My mom is a professional present wrapper. Well, not really, but she COULD be. She could charge millions (well, dozens) of dollars to wrap gifts for others. She could win prizes with how beautiful her packages are.
This was not an inherited trait.
I abhor wrapping gifts. I tell people it’s because I’m all green and care about the environment, but really it’s because I just can’t stand wrapping things. Since I’ve already put in the effort to find an awesome gift (and I give awesome presents), I just don’t get why I have to waste money on some paper to cover it up. So my usual approach is to either shove the item into a shopping bag or leftover gift bag, or to just say, “Close your eyes and put out your hands!” This has always gone over splendidly. Because it’s the thought that counts.
Until I met my husband, that is.
Mike insists on having his presents wrapped. I’m fairly certain I could give him a home-enema kit and he’d be happy with it as long as it is wrapped. He doesn’t appreciate my money-saving ways. He claims it’s not being thrifty, but LAZY. Fine.
On his birthday one year I covered his presents in old newspaper. I thought that was totally economical but SOMEONE said it was messy and showed that I hadn’t “planned ahead.”
Another year we had a HUGE box in our living room full of packing peanuts, so I thought it would be fun to bury his presents in the box. Creative, right?
Well, the morning of his birthday came and I cried out, “HEY! Let’s go open your presents!” and he said, “OK! Did you wrap them?” And I said, “I properly concealed their identities, if that’s what you’re asking.” And he said, “WTF does that mean?” And I said, “Just shut up and come out to PRESENTS!” So I led him out to the Big Box of Peanuts and said, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” And he just looked from me….to the Big Box of Peanuts….to me…and then said, “Uh, what is this?” So I explained that it was a treasure hunt for presents! And it’s fun! And super creative!
And he said, “As long as my presents are wrapped in there.”
Sigh.
Now Father’s Day is in a few weeks, and I need to know…do I have to wrap his presents? Because really, they are from Annie, and if we’re going to be authentic, she doesn’t know how to wrap anything.
yvette says:
hey Heather
You can bring them to me (check my website) and we’ll wrap the gifts from Annie – Mike will be sooo proud
(we met through Jayneoni)
Elle says:
I suck at wrapping presents but I found that using tissue paper makes it easier or I just put the gift in a bag. I say since the gifts are from Annie, there’s no need to wrap them. If your husband doesn’t like it then pull the guilt card, hold up Annabel, and tell him to say it to *her* face.
Lynnette says:
You could always ask your Mom to wrap them… Otherwise, I like Elle’s idea. Good luck.
Ashley says:
My husband will.not.wrap.a.present. It is the most infuriating thing to me, mostly because I do it for him and everyone else who gets a gift from us throughout the year.
In my mind, I feel like, how hard can it be for him to just wrap ONE DAMN GIFT for me. If he took the time and effort to do it, he’d win an insane amount of brownie points. I don’t care if it looks like a five year old wrapped it. It’s that he would have done it solely to make me happy.
Do it! He’s a good Daddy!
Casey says:
I agree with Ashley.
Rosemary says:
I agree as well. It’s such a small thing he is asking for that gives
him pleasure…why would you not do it.
Penbleth says:
I don’t mind wrapping and I do expect my presents to be properly dressed before we are introduced. It makes it, “Wow, I have a present, I wonder what it is, let’s have a look and a feel and a shake. Now I’ll open it and see what’s inside.”
Double the present, double the happiness. Plus I’ve never progressed much beyond being 3.
Jenn says:
Great point about Annie, HOWEVER since the guy is sooooo MUCH into
having his gifts wrapped, I don’t think he’s gonna let
you off THAT easily. In other word….Wrap it up Babe!! Ha ha
Alison says:
Wrap it but do it in a really cruddy way.. worse than your normal, okay? And then say, “Well, Annie wrapped it!” In fact, have Annie help you wrap it. As long as there’s some paper and tape on it, it’s wrapped, right? And being from Annie, he can’t expect perfection, can he? It’d be cute, anyway!
Karen says:
Two words; cling wrap. (Also known as plastic wrap and cling film.)
Audra says:
Buy something that is relatively small (like not a new bike) and let Annie wrap it in aluminum foil. Since foil doesn’t require tape or folding, (just scrunching and molding) a small child could do it. When my oldest was Annie’s age she liked to wrap things this way. I would make sure the gift was not breakable, give it to her with a bug piece of foil and tell her to cover it up.
Audra says:
Oops…that was BIG piece of foil…sorry…5AM…just started coffee….
