Celebrate With a Gift-Wrapping Tea!

by Colleen Langenfeld

You know the drill.

Hiding in the back bedroom, frantically wrapping holiday gifts before the kids find you.

If you can relate, here's a solution. Hold a gift-wrapping tea! Fun, fellowship and a productive couple of hours. What more could you ask for?

To make this fun time really work, you will need to plan ahead, so your guests know to save their gift-wrapping until your party. Remember; no children are allowed so your guests can wrap in peace!

To keep this celebration simple and useful, make sure everyone contributes to the success of the tea.

Guests can supply:

Gift-wrap or gift bags.
Ribbons and bows.
Any fancy add-ons they may want, such as rubber stamps and ink, tissue papers, raffia, etc.
Their own gifts!

As the hostess, you can supply:

A festive home--including, but not limited to, simmering potpourri, holiday music playing gently in the background, large comfortable floor space or several empty tables (be sure and protect tables and floors from scissors and tape with a pad).
Teacakes and tea.
Additional gift-wrapping supplies, such as scissors, cellophane tape, pens or markers, and gift tags.

Extend the gift-wrapping theme for easy decorating at your tea and on into the holiday season:

Wrap your front door in gift-wrap and hang a huge bow instead of a wreath.
'Tie' the backs of chairs with large holiday bows.
Use an elaborately wrapped box as a centerpiece.
Wrap up a coffee table or end tables as matching 'gifts'.
Use tiny packages as place cards at your holiday dinner party.
Extend the fun outside with weatherproof bows tied around your trees!
Add tiny bows to luxury bars of soap and display in the bath.

A way to give:

A gift-wrapping tea also works well for community groups giving holiday gifts to places like homeless shelters and senior centers. Instead of giving the job of wrapping to one person, everyone can join in and have a good time.

Your friends will thank you for the chance to relax with each other and get an important job done at the same time! Enjoy!