Simple wrapping

Thursday marks a big transition in our office as six employees end their official appointment and move on to fabulous other adventures. They will be missed.

Five of them have a similar job and are at a similar place in their young professional careers. I am giving them the same book that is a favorite and recommended by a dear friend. More on that tomorrow - don't want to spoil the surprise before they get to open the gift.

Today, let's focus on the packaging.

The paper is this cool (RED) campaign print. Words that decorate the paper are: Treasu(red), Sha(red), Empowe(red), Kind(red), Chee(red), Ado(red), Inc(red)ible, you get the idea. Proceeds from the purchase of this paper and other (RED) products go to fight AIDS in Africa. A great cause and the perfect sentiment for my co-workers as they are incredible, treasured, empowered...you get the idea, right?

The black and white ribbon was the just right contrast for the paper. It has been in my ribbon collection for some time - glad it was held over for this paper.

These gifts were fun to wrap and I thought about how much better I was at wrapping gifts. A few years ago I learned some important lessons that changed my skill level.

1. Use double-sided tape. A little awkward at first, double-sided tape makes for uninterrupted lines and a smoother finish. Love the stuff.

2. Don't use too much paper. This was revolutionary because my corners always looked sloppy and not sharp and polished. Less paper keeps things flat and just looks better.

3. Make your creases and corners like you mean it. Smooth corners start with sharp folds.

4. Buy neutral, all-season, or multi-season wrapping paper and ribbon. Try to find end of season sales on paper and accessories that can be used for a lot of different occasions and stock up when it is cheap.

This is usually not a problem until you forget where you put things. I had a dozen shirt boxes and spent a good four hours looking for them in the house. What made it worse was when I put them away I told my husband to remind me where I put them...must have had a feeling they would be hard to remember.

5. Use ribbon and other embellishments to dress up the package. Yet, you don't have to tie a dynamite bow. Sometimes a simple knot does the trick.

Looking forward to sharing the content of the packages with you soon.