Lynn from For Love or Funny says:
I can totally relate – I hate wrapping things. Thank gosh for those fancy gift bags!
Corey says:
I, too, hate wrapping presents. With a passion. One of my kids is now 15 and I pay her to do all the wrapping, except at Christmas when I just suck it up and do it in one horrendous night. I like to order things off the internet, and if wrapping is a big deal to the person, you can pay a little exta and get it gift wrapped and avoid having to do it yourself (although really, I hate that too, since it is just wasteful to me to spend money on wrapping that is going to go in the garbage!)
heather says:
This will totally give away the idea, but it might be a good solution.
A friend of mine got her mother’s day gift in a huge brown paper gift bag (a proper one, not lunch style). Her husband took their son outside with some paint and markers and at 10 months old let him do most of the decorating.
Ashley says:
I be liking this idea!
Sarah M says:
I like this or get a big roll of paper and have her paint all over it and use that paper!!!
Kim says:
I hate wrapping presents as well … and I’m not very good at it because I mean, what the heck, the paper just gets ripped off anyway so what difference does it make?
My daughter Anna however is like your Mom. She could charge big bucks for her gift wrapping services. The day after Christmas we have to go shopping yet again so that she can buy wrapping paper for the upcoming year. And, if that wasn’t bad enough, she insists on getting enough paper in only two different styles to wrap every present. Her theory is that you wrap the presents for one side of the family in say gold paper. Then you wrap paper for the other side of the family in silver paper. Then you know for sure where each present belongs. But hey, isn’t that what the tags are for? And, speaking of tags, all the tags must match the paper! Really? Really?
She’s moved out now and is on her own — do you suppose she’ll come back to wrap my Christmas gifts for me?
Danielle says:
I absolutely hate wrapping as well. Brown paper grocery bags is the way I go. I won’t even do newspaper (such a godawful texture). But….If he realllly wants them wrapped, maybe you could coerce someone into doing the dirty work for you.
rebecca says:
Have her drop the present in a gift bag and fill the gift bag full of packing peanuts?
Bonna says:
I agree with some of the other comments. Annie (YOU) should wrap them. Need not be perfect. another option is a piece of fabric. Depending on the the size of the gift, inexpensive fabric works very well. Cut into square, place if object, tie with ribbon – done. Fabric can be saved or reused for another purpose. Brown paper with Annie’s artwork (whether drawn or with stickers placed on by Annie) is priceless AND he cannot simply rip it off and toss it. Good luck – you have plenty of time, sort of.
Allison says:
I like wrapping gifts. Not the actually process of it, but the end result. I know a lazy way that still looks fancy! Depending on how small the item is, place it in the center of tissue paper(a couple sheets thick). Gather the tissue paper on top(like a pony-tail), and tie a ribbon around it. Like this: http://www.well-chosen-gift.com/tissue-wrapping-paper.html
Tami says:
You could always try a plastic container and put a bow on the top. I didnt read the comments so mabe it was already suggested. That would be still easy wrapping.:)
Niki says:
Get one of those pop up tape dispensers. My kid was able to “help” wrap presents at an early age because of it and if they looked like crap, I could blame her. That’s what kids are for, right?
karen says:
Wrap it. It’s way more important to him to have it wrapped than it is to you to not wrap. Love him the way he’s clearly shown he would like to be loved
And yeah for guys who TELL US clearly what matters to them!
Lisa says:
It’s ok to be LAZY about wrapping. As long as you pay someone to WRAP his gifts for you, even if they are from Miss Annie.
Shelly says:
My husband has been known to wrap things in tin foil. On the bright side (no pun intended) you don’t ususally need tape and you can reuse and recycle if afterwards.
S
Angie says:
I have wrapped a lot of presents in paper bags from the grocery store. I cut them up and use them for wrapping paper. Then I give my kids markers and let them decorate. It’s free, easy, my kids do most of the work, it keeps them busy for a while and the kids are super excited to give the gift to the receiver because they were involved
Allison says:
Love this idea! I use brown paper all the time, with a pretty ribbon on it. Simple and rustic. Don’t have kids yet, but that’s an awesome idea!
Jennifer says:
I think you should wrap–seeing as it’s father’s day, and he’s so into it. I would wrap it with brown craft paper (super cheap too for a huge roll=maintain your thrifty way and therefore your initial point for not wrapping) and let Annie go to town with some crayons on the craft paper. Then you don’t even need a bow because you don’t want to cover her art, and you can write right on there = saving a card!
Skye says:
I like the idea of having Annie color on a brown paper bag (or bags) and using that as gift wrap It would be perfect for Father’s Day, and you’d be recycling!
