I am the least artistic person on the planet.
Funny, considering I make my living in the arts. Oh, yeah, I can put words together and come up with fun and entertaining stories (I hope) but as for doing anything creative with my hands? Fugeddaboutit.
A couple of my sisters are geniuses with flower arranging. They can decorate like a pro–having an instinctive eye for color and fabric, being able to go crazy when decorating a room and make it look like something out of a magazine. Me? I might as well be color-blind, like my husband, because I just have no instinct for that. Basic creams and browns, that’s my limit in terms of wall paint, and if the furniture store didn’t display certain tables and lamps with certain couches, I’d be in serious trouble. (I am a “Yes, I’ll take that entire room, complete with the palm tree prints and the elephant statue!” type.)
Part of it is that I’m not very good at it. Another part is, I just don’t care that much. I’m into beautiful music and beautiful stories and beautiful paintings…furniture? Walls? Flower arrangements? Who cares. As long as they’re clean and comfortable, not me!
Probably the only time of year when I really wish I had an artistic bone in my body and a flare for being creative is when it comes to Christmas present wrapping. My oldest sister always sends the most gloriously wrapped packages, complete with hand-curled ribbons or hand-painted paper. Every seam is straight and even, the ends in perfect arrangement, not an extra crease or a hint of a tear.
Me? Uh…slap that paper on there, swipe a half a roll of tape across the back and move ON.
I probably should just move to gift bags, but I’m enough of a kid that I like the sound of tearing paper and the excitement of having to wait to see what you’re getting on Christmas morning. So I wrap each and every thing my kids get…right down to the toothbrushes and ponytail holders in their stockings. :-P
So what about you? Any super-artistic types around? Do you spend a lot of time and effort wrapping the gifts so beautifully that the recipient almost doesn’t want to open them?
Entries (RSS)
While I love an artistically wrapped present, most of the time as long as the present is wrapped, I don’t think it matters how its wrapped. Ultimately the paper is most likely to be torn off without any care (especially if its a gift for a child).
I am a crafty person. I grew up making dollhouses and painting ceramics with my mom. As I got older I got into baking and now I bake cool cakes. I really wanna be like Duff from Ace of cakes, he rocks! But when it comes to wrapping gifts, I dont really take much time to do it. Plus my kids are just gonna rip through it anyways so why go to all the trouble. LOL!
No…I am a wrapper like you…slap it on and tape it up. I don’t even put ribbons on the package.
Hey Les, I am in the “I am so not a wrapper” camp as well. I just go crazy because my little OCD twin takes over if everything is not straight and neat as a pin. So, I graduated to gift bags and tissue paper. I can hide the most important gift among the least important ones with the right placement in the bag. The joy of looking into the eyes of someone who got what they wanted is still there. The thing is, we didn’t really do much of the gift giving stuff when I was a kid, so I am not as closely tied to it as my younger siblings are now.
Peace and love,
Paula R.
Yes, I am an artistic wrapper as you call it! Ha, ha! I make cards, paint, sculpt, write, etc. Anything artistic I just love! I also work in an art/office supply store. Hey, you are artistic in your own right! Don’t discount your own talents. Merry Christmas Les! (G)
My hubby uses clear packing tape and presses it down so it’s invisible and then watches as people attempt to figure out how to get into the package. (G)
I love to wrap! I try to make the package as pretty as what’s inside, and will take me a lot of time to work on a gift, fussing with the bow, making sure everything coordinates and looks nice. I think it’s part of the whole present.
Merry, merry,
Sam
Except for DD1′s gift, I give them all to her and she wraps them. She loves it, I don’t, works for me
I do a pretty decent job wrapping. I actually enjoy wrapping Christmas presents.
Leslie, I’m not much of a wrapper, but I try to do the works on at least one present for each of my kids and place it prominently under the tree. This way, there was *something* beautiful for each of them. And I guess I take the time to do it with one present because I know that I enjoy the end product even if I’m not good at it. I have a friend who wraps things like your sister… the packages are just beautiful. And I really enjoy seeing them.
Loved your description of your home decorating. I’m not good at this either, so I just take eons to pull a room together, inviting opinions of everyone who walks through the door and then slowly figuring out what I’d like from everyone else’s ideas.
The parasitic decorator, that’s me.