Have you started to wrap your presents yet?
With so much else to do, it’s pretty tempting to leave wrapping all the gifts until we’ve bought everything on our list. And whilst that’s all very well, a long list of gifts means a mountain of presents to wade through and wrap in one go!
If you don’t mind all that wrapping, that’s okay. Sometimes it’s fun to put some Christmas music on, pour a glass of wine and spend the evening wrapping – it can make you feel very festive! But if the thought of wrapping everything in one go fills you with dread, you’re going to like today’s challenge.
Challenge #16: Wrap your Christmas presents as you go…
Make life easier, wrap your Christmas presents as you go…
That’s right, no more leaving your wrapping until the last minute. From now on, you’re going to wrap your presents as you go! Why? Because finding time in between doing everything else to wrap your Christmas presents can be tough. Wrapping as you go is so much easier and much more sensible – especially if you want a stress-free Christmas!
Over the years I’ve had many a night in the days leading up to Christmas where I’ve stayed up past midnight just to get all the wrapping done. And one year, when I was far less organised, I had to stay up until 3am on Christmas Eve just to get it finished! But not any more.
Now I wrap my Christmas presents as I go and it’s a lot less stressful. And it’ll be a lot less stressful for you too. After all, finding time to wrap two or three at a time is SO much easier than finding an evening to wrap 10 or 12, right?!
And that’s why today’s challenge is all about wrapping your presents as you go. I cannot tell you the difference it makes. If you’ve never done it before, wrap your presents as you go this year and you’ll never look back. Never again will you leave wrapping your Christmas presents until the last minute!
Buy a present, wrap it…
Doing a couple each evening once the kids are in bed will only take a few minutes but it’ll save you HOURS of stress in the long-run. Think how good it’ll feel in the days leading up to Christmas knowing you have no wrapping left to do. There’ll be no getting stressed a couple of days before Christmas when you realise you’re out of paper and have to make a last-minute trip to the store. It’ll also make the pile waiting to be wrapped less overwhelming – especially if wrapping isn’t your favourite thing or you don’t find it easy.
Top wrapping top tip…
When it comes to wrapping your presents as you go, there’s one thing you absolutely MUST do. And that’s making a note of what each present is. You might think you’ll be able to remember what each one is but trust me, you won’t! Especially if you’ve still got a few weeks between now and Christmas.
Once your gifts are wrapped they all look the same and the last thing you want to do is buy and wrap something twice. Which is something I may have done once or twice…ooops!
Keeping track as you wrap your Christmas presents…
So how do you keep track of what gifts you’ve wrapped? Make a list on a sheet of paper, in your notebook or keep a list on your phone. More of a visual person? Take a photo of each gift before you wrap it too.
However you choose to do it, make sure you include what the item is and who it’s for so you don’t forget. This will help you to see what you’ve wrapped at a glance and make it easy for you to spot if you’ve forgotten someone too.
Keep your list somewhere safe and add to it each time you wrap another present. If you like, file it away for next year to help spark new gift ideas and to make sure you don’t buy the same thing again too. After all, there’s nothing more embarrassing than buying someone the same gift two years’ running. Am I right?!
Find it hard to wrap your Christmas presents?
I hear you! Not all of us are made to be great gift wrappers. Scissor-skimming, crease-free wrapping skills and the ability to curl paper and make pretty bows doesn’t come naturally to most of us. But those presents need to be wrapped – no matter how awkward the shape! And so if you’re not a fan of wrapping or not very good at it, don’t worry because I’ve got you covered!
I’ve scoured YouTube and found two of the best videos packed full of top tips on how to wrap your Christmas presents. Short and easy to follow, I’ve also learned a few new tricks I’ll be trying this year!
Prefer to make your own wrapping paper?
And if you are a little craftier than me (I’m not at all jealous!) and prefer to make your own wrapping paper and gift tags, or if you fancy giving it a go this year, be sure to check out my Christmas Planning Tips board on Pinterest too. You’ll find lots of ideas to get those creative juices going and help you wrap your Christmas presents!
Wrapping really not your thing?
If wrapping really isn’t your thing don’t worry! Here are a couple of alternatives you can try to get that Christmas wrapping done:
- Ask your department store if they offer a wrapping service. Get them to wrap your gift before you head home.
- Pay for your online gifts to be wrapped for you before they’re dispatched. Most online stores offer this for a small fee.
- Ask a friend who enjoys wrapping gifts if they’ll do it for you and you do something for them in return – like babysitting their kids so they can go out!
However you choose to tackle your wrapping, don’t stress yourself out trying to make it look Pinterest-perfect. If your wrapping skills are top-notch and you have the time to make your own paper AND wrap each one in a different style that’s great.
But if you don’t, wrapping every gift in exactly the same paper – or getting someone else to do it for you – is fine too. After all, let’s be honest…pretty packaging might look nice, but it can be costly and it’s ripped off and discarded in seconds!
That’s it for today!
I’ll be back tomorrow with challenge #17 of 30 Days to a Stress-Free Christmas challenge. In the meantime, good luck wrapping your Christmas presents as you go – just don’t forget to make a note of what each gift is once you’ve wrapped it so you can remember later! And be sure to check out the rest of the posts for this challenge if you haven’t done so already too!
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