Becca says:
Hm….. As most have already said I don’t think you’re going to get off the hook on this one. Although I am on your side about the the creative use of wrapping.. as long as it’s wrapped who cares if it’s beautiful paper or yesterday’s funny’s.
Adrianne says:
I say wrap the gifts, and let Annie help! You know how much he loves it, and you’re celebrating what an amazing father he is on his special day, so I say humor him:)
Having said that, I hate wrapping things as well, so I almost exclusively use gift bags. Throw it in, stick some tissue paper in there, and you’re golden!
Lacey says:
I’m of the opinion that you have to wrap the present. My husband doesn’t like to wrap things, and used to give me presents in taped-shut shopping bags. I asked him long ago to wrap the present. Handing me a shopping bag is an errand, not a present. It doens’t have to be pretty or use ribbon, but actual wrapping paper is a must. I think to prove he’s still getting his way, he uses Christmas wrapping paper year round, and a ridiculous amount of tape. I gladly accept it because he’s doing what I asked, with flair!
You could wrap it in plain paper and let Annie draw all over the wrapped gift (or let her draw on the paper, then wrap).
Jess says:
I would wrap them…I can’t stand when my husband has his sisters wrap his presents for me at Christmas. Take five minutes to wrap them! He’ll appreciate it that much more.
I do like Elle’s idea of holding Annie up though…
Lamb says:
I hate wrapping gifts. You can see an example of my mad anti-wrapping skills here: http://lambaround.blogspot.com/2011/02/thrifty-cloche-decorating-for.html
Oh yes, that’s newspaper! You just have to choose the right section based on your gift recipient.
Actually, I’ve made a yearly Christmas joke out of my trouble wrapping gifts. In addition to all the scrappy-looking presents, I create 1 ridiculously, intentionally ugly gift, wrapped with just about everything. Just tape random bits of different papers and tie it with an assortment of leftover, reused bows. If you’re going to embrace the anti-gift wrap lifestyle, you may as well go all out
Ricky says:
Ha, this made me laugh because I always spend ages coming up with new and inventive ways of giving presents. One year I bought a ‘Break the Bottle’ puzzle, cut open an old lemonade bottle and put the missus’ presents inside (wrapped) then encased it in the ‘break the bottle’ puzzle. I thought this was genius as she had to complete the puzzle to get her present….after 5 minutes she got bored and I had to open it for her. I was gutted.
Deborah says:
Mike is SUCH a girl.
Kathy says:
Yep, wrap ’em! Show him you love him by going the extra mile!
Jen says:
If it means that much to him, I would wrap them. You could always get some construction paper and let Annie finger paint on it, then wrap the gifts in that. I would think that Mike would love that.
Gertie says:
Yes. Wrap them. I like the idea of letting Annie make the wrapping paper. Or buy a gift bag. Then save the gift bag for next time. But if he appreciates it, then you should do it definitely.
Jessica says:
Sorry, Heather…but, yes…wrap them! If that’s what he likes, ya gotta do it for “his day”.
Giselle says:
Wrap it in a diaper!!! (clean one probably).
Trisha Vargas says:
Use so much tape that it takes him like an hour to get the gift open and then he’ll be cured, No?
debi says:
I am like your mom. I am the only one who actually wraps a gift these days. Everyone cheats and buys those damn gift bags. If you get creative it’s alot of fun to wrap. Get some butcher paper and give Annie a few crayons or markers. Raffia looks so pretty on a gift. Comon Heather!!
kauren says:
gift bags and tissue paper…and btw hallmark or cvs sometimes has them all made up for you looking pretty and you just shove the present in.
lauren says:
but wrap mikes present….
mp says:
Wrap, baby, wrap! I’m with Mike–I kind of don’t care what’s inside, but if someone took the time (and we all know how precious that is these days) to do it, it’s good enough for me.
A gift bag is cheating, btw. But it’s better than nothing!
A few Christmases ago, my mom, pressed for time, put all our Christmas gifts in ziploc bags! Okay, they were printed with festive holiday patterns, but they were still oversized sandwich baggies. My feeling is it would have been okay only if she was giving us steak!
Chris says:
I’m with the majority here, wrap them, and/or use paper Annie can draw on. Another creative idea I use, and find everyone is “impressed”, is use the left over scrapes of wrapping paper from the trimmings and cut into strips and curl them like you would with ribbon. Instant bow!!!!!
Lisa says:
Wrap, wrap, wrap. It’s a small sacrifice!
