Christmas… I love it! No seriously, I mean a bloody adore it! It’s completely and utterly amazing… okay reining in the enthusiasm but you see what I mean. By far my favourite time of year, I get completely swept away in the whole holiday; Buying a Christmas Tree, Decorations, Carols, Christmas Shopping, Santa Claus (completely and utterly exists…”Katie & Alyssa BELIEVE)  buying way too many gifts and hunting to the ends of the earth to find that special present for every person that I love. This year, will be our first Christmas as a family of 3 with Mr Tutu and if it is possible I think I am even more Christmas than I normally am… and that is saying something. I have presents hidden away, decorations everywhere and keep coming up with little pre-Christmas surprises too. Now, I used to like everything to look perfect but I have come to the conclusion that I have the no small children years for that. However, I do still really like my presents to look good. So, saddo that I am, I thought I’d share the wrapping tips and tricks I have been using!

 One big step for me, once I have landed from being swept away by the Christmas Shopping Fairy, is the wrapping! It’s probably the busy-body, organiser in me, but I absolutely adore wrapping!! Generally, the first thing I do is try and pick a colour scheme. I could of course just go out and buy any wrapping because it doesn’t matter, but I do like things to match and look nice. I’ll choose a general colour theme for paper and then get some accompanying ribbons, bags, boxes and tissue paper that are all along the same lines.

This year I have gone super traditional; mostly a brown parcel coloured back ground with pops of red, green and gold. I have also gotten some pink unicorn and fairy paper to wrap Alyssa’s gifts in. This year all my gift wrap and cards have come from Studio and The Card Factory because they really have got some great deals – £1.49 for 10 metres of paper! If you are using paper, don’t forget to try and get paper that is recyclable or like me use boxes and bags that can be reused again and again.

I used to go shopping, come home and sit down and immediately wrap all the presents just purchased, making a list of what I have for who and then repeat if I need to do more. However, having a very aware four year old somewhat prevents me from sitting for hours on end doing this, so I now have to do it gradually in stages and thankfully due to my job, she is used to parcels arriving that are nothing to do with her.

Now not every present gets the same decoration, I vary them; some will simply have a bow or a ribbon, some will have both; Gift bags may just simply be sealed or could contain tissue paper and oodles of sequin stars… the possibilities are endless. Now, this all may seem a little strange, but to me the look of the present on the outside is just as important as what I have put on the inside as for the briefest of moments when you hand the gift over to your loved one, their eyes land on the present and light up with wonder at what could be inside. Ten seconds later, all your hard work has disappeared under a mountain of torn paper and broken ribbons, but that brief moment is one of my silly, but most treasured ones, at Christmas.

I never seem to be able to get bows right, they just don’t look how they should and were always a nightmare to get into, then I spotted this awesome video on Youtube and is how I will be tying my bows forever more.

I know that in the grand scheme of things, wrapping doesn’t really matter. However, Christmas is all about being happy and wrapping beautiful gifts makes me happy. I am also being very conscious this year to do what I can and use recyclable and sustainable materials. I get a lot of boxes come through my door so both myself and my family are using these to wrap with and house presents this year as well as using recyclable wrapping and re-using gift bags and boxes.

Are you the same as me? How do you wrap yours? Please pass on your tips!