Wrapped with Care

Growing up it was a Christmas tradition for all the moms in our family to take their daughters to Granny’s house and teach them the fading art of gift-wrapping. It was a big deal and something to be taken seriously. 

Preparations for this family tradition actually began the day after Christmas when the local Hallmark stores would put their Christmas paper on sale. My mom was always first in line because Hallmark was the Rolls Royce of wrapping paper and this was the only time she could afford to buy it. Once she made her selections the paper was carefully put away like fine china.

The following year with our prized gift wrap in hand, we would head to Granny’s where we would find the house meticulously prepared. The dining room table was cleared, rolls of beautiful wrapping paper lined the walls, tissue paper laid in crisp neat layers, bows and ribbon sorted by color, and gift tags ready to be attached. It was as if you had walked into the art studio of one of the great masters. I could imagine the gifts themselves anxiously waiting their turn to receive the love and attention from one of the “master wrappers”. 

With everything in place, the lessons began. The paper was chosen with great care, tissue paper was placed in every box (in part to prevent those who like to shake their gifts from guessing what was inside), the ends of each box were folded with precision, the paper wrapped tightly, ribbons adorned boxes in a dozen different ways, and bows of every type - curly bows, star bows, confetti bows - were made to complete the gift.

After several hours a few new “master wrappers” were added to the family. Their works of art beautifully displayed under the tree. This tradition went on for years in my family but slowly disappeared. As I look back I realize something else disappeared that day – time. Time we spent with one another. Time we took to make a gift a little more special. Time to share family traditions.

Life gets busy and when it does we sometimes forget how precious these simple traditions are. So, in honor of all family traditions and as a reminder to spend time on the simple things, we decided to offer a FREE Christmas Gift Wrap Station to our customers. Take a moment to sit down and wrap a present on us. We even have a station for kids so parents can begin their “master wrapper” classes.