Wrapping Gifts

When Anne at New Happenings at the Table wrote about her gift wrappings, I was reminded of some of mine.

I use different containers, also. When I put a gift in either a toothpaste box or toilet paper roll and wrapped it to send to my g-daughter, she asked her mother, my daughter, "Why does she do things like this?" I laughed so hard. I just wonder what other "things" I do.

Another time, I wrapped a suitcase for a teen. I dated her father and knew she did not have a suitcase and wanted one. For some reason I had a box from a vacuum cleaner and used it. So, I put the suitcase with wheels in the vacuum cleaner box. There was no joke or humor or deceit intended. Well, a box wraps easily and did disguise the wheels. About 15 minutes after she started unwrapping her present, we noticed she was sitting there with the unopened box and pouting.

When we asked what was wrong, she hit the box and yelled in a petulant tone that she did not want a vacuum and started to cry.  Why on earth would we give a 14-year-old a vacuum cleaner? She pretty much kept acting up about it, never thanked anyone for the suitcase which was exactly what she wanted. She managed to spoil a large portion of the celebration on Christmas Day with her brattiness.

My own children have gasped or laughed and continued to open something strange, i.e., in a strange box. They knew me too well.

Sometimes, I wrap in a different container for expediency. It is easier to wrap in a square box rather than have to tape something around an odd shape. Plus, the shape might give away the gift. A can like Anne describes would be easier to wrap and disguise the shape. Sometimes, the purpose is to throw the person off. Most of my uses are just to get the gift wrapped easily, not to trick the person into thinking another gift has been wrapped.

Today, I am thinking of gifts and wrapping as someone had twins. Well, I found board books half price and solved the problem of spending for two gifts. However, I did not wrap them, just tucked them into a tiny recycled gift bag.

Your turn
What are some ways you have wrapped gifts, either for expediency or as a disguise?