Pretty Paper

I can't tell you how relieved I am that gift bags have become the norm. It makes it so easy for any odd or soft package. No longer do I have to request gift boxes from department stores. That is, if I were to still shop in department stores instead of online or by phone which is my ONLY method. I got skipped on the shopping gene, so sue me. But gift bags are like paper clips - why didn't they think of this earlier?

And yet, (you knew that was coming, didn't you?) while gift bags are indeed akin to Manna from the Wilderness, they present their own little dilemma.

Tissue paper.

There are as many different methods to using gift bags and tissue paper as there are Rednecks in Mechanicsville. I have been experimenting to find my preference and I have not found full satisfaction with any method employed thus far. First was my attempt at poufery (is too a word!). I lined each side of the bag with a full sheet, nestled the gift between and tucked it in with one more sheet, sort of like swaddling, then kind of tucked in and 'poufed' the sheets. And it looked fairly nice, but was a tad bit time consuming and didn't contribute to ease of travel.

Next, I wrapped the gift completely in tissue paper, taping the ends as if it were its own present, then nestled it in the bottom of one whole sheet and inserted it into the bag. Which worked very well for hiding the present from sneaky eyes, but left the bags looking less than festive.

I've also used all the papers from my shredder which is extremely festive, but very messy and much less 'poufed'. In this instance, I ain't too keen on green.

So all in all I have to wonder if gift bags are that much of a blessing, after all. By the time I figure out which way my tissue paper preferences lie, it might have been easier to just use half a roll of tape and some creativity.