Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Pretty Christmas Presents


What a busy few days we've had recently! On Friday night, we had the cousin's get-together at our house where lots of fond memories of Gran Ivy were shared. On Saturday morning we organised a last minute catch-up with friends of ours from Boston who are in Western Australia over Christmas. Luckily our house was nice and tidy after my big clean up on Friday but I did spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking sausage rolls, whipping up some chicken and aioli sandwiches and baking a chocolate slice. Sunday morning we visited my Mum to swap Christmas presents (she has since left on her trip to the UK and contacted me last night to say they had landed safely in Manchester). Sunday afternoon was a Christmas party with extended family at Paul's uncle's beautiful home overlooking the river. Finally, yesterday was Paul's Gran's funeral which was a lovely service and fortunately, I managed to keep Grace occupied with bits and bobs from my handbag and she was very well behaved all day.





As for Christmas preparations, I've finally wrapped all our presents. I went with a red and white colour theme and used red and white printed gift wrap and a roll of polka dot paper too. With some gifts, I wrapped a band of contrasting paper around before tying on a ribbon. I didn't wrap all our presents prettily (especially not the children's presents!!) I just focused on the gifts for friends and family who I knew would appreciate a carefully wrapped gift. It was wonderful that the ribbons and bakers' twine Catherine included in the little package she sent me were all red and white colours too as they fit in perfectly.






As for gift tags, I used a combination of the lovely ones Catherine made and sent to me (you can see her kraft paper ones in the photo above) and then, the other day I spotted a roll of packaging tape which matched the one she had used on her tags so I bought some and used it to make some more simple tags of my own. I also used the tape on a few presents which you can see below.




I truly do enjoy giving gifts more than receiving them. I like to think I've carefully chosen a gift that will be appreciated and enjoyed and even more, my favourite part of Christmas preparations is wrapping all the presents. I do still have half of one gift to buy (although I'm hoping Paul will sort that one out for me) and I need to get something small for Grace but apart from that, all I need to do before Christmas is make two desserts and I'm all set!!

How are all your Christmas preparations going?

31 comments:

  1. the wrapping is just divine...white and red combination and TWINE( you know how i love twine lol) looks gorgeous!! ..wanted to wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas and a sensational New year.You have been an amazing and supporting friend this year so i wanted to thank you so much..look forward to many more of our chats in 2011.have a great holiday break hugs melli xxx

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  2. What a busy week Amanda. Your gifts look stunning, and I agree, my gingerbread house would have looksed lovely along side them. To answer your question, my friend has a set of gingerbread house cutters, so you know it will all fit together well.
    I used the same Japanese tape on my gift cards, it's very pretty.
    Yes, I'm all ready, but that's only because I have hardly done anything. It's going to be very very quiet for us this Christmas.
    xx

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  3. Sounds like you have been a bussy lady!

    Love the Tags and Bakers Twine to wrap the gifts it looks Fab!

    Enojoy your holidays. Samie

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  4. Gorgeous wrapping Amanda! I find the kids pressies so hard to wrap, they are such awkward shapes :) Love the red and white theme you went for too. So glad that you had a lovely day remembering Gran Ivy.
    Im done with my prep for Christmas, as we are not hosting Chrissy Day I just have to make a salad to take on the day. Too easy!! xx

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  5. They look almost too pretty to open....almost!

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  6. waht gorgeous wrapping Amanda. Ihope you and your family have lovely Xams and new year

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  7. Your presents look beautifully wrapped and I'm so glad you liked the tags:) I love the red and white too, stunning. Have a wonderful time celebrating Christmas with your loved ones and I wish your New Year to be filled with special memories and good times. Thank you for all of our lovely chats, I look forward to many more. Hugs xo

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  8. All really lovely Amanda...you have a real eye for detail. The japanese is stunning x

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  9. A very busy week so far indeed and I doubt it is going to get any quieter! Your present wrapping is just divine, I'm sure your friends will definitely appreciate it. Have a wonderful Christmas with your family :)

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  10. Your wrapping is gorgeous!

    Lucky your Mum got the UK, right before the big storms!

    I JUST finished my Xmas shopping then. I feel like opening a bottle of champers, except that I can't... Will have to wait 11 more weeks till baby is born ;)

    My husband is mental and is doing RENOVATION work tomorrow at the new house, I'm picking carpet and paint samples. Which sounds boring, but will take my mind off the silly season for a few hours.

    xx

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  11. Ok, so omigoodness your gift wrapping is soooo lovely! And your shots of the details are gorgeous.
    Still loads of Chrissy prep to do here including making homemade crackers/bon bons with the toddler. (Hope they work!)

