Sunday, January 4, 2015

Wrapped Up






Winter gift wrapping

I love wrapping gifts.
It's all about the presentation for me.









Admit it,
don't you LOVE 
to receive a gorgeous present?
Doesn't it make you feel extra special
that someone took the time to
wrap your gift with loving care?

When I was little 
and my father would buy my mother,
 my sisters, and me presents 
 he would always have the
 store's gift wrap department
wrap his gifts.
We grew up in the country
outside of Pittsburgh,
 so he usually went to 
Kaufmann's, Joseph Horne's or Gimbels.

Do you remember those stores?


Kaufmann's
Joseph Horne Company
Gimbel's


My dad is definitely the one 
who made me notice 
the importance
of a well "presented" gift.







If the gifts I am wrapping
are for my family
I tend to buy papers and ribbons that
compliment the room and tree here.

But when I wrap gifts for friends,
I usually wrap with their tastes 
and style in mind.


Satin wired edged horse ribbon and pines coordinate with a red gloss paper.


My sister received 
the birch bark package at the top
and the contents were home decorative
accessories for her mountain cabin in the woods.

The red package was wrapped 
for someone in my house!



How do you wrap your gifts?
Are they recipient specific too?


I have friends who tell me
they do not enjoy wrapping
and have moved to gift bags only.

What's your thought on this?

Tell me about your wrapping style, won't you?
:)


25 comments:

Debbie said...

I love your gift wrapping! I used to do special wraps for family members using dried fruit and pretty ribbons. I got away from it because it's so time consuming but definitely a fun way to give a gift. I think I'll start earlier this year and take the time to make the wrapping beautiful, not just at Christmas but all year round. Thank you for the inspiration.

Karen said...

Alison,
I love the two packages you've shared. I thoroughly enjoy gift wrapping. My sons used to ask me to put the ribbon on, but now that they are both married they do their own bows. I do have friends that don't like to wrap and use bags. I don't think I'll ever tire of the process.
Happy 2015.
xo,
Karen

My Cozy Casita said...

Lived I do live to wrapping nice is ones a year so I take my time to do
Beautiful my friend
Happy New Year!!!!!
Blessing
Isora
XOX

ℳartina @ Northern Nesting said...

BEAUTIFUL!! To pretty to open :-)

Ron said...

I too LOVE a gift wrapped package. This year I used 2 types of plaid from Ballard Designs (Suzanne Kasler). I love to wrap and embellish:) I love your gifts so much.

Dreaming of Vintage said...

Beautiful Alison! I wouldn't want to open such a gorgeous gift! I HATE wrapping gifts, I wish I was as talented as you are Alison!

Sarah said...

Alison, I agree! I love to get a beautifully wrapped gift. Presentation in everything is key! For me, the wrapping is a gift in itself. I love the birch bark paper and your special horsy ribbon. We don't wrap many gifts here, but the gifts I do give are hopefully presented in an attractive way. I find it fun to think of creative ways to embellish a gift. I often look for special ribbons and trims on sale after Christmas. This year I found an unusual brown ribbon laced with tiny gold beads, larger gold beads, and gold snowflakes. Thinking it will be pretty tied on napkins if not used on packages.
Thanks for sharing this post with beautiful inspiration.

Anonymous said...

Hi Alison,
I am definitely a lover of gift wraps! I have an entire closet which we call the wrapping closet, filled with different papers and ribbons, and assorted boxes and other possible toppings. When I see a gorgeous paper I grab it. The Container Store and Papyrus are two of my favorite sources. I also love to personalize and add either sparkly things or rustic, depending on the event and the recipient. I would enjoy receiving either of your beautifully finished packages!
Linda

Rita-HeritageGameMounts said...

These packages are a true art form and so beautifully done! We had two very special stores here, years ago that had unique gift wrapping departments - we always saved the little embellishments from them to use again.

-Lisa said...

When I was much much younger I remember spending hours wrapping all of my Christmas gifts and enjoying every single minute. One year I actually wrapped all of my gifts with tin foil! They turned out gorgeous.
Love your wrapped gifts in this post!
Fondly,
-Lisa

3dlovely said...

I love gift wrapping and I have been told by recipients that they leave my gifts to be opened last because they like to look at them as long as they can. I consider that one of the best compliments.

