I am one of those awful people who has almost all of their Christmas shopping done, and the majority of it wrapped and under the tree already. It means I get to join in on the surprise on Christmas Day as, by the time a few weeks has passed I can barely remember what I bought anyone and my most used line when they expectantly spot something addressed to them under the tree is, “I have no idea what that is either.” For anyone who hasn’t started wrapping (or buying) yet, I thought I would write a little round-up of my favourite of the Christmas wrapping paper on offer this year, having spent a week or so hunting around the shops, and eBay, for the prettiest things on offer (and then spotting more and buying it, and spotting more and buying it, and so on). I usually go for a bit of Scandinavian theme with my décor and wrapping, and luckily enough that seems to be very fashionable this year so Scandi style gift wrap and decorations are everywhere.
.. gingerbread wrapping paper, asda, £2
.. snowy house wrapping paper, dotcomgiftshop, £1.95
.. 3d labels (far left), primark, can’t remember how much
.. vintage and pinup style christmas labels, ebay, £2.50
.. merry christmas blue and red labels, sainsbury’s, £1
.. red raffia ribbon, sainsbury’s, £1
.. scandinavian style gift tags, asda, £2
.. candy cane wrapping paper, sainsbury’s, £2
.. cellophane, ebay, £4.99
I tidied all my wrap, labels, scissors and sellotape into a little box in the lounge next to the dining table so I can easily access it whenever I have a spare few minutes and something to wrap.
This is another example of when I thought I’d bought all the gift wrap I needed and then M&S come along and produce something utterly beautiful and I have to buy it! It is so thick and well-made and all the M&S paper has little squares printed on the inside so you can cut in a straight line (or try to in my case!)
.. gift wrap, M&S, £3.50 // tags, M&S, £1
Although I mentioned the notion of grabbing a few moments here and there to wrap presents, I have also had a couple of evenings recently dedicated entirely to Christmas wrapping. There’s only one way to do this, and that’s with Christmas candles burning, mulled wine, mince pies and Christmas music. If you’re going to do something, do it properly, right?
One of the first things I wrapped this year was my Secret Santa present for Hannah‘s #secretsanta13. I bought several little treats for my Secret Santa match, threw in some chocolate and some Christmas decorations and then filled the box up with Hershey’s kisses and sachets of tea, because, well, why not?
As well as thinking I’d bought all my wrapping paper, and then finding something awesome and buying more, I also do the same with presents. Anyone else do that? “I’m definitely done with buying for so-and-so, OOH but they would love that fox lunchbag”. I had a little present splurge this weekend after I found lots of codes on Voucherbox for the Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals. And I may have gone hunting for the perfect Christmas Day dress on ASOS using one of those codes yesterday too (I think it’s important to treat yourself during the festive period too, right?)