The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:

the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.

~Burton Hillis

A happy family, all wrapped up in each other….yeah, that is the best gift of all!  But, lets be honest everyone likes to open a gift, not only children!  If you’re a long time reader of this blog, you know that the gifts from my Prince leave something to be desired in their wrapping!  In last years Holiday Blog I poked a little fun at his wrapping talents, thank goodness he is a good sport……he didn’t punish me with no gifts, just horrible wrapping of the gifts!   No  matter where I am celebrating the holidays I love guessing which gifts are from who based on their presentation, I find this sometimes as much fun as receiving gifts!

For many of you the holiday shopping is just about complete and the wrapping is now ready to begin.  I still have some shopping left to do but Wrapping Central will be set up in my dining room tonight and the fun will begin!

This holiday mix up the red and green traditional wrapping paper with some of these unique gift wraps!  Here’s a bonus most of these ideas are less expensive than traditional wrapping paper !

~stock pages from the newspaper (I love to use the Wall Street Journal)

~sheet music, holiday music is my favorite….mass produce this wrapping paper by running it off on a copier! Larger gifts will require assembling multiple sheets.

~maps, new or old! Neat idea for someone who loves to travel

~movie or play posters

~children’s finger paintings on newsprint, I promise grandparents will love this one!

Consider some different options for tying off your gifts.  Use some of these alone or in conjunction with traditional ribbons.  The layering will give your gifts visual depth and excitement …….

~Twine, colored string, jute or natural yarns …..use alone or layer this over a thicker ribbon

~ scarves, the thinner ones work best

~men’s ties……this is a fun way to boost up a shirt gift!

~ wire garlands

Keep thinking outside of the box, no pun intended!  I have found over the years the more festive and beautiful a package is, the more the recipient takes their time opening and enjoying the gift!  I think I’ll go rummage around in my storage room for some cool wrapping materials, you never know where ideas blossom from…..

“Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to. Don’t you see? It’s not just Kris that’s on trial, it’s everything he stands for. It’s kindness and joy and love and all the other intangibles.” ~ Doris~Miracle on 34th Street 1947

By now you know how much I love this holiday season.  When I was a child I would wait all year long to see Miracle on 34th Street to be broad casted on television! I’d wrap myself up in Grandma’s afghan and string popcorn and cranberries for the birds with my sisters, while we watched the classic movie.  As I got older and realized the miracle of Santa was Mom & Dad, the movie became even more special……..for 96 minutes Edmund Gwenn had me I believing there really was a Santa Clause.  Now as an adult, Santa Clause has a completely different meaning, I love watching Santa come alive in numerous different ways in various people though out this beloved season!

One of my favorite stories of Santa is a childhood memory of my partner Ed’s wife, Susan………..

Susan’s Mom and Dad were always a bit more busy during the Christmas season than the rest of us. You see Susan’s dad is a Minister.  The Christmas season starting with Advent would literally consume the family’s time and ability to have special moments together. A minister’s family came second to all the other parishioner’s families.  Services, pageants, chorale sings, church suppers, caroling, paying calls to the sick, and philanthropic events all needing to be orchestrated, left little time for the minister’s kids.

But, when Susan and her brother Bill laid their heads on their pillows on Christmas Eve, they knew that a Christmas miracle would happen during the night.

Santa would come and transform the Doughty household into a Christmas story, just for them.  Reverend Bill with wife Shirley at his side would burn the mid night oil, in a mad rush to put up the Christmas tree, bring out the Christmas village, decorate the fireplace, wrap the gifts, and leave the milk and cookies on the table for Santa to snack upon during his hard night’s work. It seems that little Susan and Bill never saw the red and tired eyes of their parents on Christmas morning.

What a beautiful little Christmas miracle happened in their family every year.

I guess nobody really needs to know that this was the last possible bit of time left, for the Doughty’s to make a Christmas happen for their own kids.

Maybe the fact that they got it done every year truly was the miracle!  Rev. & Mrs. Doughty created wonderful memories for their kids………….I haven’t finished all the holiday decorations in the house, maybe I’ll save a few key items for my own Christmas Morning surprise…….hhhhmmm I wonder if the kids would see anything other than the gifts under the tree!