Friday, December 21, 2012

Gift Wrapping


Now don't you think that jingle bells just make a present all the more fun? 
A gift that jingles is a gift that smiles. 


I also love a gift adorned with fresh cedar clippings. 
The aroma of the wintry woods is always memorable.  

More cedar clippings and jingle bells...

And one of my favorite ways to honor antique lace is to use it to wrap a special gift. 
You can find such beautiful remnants of it here and there. If the lace is longer than needed, I usually wrap it around twice so that I don't have to cut it. 

~

My Grandmother believed that the package in which a gift is wrapped is just as important as the gift that's in it.

I will never forget the time when I was a little girl and wrapped my Grandmother's Christmas present with aluminum foil. I had grabbed a Christmas pin (a kitten in a red stocking) from my drawer (that's childhood Christmas shopping for you) and then proceeded to the kitchen to find my wrapping paper.

I tore a piece of foil off the roll, put the Christmas pin in the middle and then just scrunched it up real tight, squeezing it for good measure.

When I gave my gift to my Grandmother that night, she looked at me with such affection in her eyes and said, "Darling, did you wrap this?"

I nodded proudly as she proceeded to very delicately unwrap my wad of foil. She loved the pin but I think she loved the wrapping more.

She wore the pin each and every Christmas thereafter and every time I saw it, it reminded me of how happy it made her.

Aluminum foil and all.

40 comments:

  1. That is the sweetest most heart-warming story.

    Just makes me sigh and love your Grandmother too.

    Both of my grandmothers died before I was born, so Gramma stories are important to me, as it makes me live vicariously through others.

    Hugs.

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  2. I agree the wrapping on presents can give another layer of love and fun. When my children were little we loved making wrapping paper decorated with the children's hand-prints. Prints of autumn leaves gathered on walks are also fun. (Paint one side with poster paint and press on plain paper. Oak leaves look great). When the children were a bit bigger we made potato prints -stars, hearts...
    Love your gifts, Trina. So elegant!
    Christmas peace and joy to you and your family,
    Stephanie xx

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  3. Trina,
    lovely. See, even then you were all about "presentation" and that is so evident in the way you go about your day conducting your life.
    I love al foil.
    pve

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  4. A lovely memory

    They are the to remind us of the simplicity and beauty of real life.

    Merry Christmas

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  5. Beautiful wrap! My mom is the same way about wrapping gifts, and as a result, so am I!

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  6. I just love that story about your Grandmother & the pin. Especially that she wore it every year. Merry Christmas to you & your family!!

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  7. Thank-you for sharing the spirit! I just read your story to my little daughter and shared the chuckle!

    Blessings to you and yours!

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  8. I had a friend whose sister made him swimming trunks and then wrapped them in foil. I watched him as he received his gift and opened it and his eyes were filled with love and appreciation. That's when I realized that foil is a wonderful gift wrap.

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  9. Beautifully written, as always. Your presents look amazing, Trina. I love the idea of using lace. This year, when I couldn't get my hands on the Christmas labels in the attic, I found some paper doilies which I used as labels on red and white wrapping paper. It was a unique look, similar to your lace idea. I love the use of jingle bells on gifts. I added a jingle bell to my dog's collar and it makes for a festive sound as she walks around, though it wakes us up in the night when she moves about (she is very hard of hearing so I don't think it bothers her). Speaking of dogs, is your sweet Lucy still with you? I know she was getting up there in age.

    Merry Christmas to you and your family,
    Claudia

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  10. How lovely. I had a grandmother that would have reacted the same way. This is certainly the time of year to remember those heart-warming stories. Thank you for sharing this one.

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  11. Once again . . . beautuful . . . tin foil and love most of all . . .

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  12. Where do you find such charming wrapping paper?

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  13. Lovely wrapping ideas... your story about wrapping your grandmother's gift is precious!

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  14. What a great story and post !!!!! Happy holidays and merry christmas

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  15. Celia, I believe the gold paper and the tree bark paper came came from Home Goods. I can't remember where the others are from. There used to be a wrapping paper store nearby but they have closed. They had the most amazing selection of paper.

    Claudia, Lucy is no longer with us. She passed away this past summer. She had a good life and we miss her. I haven't done a post on her passing because it's been especially hard for Mike. They had been friends for a long time.

    xoTrina

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  16. So pretty. I love the idea of using lace - it's adorable.

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  17. Sweet, sweet story, Trina. I love being close to four of my grandchildren now. For my birthday, my eight year old granddaughter drew a card which read "The Lord is my Shepherd. I have all that I need: a grandmommer"! I love it! (She calls me Grandmom) Precious memories...