As far as Joseph Horne's, Gimbels and Kaufmann's -- I practically lived at all of them. I worked in downtown Pittsburgh and every Monday and Thursday when everything was open late, I would stay and shop and shop. I used to also love walking through Jenkins Arcade and grabbing a bite at Palmer's Restaurant. Remember those?

Lorri said...

Love your beautiful post. Where do you find your papers and ribbons?

Bonnie Schulte said...

Your packages are so beautiful. I would love to receive a gift wrapped with such great care. Just lovely!!!!
I like to take the time to wrap gifts, with just a little extra something. Maybe jingle bells added to bows, sheet music for CDs, old book pages from falling apart books, used to wrap a new book, the funnies from the Sunday paper to wrap a video game for a youngster,with a giant red bow, gold foil wrapping paper with black ribbon is so pretty,with a antique photo under the bow. Pine cones mixed with greenery,rubber stamping on plain tan butcher paper.colorful buttons glued on making a design, are a few of some I've done. and I always make my own bows, if I do nothing else.....the bows bought in a bag, that are just slapped on a package don't do much for presentation do they? When I buy something that is an odd size, and impossible to put into a box, I will use a bag, but it must be filled with lots of different colored tissue paper, and a home made tag and an extra pretty bow on the handle or the embellishments one can find at the dollar store work too. Just a few of my ideas....

marlene said...

Hi Alison,
Your packages are lovely. I have for years wrapped my packages with red plaid paper and black velvet ribbon. They look so beautiful under the tree. I add a sprig of holly or greens under the ribbon. I love a beautiful wrapped package. My grandchildren receive paper and ribbon that works for there age. The plaid paper works well in my house.

fm4re said...

OH great memories of those stores! Spoiled me for life. I'm from Pittsburgh and even worked at Hornes for five years. This post brought back memories of seeing the different types of wrapping that a shopper could pick for a gift. Oh and I remember the boxes, not folded up ones, real boxes. This post was a gift or memories wrapped in words for me. Many thanks, Fran

Pinky at Designs by Pinky said...

Your packages look BEAUTIFUL! I have already decided on my wrap and ribbons for next year! I have the paper and SOME of the ribbon. And for my GRANDDAUGHTER I will be using SANTA wrap:):)

Pura Vida said...

Your gift wrapping is so pretty. I believe it's as important as what's inside. If I do use bags when in a hurry I make sure they are special too. I love the fresh greenery

Julia said...


En arribar a aquest dia, no puc deixar de pensar en la infantesa, aquells moments plens de màgia, que tots hem viscut en la nostra infància

Feliç Nit de Reis ♕ ♕ ♕

✿•*¨`*•. (¯`v´¯) (¯`v´¯) .•*¨`*•✿
. . . ✿•*¨`*•.¸(¯`v´¯)¸.•´*¨`*•✿ . . .
……...…♥ •.¸.•´♥……………
Elracodeldetall.blogspot.com (^‿^)✿ petons

Julia said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Zuni, Chickadee Home Nest said...

I agree with you that the wrapping/presentation is so important! We have a large family, so wrapping necessarily moved to gift bags, but they, too, can be made beautiful, and coordinated to the decor of the home or to the recipient. A few years ago my husband and I decided to "invest" in beautiful gift boxes for Christmas morning, and our family knows that those stay here! LOL. They look beautiful under the tree and require not much more than a ribbon and a beautiful gift tag. Thanks for sharing; it's nice to have found your blog. ~Zuni

Zuni, Chickadee Home Nest said...

PS - I've now added you to my side bar of fave blogs so I can keep an eye on your posts!~Zuni

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson said...

Gorgeous! I do enjoy wrapping gifts and making them look pretty. Having pretty gifts under the tree add so much! Happy New Year!
hugs,
Jann

All About Vignettes said...

I love all the gift wrapping but especially like the horse ribbon. What I like the most though is that you're a Pittsburgh girl just like me. I remember all those stores. Love to go back and visit family.

Shirley@Housepitality Designs said...

Beautifully, beautifully wrapped gifts!...I tend to wrap gifts keeping the taste of the recipient in mind...When under the tree, I tend to coordinate the wrapping with the decor in the room...with the exception of my granddaughter who gets hers wrapped in cute paper that a little girl would expect from Santa!..

La Vie Quotidienne said...

These are all so gorgeous, they are so pretty on their own that you really don't even need anything inside!