Karen says:
How about this?
Roll of brown paper, poster paint, Annie – Annie applies hand and foot prints all over paper. You use paper to wrap.
Cheap (good), green (good), easy (good), educational (good), original (good) = one happy Mike, one happy Annie, one Heather with extra brownie points, therefore happy!
Darcie says:
Why wouldn’t you? It’s his day and you know it will make him happy.
Suck it up!
Lisa says:
Damn Darcie!! Suck it up, huh?
I too HATE wrapping gifts. I just dont care, I use tissue paper and gift bags whenever I can. If something must be wrapped, MUST BE (you know because its too big for a gift bag. I will do it. But I dont care if the corners are not properly folded. Or if the tape is all crazy, well I over used the stupid tape and just put it all over the damn thing. And my grandfather ALWAYS wrapped everything in newspaper. That way he said that he didn’t need to write who it was from. But our hands did get messy. But I still thought it was quite amusing. I say gift bags, lots of gift bags. Good luck! Lisa
Darcie says:
Lol, too harsh?
I LOVE to wrap. I was recently victim of the “flowers are a waste of money and die” debate…I love flowers and wanted nothing else for (my first) Mothers Day. Because it was my day I got them…regardless of what my spouse liked or didnt like!
Barb says:
I’m a fan of a wrapped gift and my husband knows this and makes the effort to wrap my gifts for holidays…he even says,”It might not be pretty but I tried.” Which I appreciate that he tries for me. If you really don’t want to do it, I would just see if someone could wrap the gifts for you. I wrap all my Dad’s gifts to my Mom and I have been doing it as long as I can remember first because he hated it but now he has arthritis and I don’t think he could do it even if he wanted to. I like Karen’s idea about the brown paper and paint with Annie’s handprints
Kandi Ann says:
Seriously, I say, Wrap them immediately, In front of Annie. Teach her to wrap NOW NOW NOW. I am 41, do NOT live with My Mom and I still get sucked in to wrapping her gifts with, Oh I have just been so busy, throw in a sigh while she’s at it, and could you please wrap these 2 gifts for me. And then, Oh I found another one, and another, till I have done her full year of wrapping, cause what girl can say no to their Mom. sigh. xoxo, Kandi Ann
Issa says:
I’m a big fan of tissue paper and bags. Pretty bags. Maybe Annie likes bags too?
Glenda says:
I’m a fan of colorful printed tissue paper and nice pretty bags unless it’s something big that doesn’t fit in the biggest bag and tons of tissue paper, then I MUST wrap!
Christina says:
1. Yes, you have to wrap them.
2. Now you have to post pics of your mom’s wrapping jobs so we can see the beauty.
3. I only keep that natural brown paper at home and wrap everything in that but then I use pretty satin or sheer fabric to tie around the packages. It works nicely! Cheap paper, nice ribbon. And when it’s used for Mike, you can grab it after he unwraps it and use the ribbon again.
Lee Cockrum says:
My husband always uses tin foil! I guess you could try that! Or the newspaper, but right before you give Annie a bath, do paint hand and foot prints on it! then it is very personalized! And you can wash her up right after!!
Meyli says:
I don’t like wrapping either — because I am lazy AND I’d rather not waste paper.
Here’s an alternative: wrap them in tinfoil! This works well when the gifts are small; you can have Annie color the foil with markers, and then once the gifts are opened, you can recycle the foil! I think its a win-win. And its easier to fold and crumple tin foil than fool around with paper and tape
Meyli says:
Oh I’m original Lee above me said the same thing! Oops, I shoulda read that first
Kristin says:
Wrap it…wrap it real good!
Kelly says:
I like to wrap presents, so long as I don’t have to do a whole bunch at a time, like at Christmas.
Wrap them for him. And maybe since he’s likes wrapping presents so much, you could buy him some wrapping paper, scissors, and some tape. Then he can wrap for you…:)
katrina @ They All Call Me Mom says:
What about gift bags?
Not the same, eh?
Okay then…you just need to suck it up and WRAP, woman!
You know what would be sweet? Get plain white wrapping, and then get different colors stamp pads, and stamp Annie’s hand on the wrapping a few times to make a print. Then wrap, wrap, wrap up those gifts from Annie to Daddy. Mike will LOVE this – not only did you wrap for him, but you used your imagination (well, mine…but you don’t have to tell him that) to make it even more special.
Afterall, he’s a wonderful father, and he deserves whatever makes him feel special on that day
Shannon says:
My mother is just as talented at wrapping and I have none of it. I reuse bags and shove things in baskets to avoid wrapping. I love Christmas, but get tired of wrapping after the first one, so I hear ya!