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  18. Trina and Mike, so sorry to hear about Lucy. I know how difficult it is to lose a beloved pet. We lost one of our dogs, Winnie, last January, and we still get sad thinking of her.
    Claudia

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  19. What a precious memory!
    Foil - shiny, bright...so festive.
    And, so perfect for both you and her.

    Today, I posted about the world's most inexpensive wrapping paper - my favorite 3 years running. For a buck.

    Wrapping it all with a little creativity...and a lot of love.

    (Not quite as inexpensive as foil, but darn close!)

    ~Blessings,
    Dana
    Cooking at Cafe D

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  20. Trina, your story of the Christmas wrapping for your Grandmother touched my heart so much.
    One, that your dear Grandmother received your gift with such love and appreciation, and two, that you have kept that memory and treasured it so.
    Thank you for sharing this.
    Merry Christmas to you and to your sweet family!

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  21. So sweet Trina, I love thinking back at precious moments like that.
    Lovely.
    Your packages are very Carolyne Roehm. Beautifully done.
    Lisa
    Leeshideaway.blogspot.com

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  22. What an incredible memory to have, loved hearing about it.

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  23. I love your story. I was so close to my Grandmother, so tis story tugs at my heartstrings! My dad taught us to wrap perfectly creased, evenly wrapped gifts when we were kids. he was a pharmacist. In those days, he would fill a prescription, make a frappe, wrap a box of chocolates....those were the days! Peace and happiness!

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  24. What a sweet story.
    Wrapping presents is one of my favorite parts of Christmas. This year I even painted my own wrapping paper...
    I did a post about it here if you want to see!
    http://mainstreetsisters.blogspot.com/2012/12/christmas-decorating.html

    I hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas!

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  25. Especially love the green mistletoe paper with the silver bells and cedar. Almost as good as the wad.

    I love grandma stories, too. Yours sounds very special.

    Very sorry to hear about the loss of your dog and how hard that has been for the family.

    Em

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  26. Memories like that are a present within themselves!
    Merry Christmas!

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  27. I love you beautiful wrappings and trimmings. I grew up in a more devious fashion. One year, my uncle wanted boat shoes (do you remember those?) My folks got them for him, but took one out of the original box and put it in a refrigerator box filled with newspaper qnd packing peanuts. Oh, how disappointed he was when there was only one shoe in the gift box. Then to have his imagination sparked by the sight of such a large second gift. Hee hee. This is why i can't just give gift cards to my neice and nephew. I have to find something that will make lots of noise to go with it...this year, the cards were taped to boxes of noodles. ;)

    Merry Christmas to you and Mike and your lil' blessings from above!

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  28. I've always thought the wrapping was the other part of the present. Learned that actually from my dad. Each Christmas he would buy my mom something so very special. And then have it wrapped professionally to make it so much more special. One year there were Cardinals on the package, and they graced our family Christmas tree for years. Memories, that's what we truly strive to accomplish around the holidays. Love it when it works out! Merry Christmas!!! donna :)

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  29. Oh Wow! Your story is lovely and reminded me of how my late brother used to wrap up household items in dish towels to present to us. :) Your packages look wonderful. You know, I have alot of pine trees, I think I need to go snip some off for my gift wrapping today. :) Have a lovely weekend! And a very Merry Christmas! Kit

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  30. What a lovely memory to have about Christmas.

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  31. If we all had grandmothers that adored us and called us darling ~ think how different the world would be. A wonderful story. Christmas Blesings to you and your family.

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  32. What a lovely memory of gracious giving and receiving. Your grandmother clearly taught both of these very well.
    Happy giving and receiving to you, Trina, this Christmas and throughout the bright new year.
    Linda in Virginia

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  33. your blog is just so lovely. it's like opening a christmas present everytime i click here and read a new post.

    thank you and happy holidays!

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  34. Trina,
    I loved the story of the pin and wrapping paper- I honestly think two of the greatest pleasures in life is receiving and giving a beautifully wrapped gift!
    Merry Christmas!!!
    ~R

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  35. I agree with your Grandma, its all about the package and your packages are beautiful. Merry Christmas to you and your beautiful family.

    Londen

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  36. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your love ones!!

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  37. What a sweet story. Sometimes the wrapping communicates even more love than the gift inside...love that your grandmother saw and honored your efforts!

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  38. I adore my grandchildren so much; and each one of the seven is creative ! I hope just one will write about me someday as you did your grandmother!!

    Lovely!
    I had the most wonderful grandmother who encouraged my creativity; and covered up my naughtiness!

    Grandparents are blessings.....and most of all, Grandparents are blessed.

    You have no idea.......just you wait!

    What a lovely memory you shared!

    Merry Christmas!

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Thank you for leaving your thoughts. Kind regards, Catherine