Tuesday

I did it!

I did it!! I bought and wrapped all our Christmas presents and had them ready to send back with each family member when they returned home from their Thanksgiving visit with us!

Don't hate me! LOL! Believe me, the high postal prices drove me to do this. It was hard to get the shopping done, then everything wrapped, but I was motivated to save the postage since they had to be mailed.

My children and grandchildren helped me a lot by sending us their wish lists, and even included the links to everything! I ordered most everything from Amazon.com and they have free shipping!

Granted, there's no Christmas tree up, and we can't sit on the sofa in the living room, but it's done! PTL!!

I had planned to do a tutorial on how to tie these bows, it is pretty easy and good results every time!
The hardest part is having to put your own finger on the "knot" if my husband wasn't available (which was most of the time, because I did almost all of the wrapping after he went to bed!)

I also couldn't take pictures for the tutorial because I didn't have enough hands, and never thought to ask hubby to do take the pictures when he was available!

I will try to explain and hope you can understand. First, wired edge ribbon is a must. Second: cut a piece of ribbon long enough to go around the package, with enough to tie and have long tails left. Third: Cut a shorter piece of ribbon to make two loops by bringing the two ends together, overlapping the ends. Pinch in the middle of the loop. Fourth: Tie the long piece of ribbon around the package, pulling and tying together tightly. Fifth: Place the center of the looped piece of ribbon in the knot area, then pulling the long ribbon tails into a tight knot. Usually one knot is sufficient.
(Is that "clear as mud??" LOL!)

Fluff the loops out, and give shape to the tails.
Cut a "V" in the tails, or angle them.

(Note: This wired ribbon will flatten out for traveling then fluff back up later.)
I had a lot of paper and ribbon left from last year stored in the attic and wanted to make sure I used it up this year, so I ended up with a lot of different paper packages!

Last year my grandson was obsessed with Thomas the Train and I had a lot of that paper, bought too much, so a lot left over this year.

I bought it only for the Thomas the Train design, I must say I didn't like that it says "Happy Holidays!" as I'm very adamant about "Merry Christmas" instead of Happy Holidays.
These are only a few of five-year-old Caden's gifts!

Plus, he always gets a large can of popcorn! This one has the CARS movie theme.

I love Tow Mater, and of course, there's Lightning McQueen!

Neat story about these boxes below. We have had several of these decorative hard boxes in the family for years and each year we give them to someone! I like the design so I just tie bows around them.

Have you started your shopping and wrapping yet?
I don't usually start or finish this early, but I was motivated to not have to pay postage! Now you see why I have been so busy and not blogging lately!
Do you see your present??
I hope you didn't mind an early Christmas post. I haven't started decorating yet, we always wait until after Thanksgiving to start!

Happy Thanksgiving, enjoy your family, I know I sure will!

I'm linking to Wow Us Wednesday, thanks Kim for hosting! Click on her name for lots more fun!

Katherine

12 comments:

Connie said...

Oooh, Katherine, great job, sugar! I'm glad someone is on the ball in blogland. LOL
xoxo,
Connie

Ceekay-THINKIN of HOME said...

Congrats. I have started my shopping...no wrapping yet though. I really don't have many to buy for...so it isn't a huge project.

Marigene said...

You are far smarter than I to have your shopping and wrapping done, already! Beautiful packages, too.

Geneva said...

Oh Wow! And all wrapped too ... I can't even imagine how nice that must be. Your packages look so festive...thank you for sharing how you made your beautiful bows! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family!

Sara's Sweet Surprise said...

Hello Katherine~I'm b-a-c-k to makin' my visits (finally)! I just wanted to take a minute at this season of renewed hope and gratitude to personally thank you for your visits and kind words, especially with the loss of my kitty Angel. I wish I could convey to you how much your continued friendship means to me. You're always so generous to share a big part of your hearts passion through your wonderful posts. I look forward to each and every visit. I've no doubt there's more fun in store for us on this blogging journey.
I hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving surrounded with family and friends in celebration of all life's blessings.


Sweet Wishes,
Sara

Kathleen said...

Amazing, and I don't blame you, the postage is killer.
They look beautiful, K!
Happy Tgiving to you and yours, enjoy the family time!

Love Bears All Things said...

I think this is a great idea and I've done it myself when the Texas Robinsons came for Thanksgiving or we were visiting them earlier...I love the paper colors. I usually use several different papers because I think it looks so pretty....the Princess wrapped 4 gifts for me last night so its a start and I'm finished shopping basically...might pick up a few odd bits....This year, I ordered online for the Texas bunch and it will be delivered so that cut out the expensive postage..
Mama Bear

Rettabug said...

Wow...am I impressed! You were really on the ball this year & the sofa looks so festive, too!

Your Thanksgiving table was lovely & I'm so happy that you had your family come to visit & share the special meal with you. Ours never came to FL for T'day & I always missed them terribly.

You've sure got a head start on the rest of us!
Hugs,
Rett

Anonymous said...

Wow!!! Those are gorgeous and you must feel wonderful having it all done. Very inspirational.

Adrienne said...

Congratulations - you did it! Your packages are beautiful and I appreciate the tutorial for the bows. I'm going to use it when I wrap mine.
~Adrienne~

Sanghamitra Bhattacherjee(Mukherjee) said...

What a great job! Beautiful.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Hope to see you on my blog:)

Debbie said...

I don't hate you. I want to grow up and BE you!!! Great job, and they all look just beautiful with the wire ribbon.

I know what you mean about the Thomas the Tank not saying "Merry Christmas", but oh how cute it is!!