Wrapping party November 11th and 12th

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sweetpumkinpye

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gift closet.jpg

A double header for this weekend. I actually got quite a lot done this week due to being unwell. Got all the stocking fillers wrapped and they are stored in the stockings in the craft room for now. I have sorted the gifts and know I need to get a few more items so have placed those in the planner to buy for the next time I am out.

Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching so take some time this week to do a little planning and prep to make the next few weeks a little easier.
Ideas for this week.
Make a meal or a batch of some baked goods and store them for use for later.

Start looking at Black Friday store or online catalogues and make a list of items that you may want to purchase. If you can pre order and lock in the price do it now.
Are orders starting to arrive? I have 2 or 3 online orders due to arrive in the next few days. I have a list stored in a folder in the email section of my computer. Highlighted in green mean they are still pending, highlighted in red means the order is complete.
Do you have a Christmas list on your phone or device? Take the time to update the lists as the items arrive, are wrapped and where they are stored. I personally don't use an app but I'm sure that there are some really good ones to download.

I know that one of the concerns about wrapping so early is that parcels can become damaged when they are being stored.
Some things I do to lessen damage is
* use a good quality tape and tape well so gifts will not come undone.
*make sure that gift tags are really well secured to stop them falling off.
*what ever you store wrapped gifts in try and minimise crowding
*once things are wrapped try not to move them too much to avoid paper tearing etc.

Another thing that people worry about is they might forget what they have actually wrapped. One suggestion is to take a photograph of the item pre wrapped and then a follow up photo once it is wrapped. Store the photos in a folder on your phone.

I have 7 of the very large blue IKEA tote bags that I store wrapped presents in. I am lucky enough to have a spare room that I use to store Christmas items in and can wrap early and know that the gifts will be undisturbed until needed. It also makes it easier to place the gifts under the tree on Christmas eve, I can carry the bags to the loungeroom and take one gift out of each bag to ensure an even mix under the tree.

Please share you thoughts on wrapping and storage and any ideas of how you make your lists.
Have a great week
xoxo
 

halimer

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Katrina - I agree with you on using the totoes for gifts and I have them for various families as well as separate ones for DH, DS and DDIL.

However I still worry about them getting messed up - but - I may give it a try this year.
 

Miss JoDee

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I will wrap a couple of baby shower gifts tomorrow and then head to the store to get an item I need. I have two gifts to purchase and just reordered the "lost" gift this afternoon. Even though it is Saturday I may run out and get what I need and be done with going to the stores.
 

Myron's Mom

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Love you wrapping closet! My wrapping supplies are sorted and stored in plastic totes with lids on a large shelving unit in the basement.
Gift lists (ideas and purchases) and photos are on my phone because I will forget what I bought.
This year I did things a little different, I started putting gifts in boxes as I bought them. They were stored in totes labeled with the recipients name. This worked well especially when I was sick this summer. Husband set up my wrapping station for me and pulled out the totes full of gifts. I could sit and wrap to make use of my down time when I couldn’t do anything else.
Wrapped gifts are stored in totes with lids. They are stacked in the first floor office until Christmas Eve.
I haven’t gone out shopping on BF since Covid started. I used to buy a stack of gift cards for the extra points and do all my pet shopping then ( cat food, kitty litter etc). Great deals especially on cat litter, I would buy for the entire year. I would hit a few other stores while I was out. Now, that the boys are gone, I can’t think of any place I would like to go. If I see any great online deals I might pick them up for next year.
 

sweetpumkinpye

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Love you wrapping closet! My wrapping supplies are sorted and stored in plastic totes with lids on a large shelving unit in the basement.
** Disclaimer, this is not my closet, just one I googled for the photo. It is a great one though.

I had one similar in the house we lived in before here, here I have two very large shelves in my wardrobe that are perfect.
I love the idea of the plastic totes for each person, I may need to look at something like that when we move to the farm.
 
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Holiday_Mom

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This storage system for wrapped gifts has worked well for me. Keep in mind that I don't typically wrap stocking stuffers until October. Most of the other gifts get wrapped on Thanksgiving weekend and then every free moment until December 17th. Depending on the year, sometimes I am able to buy gifts before Black Friday and start wrapping early.

For my children's gifts, I wrap them and put their name on the wrapping paper where a bow would typically go. However, I don't put the bow on the package. (I did that one year and the bows were crushed.) Instead, I place a bag of bows in one of the many extra large shopping bags that I've kept over the years from Black Friday shopping at Target, Toys R Us, etc. I attached hanging tags with a person's name to each of those bags. The name on the wrapped gift gets matched to the name on the oversized bag. Gifts that can handle being in the cold get stored in that oversized bag and are placed in the attic. Gifts such as electronics are stored in totes in the basement. Those gifts get wrapped extra nice with cloth ribbon and cloth bows. Those totes are strategically place for me to access easily on Christmas Eve. While I get the gifts from the basement, dh gets the gifts from the attic. He knows exactly where they are and what to bring down because all the bags are labeled.

For stocking stuffers, I put the labeled wrapped gifts in a plastic grocery/Target/Walmart bag that has the child's name on it. The plastic handles get looped around a hanger and the hanger is placed on a hook in the back of the coat closet. It makes distribution easy on Christmas Eve.

Service gifts and hostess gifts are usually placed in a brown lunch bag or brown kraft bag with cloth ribbon and decorative labels. As they get finished, they are placed in a box and stored until distribution day.
 

Miss JoDee

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All gifts I am responsible are wrapped and under the tree. The item I had to re order arrived and is in the stocking. DH has his ordered and is awaiting the arrival. DS's GF is helping him.
 

sweetpumkinpye

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All gifts I am responsible are wrapped and under the tree.
Woo hoo.. That must feel good. WTG, you now have extra time to do other things.
 
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halimer

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Jody - WOW!