As wary as I am of clutter and the accumulation of junk, I admit to being a paper and ribbon hoarder.  It's my weakness, the siren song of collected ephemera. When I'm the recipient of a beautifully-wrapped gift, I don't tear into the gift, I gingerly separate the taped parts and keep the paper. The same with long scraps of ribbon. The voices of my mother and grandmother ring in my head: No, no, don't throw it away, it's still good!! And despite all logical arguments to the contrary, it's worth it when the holidays roll around.

Just call this Magpie a Wrap Super-Star. Well, okay, not really. It's only a few weeks till Christmas and I've been feverishly wrapping gifts for friends and family. It got this Bird to thinking about the J'adore-worthy art of gift-giving. It isn't always what's inside, but the presentation of the item. Despite what Mom always said, sometimes what's on the outside that counts. Sorry, Mom.

Some of the little things I like to throw into gifts include handmade stationery, which can be simply wrapped in a little bit of cotton twine. The Hawaii food-themed cards I designed were a good fit for the string, as it makes it look a little like a bento box. But I also rewrapped some pretty store-bought stationery in gauzy, sparkly ribbon. It feels a little more personalized when you can take off the shrink wrap and present the item with a little more care. Maybe even stick in a little sprig of pine or bay leaves for a natural flourish. The same with soaps. I found some nicely-scented organic soaps, but liked the look of paper-wrapped soaps. So I removed the plastic wrapper, rewrapped the soap in an absorbent sheet of handmade paper, and sealed the top with a custom designed label made up of old vintage imagery. The same cotton twine wrapped it up, and the soaps feel like a gift all their own.


Jaunty Fine Print:  photo by Denise Sakaki