Every year I am rather disorganised with everything to do with Christmas, I start off with good intentions to buy throughout the year to spread the costs and then to wrap the presents early to avoid the mad annual Christmas eve panic – I start off well and then it goes down hill fast.
This year however I have cracked it! I started buying presents in the new year sales and continued throughout the year. With the fabulous help of a friends Money saving Facebook page – My Mummy’s Pennies Money Saving Group – this is a group full of savvy shoppers who post deals they find into the group, mainly toys and clothing store discount codes which is obviously great for getting the kids presents sorted early, infact I’ve shopped so well this year that I even have Emmy’s birthday presents for February and presents for upcoming birthday parties she has been invited to.
Honestly before you lynch me that never happens however with a long spell of unemployment in this house I needed to be savvy, thankfully that has ended but it doesn’t hurt to keep up the saving where I can.
Of course with all the shopping then comes the wrapping and I am determined not to leave it until Christmas eve – well there isn’t any need is there, and to help me I’ve been stacking boxes at the end of my bed mostly so that it annoys me so much that I crack on with it – of course the kids presents are tucked away out of sight because I can’t trust them not to peek!
Did you know that December 14th is the first annual national wrapping day brought to you by 3M Scotch? You can visit the Scotch National Wrapping Day website for further information where you can vote for prizes you would like to win as well as getting some wrapping hints and tips! Why not try to win a prize in time for Christmas?
Today the mammoth task began, with the help of some handy products sent to us by Scotch 3M and with the help of my little helper, Emmy and I started with the wrapping.
Emmy loves wrapping presents, she often asks to play pass the parcel just so she can help wrap up the parcel up so it was great fun having a little helper.
The problem she has with cellotape is that she looses the end all the time and then can’t cut it off and hold the wrapping paper still at the same time, she gets frustrated with this and gives up or worse still throws it across the floor.
Armed with her own Handband dispenser she set off and nailed it. She is able to pull out a single tape strip and hold the paper still at the same time, OK the presents may have LOTS of tape on them but she had fun and at least they won’t open in transit to their recipients on Christmas day, and at least we have plenty of refills to keep us going.
Emmy has claimed this pink dispenser for her own so she can “put her own pictures up on the wall later on” – just which walls she is planning to decorate remains to be seen!
Between us we have wrapped a few presents, I’ve still a huge pile to go however I feel like I am getting somewhere and with no more lost tape ends I can speed through the wrapping.
My tips for making wrapping with kids easier are:
- Have everything to hand
- Have a clear space ready to work
- Remove distractions (turn off the TV) armed with scissors it’s best to let them concentrate!
- Make it fun
- Don’t worry about neat corners – just write on the tag wrapped by ….. instead
- Boxes – add any odd shaped presents into boxes to make it easier for them to wrap
- Let them do it themselves (you can always rewrap later on if needed)
- Avoid bring toy presents out for them to wrap, ANY TOY in the house will automatically become theirs and will NEED trying out first!
These Handband dispenser and refills can be found on the website as well as in supermarkets too.
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. We of course would have been wrapping our presents any way this has just given us a push to do it sooner than Christmas eve.
Related Posts:
Discover more from Emmy's Mummy
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
I love Christmas wrapping, love the idea of the tape dispenser very handy. Well done on being so savvy x
I hate the christmas wrapping with a passion!
I always get frustrated when I need to wrap gifts. I'm awfully bad at it.
That is one handy little gadget. And thanks for sharing the FB group. Have just signed up 🙂
There is a national wrapping day? really? wow…
This is such a handy little dispenser. I always plan to spend hours beautifully wrapping my gifts but the reality is very different.
great invention!! I've just about done all my shopping/wrapping…. need it sorted before this baby comes!
What a clever idea. I always end up with bits of sticky tape left around the living room for months afterwards!
Love the look of that hand dispenser! I always seem to start off with help but it soon disappears! This would be so handy.
I love wrapping gifts. They always put me into festive mood.
Oooh that dispenser looks really handy!
I love wrapping presents with my son. When they are young a lovely activity is making their own wrapping paper and decorating it with potato prints or making their own gift tags and using silver and gold pens and glitter to add some sparkle.
I love wrapping Christmas presents and this is a great post on how to make it far less stressful.
I hope my son is good at wrapping because I'm terrible. I better get him started young!
Oh, I really do need a dispenser like that, in pink as well,please, I am like your Emmy, I always get myself tangled in cellotape :-).xx