Jessica says:
My boyfriend is the same way. He insisted that things are wrapped. I think it’s because his mom is a super wrapper, as well. I don’t mind if it’s not wrapped, just means I get to use it faster!
Sloane says:
Like you I have an aversion to wrapping presents…..I am the queen of leaving the gift in the actual bag I purchased the gift in for the sake of the environment. How in the hell did Candy Spelling have an entire room devoted to gift wrapping?!
Sarah says:
It’s important to him and makes him feel cared for, so wrap the gift!
Kim says:
I say have your Mother come over and help you wrap! A wrapping party so to speak!
lpb says:
Yes, you have to wrap. Perhaps your mom could hold a class
hdj says:
Since it’s father’s day and Annie will be wrapping, you can do a crappy job. Do gift bags and tissue paper count or does it have to be wrapping paper wrapped? Bags and tissue paper are easy. And they can be recycled which is green. Buy generic looking bags that can apply to any occassion and then tissue paper at Costco.
Minnyc says:
I hate/don’t know how to wrap. My husband loves to wrap. He wraps all of our nieces & nephews presents because he doesn’t think it’s right I put them in gift bags. I don’t wrap. I never will but I also don’t want or expect anyone to wrap presents for me. A present is a present to me. I don’t care if it’s the bottom of the garbage can. haha
Lisa says:
I love wrapping gifts, but I’m horrible at it. I can never make it look pretty. My husband is just like you, he’ll do anything to get around wrapping a gift. He gets it from his mom who will just tie a bow around the bag the gift came in and that’s her idea of wrapping it
Christine Hill says:
Yes, you should wrap! More than likely Annie will end up opening them and she will have a ball. My husband and I always wrap each other’s gifts but our son is the one who helps us open them – so fun!
amourningmom says:
I vote for tissue paper and a gift bag. . . or asking your mom to wrap them. Good luck!
MelissaG says:
I used to work at a department store here and one of my jobs was to wrap presents. I loved it! You had EVERYTHING you needed…paper, tape, scissors, and real actual ribbon! Not to mention tissue paper and the exact box you need every time. It was great. Now, after having 3 kids so far, it’s kind of a chore. I always wait til the last minute. I still enjoy it, in a way. But I hate wasting money on paper and I almost always have a helper (which is great and I love it but am usually in a hurry unfortunately). So….my vote is, to always wrap Mike’s presents. I would just get a small stash of paper (even if it’s from the dollar store). Keep the tape and scissors with it, you’ll be set! (Says the lady that rarely is that prepared!)
Jennifer says:
Someone said double the present, double the happiness and I thought, if he likes opening them so much, why don’t you just wrap them over and over again. After peeling through 17 layers of paper, maybe he’ll have had his fill for the rest of his life and this will never be an issue again. It seems like a waste of paper, but after you wrap it the first time, it will be so much easier to wrap and find some good quality paper so he can’t rip through more than one layer at a time.
Because it’s from Annie, I usually just buy a card to accompany said gift and I write “Daddy” on it and then let the kids color all over the envelope. I do this with grandparents too and it goes over really well since they are too little to sign them.
Lisa says:
Maybe someone else has suggested this, too lazy to read all the comments. I would start of with a little box then put it in a bigger box and so on until you got to a large appliance box, like a fridge box to finish it. It might suck this one time you had to do all that wrapping but I bet he would appreciate your unwrapping after.
Shevaun says:
I have two kids, and from the time they were 6 months old, I have been inundated with artwork. It only gets worse when they start school. So what I do is take some paintings, drawings, what have you…and use it as gift wrap. And you have to use lots, because they aren’t usually the right size. And it doesn’t have to look well done, because it is a toddler’s artwork…cue the cute!
Noelle says:
Two words: gift bags.
Easy!
Plus, Annie can drop the gift in the bag herself, then hand it to daddy. He can’t really complain about that, can he?!
Becki says:
My lazy brother, when he was in college, forgot the wrapping paper. So he went to my Mom’s linen closet and WRAPPED HIS GIFTS IN TOWELS!
lol
Amy White says:
Two Words, “Duct Tape!” HE will never ask you to wrap his presents again. Basically wrap his present in paper to protect it and then wrap it in duct tape, round and round and round. LOL That stuff is so sticky and hard to get off I doubt he will ask you to wrap his presents again.
Elizabeth says:
I HATE wrapping myself, I always put presents in a bag and I excel at puffing up the tissue paper lol.