Ah…it’s crazy to believe it’s that time of year again. A Muppet’s Christmas Carol is on in the background (I completely forgot that Gonzo plays Charles Dickens! Awesome.), a cup of peppermint hot chocolate is in my hand, and I’m ready to share with you the great question…what do I want for Christmas?

Besides going home for the holidays (there’s no place like it, have you heard?), I’m looking forward to some fabulous gift giving. It’s a big thing in my family to be as creative in presenting your gifts as possible. And over the years, we’ve gone to some pretty extreme lengths to keep someone from being able to guess a gift before opening it! Here’s some of our favorite tried-and-true methods for keeping each other guessing, laughing, and having a blast even before the gifts are out of their boxes.

1. Switch up the boxes. Often, certain sized/shaped boxes give us a clue as to what’s inside. Use this to your advantage to put your giftees off the scent! Wrap a dvd in a shoebox, a gift card in an old cd case (or even better, a completely off the wall cd case). Also think about the box your giftee will see as they unwrap: when my little brother was much younger, I stuffed a pair of slippers for him in an old saltine cracker box–he really thought he’d been given crackers for Christmas…and he was overjoyed to find a pair of awesome slippers inside.

2. Or just forego using the box entirely. This is great for larger gifts (like bikes, yachts, basketball players, ponies): instead of trying to wrestle that large red lexus bow around them, why not wrap up a smaller box with a note inside? It could be a small clue (the key to a car, a helmet to go with a kid’s first bike), or a note sending the person on a scavenger hunt to find the real gift, or a sweet little illustration sending them straight to the gift’s hiding place. Imagine opening the tiniest box, only to discover it holds the biggest gift of all!

3. Nesting boxes. This one is fantastic for kids…who didn’t love simply unwrapping for the fun of it? When giving a small gift, place it in a typical box. Wrap. Place the wrapped box inside a larger box. Wrap. Repeat until desired number of boxes is reached!

4. Alter the weight. Throwing a little extra heft in your lighter presents is especially useful for that person who just wants five of everything (yes, Dad, I’m talking about you!)–add a few weights into some of the boxes, and it feels like each present is something new and crazy.

5. Change the sound! This tip is great for those sticky-fingered kids who just can’t help shaking presents before the big day. In order to throw my lego-loving little brother off the scent, my mom filled many non-lego boxes with dried beans and uncooked macaroni. Of course, you can go the other route as well…use jingle bells or any other noisy things to help disguise the telltale noises some gifts make when shaken. Use socks, cotton balls, or other noise reducers to silence them.

They’re so darn useful…but for me, there’s always been something about gift cards or cash that feels sadly impersonal. Show your giftee that you’re getting it for them because you care (not because it’s a quick and dirty gift) by putting a little thought into the presentation. Hide the gift card in a jar of their favorite candy (and encourage them to dig in)…on the back of a photo frame with you two in it…the possibilities are quite limitless.

Of course, surprising gifts are best paired with beautiful gifts, amirite! Bird tag by bleubirdnest, wrapping images by bugsandfishes

The important thing to remember is to keep all your little deceptions kind and lighthearted. The point isn’t to give someone huge hopes that go unfulfilled (like putting a pair of socks in a dvd case)—rather, you’re trying to initially befuddle, and then make the actual gift that much better (like putting a gift card worth MORE than a movie in an old, totally crazy dvd case). Try to think of ways your presentation will upgrade the present, not downgrade! And of course, have tons of fun being creative with it. Cheers!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at 2:40 pm and is filed under handmade, holiday. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Something to say? Please comment, or trackback from your own blog.

Speak Your Mind