wide lie around to dry the ink. So, the smudgy ones were the first ones addressed. 

Sure, these are first-world problems, annoying but not life affecting happenings!  Have you finished your Christmas cards yet?

Many years ago, at the same time I was a vendor at craft shows, I also bought wholesale and sold retail picture frames. Since I always helped my best friend buy gifts for his family, I offered this deal to him--only pay wholesale + tax. He did not like the idea since I would be "making money off him."  This idea would be so much easier than helping him buy. 

He finally got it that I made no money from this sale. I ordered dozens of frames and we chose his from the order that came in a week later. He thought maybe buying frames for everyone was not creative and showed no thought. Well, this floozy who helped him buy one year thought a platter with a turkey on it was perfect for his wealthy cousin. I was appalled at the things she picked out. Oh well. 

On to the gift wrapping.

All the picture frames were white and from different manufacturers. I chose white boxes and red tissue paper to go inside around the frames. Then, I wrapped the white boxes in red glossy paper. 

The "bow" was the stunner. 

I used all white: 3 kinds of curling ribbon, lace in two widths, lace with wire in the edges, strings of pearls, feathers, charms. A glue gun brought it all together. The lace with wire in the edges was spiraled around a pencil for a fanciful shape. Each of these were fashioned on a piece of white board from a shirt box and then glued onto the package. 

When held up, the curling ribbon extended from my chest to the floor. Each completed topper was over six inches in diameter. John reported how much everyone (15 people) loved them. After gifts were opened and paper thrown out, various family members were trying to get others to trade them their white fantasy topped. I called them toppers because they were more than a bow. 

Through the year various family members I happened to meet out and about mentioned the wrapping. The funny part was that John thought giving frames two years in a row was too much, that everyone would not have anything to put into another frame. I questioned a few family members who confirmed my thought that two frames was NOT too many.  They loved the second round, too. 

I love to wrap gifts! 

Do you like or love to wrap gifts, no matter whose gifts they are? Have you pulled off spectacular gift wrap?