    Have a lovely Chrissy :)

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  12. Your organising skills never cease to amaze me Amanda! Your gifts look beautiful and I'm sure that you'll be having a lovely Christmas day. I'm heading off to Newcastle so the only thing I've had to organise has been gifts, and I'm pleased to say that's all done. Please pass on my sympathy to Paul. I had an gran called Ivy as well and although she died long ago I still miss her x

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  13. Your wrapping looks just gorgeous Amanda, such a beautiful combination! I agree that wrapping the kids pressies is a different matter but it is nice to wrap the adults gifts so nicely! Preparations here are going well, just a few more presents to wrap and some grocery shopping to get done. We are having Christmas lunch at my Uncles so I only have to take a potato salad!! Boxing Day we are having hubby's family for a breakfast.

    Enjoy the last few days till the big day!!

    Christine x

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  14. They look so lovely. I bet the recipients will be reluctant to open them. I will be trying tomorrow to be completely organised.

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  15. Oh, Amanda, were we separated at birth? Seriously! *Sigh*. Just divine. Everything - the simplicity, the vibrancy of the red, the baker's twine, the ribbons, the washi tape...I had so much pleasure wrapping the prizes for Kellie and Tina today before popping them in the post! So yes, you're a girl after my own heart ☺. Love your taste. J x

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  16. Lovely wrapping Amanda :)

    Amelie and I have been watching a movie called Santa Paws and I have a song stuck in my head that goes "it is better to give than to receive".

    There is a lot of truth in that. Especially when you give such beautifully wrapped presents :)

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  17. Your wrapping is beautiful, dear! <3
    Wish you a Merry Christmas!
    Hugs, Nina

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  18. That is just beautiful Amanda! I love how you've put the strip of wrapping in an alternate pattern, it looks fantastic! I'm glad that everything went smoothly for Paul's Gran's funeral, such a sad time but it will be nice to be all together with your happy memories!
    Hugs,
    Jxx

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  19. Just beautiful Amanda!

    I went with a red and white wrapping theme this year too..great minds!!

    Have a lovely Christmas,
    xMB

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  20. Wrapping presents is my favorite part of the Christmas madness too! Your gifts are beautiful! So happy I ran across your blog.

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  21. I can tell you have a lot of patience, those pressies look adorable. Hope you have a fantastic chrissy with your fam, with happy memories of your gran x

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  22. Your wrapping looks beautiful and shows your personality! I am sure your friends and family members who receive your gifts with your beautiful wrapping appreciate your love and hard work you put into it! I liked your tags, so I visited Catherine's site. Thanks for sharing!! I'm glad you're enjoying your time with the family. Not being able to spend time with our dear families is one downside of us living overseas, but we're having a good time here with our friends.

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  23. That wrapping is gorgeous..Have a wonderful Christmas Amanda, thank you for all your sweet comments throughout the year..Love Rachaelxx

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  24. Esp the first picture is ADORABLE, Amanda.
    Wishing you the merriest of Christmases! xxxx

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  25. Everything looks so beautiful Amanda, I love your red and white theme! I hope you and your family have a wonderful christmas break and a very happy new year. xx

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  26. Amanda, your gifts are wrapped so beautifully, they just ooze caring and love which you show abundantly in everything you do! I love the red and white colour scheme, you have inspired me already for next Christmas.

    I am so sorry to hear about Paul's Gran. You have had such a busy week, I hope that you find some time to sit and relax with your beautiful family over the Xmas break. THANK YOU for my Xmas card, it has just arrived and I was so overwhelmed that you would take the time to send one to me, you are such a gorgeous person. Thank you also for all of the encouragement, support, inspiration and friendship that you have given to me this year. I am so happy that we have become friends and I am so looking forward to our friendship continuing in 2011. Wishing you, Paul and your sweet little Grace, the merriest of Christmases and a very happy New Year. Huge hugs to you sweetie from all the Rubies ~ Txx

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  27. Quite the loveliest wrapping I've seen this Chrissie Amanda! Thank you so much for your lovely comment over @ The Hedge re the new bathroom. Have a truly wonderful Christmas Day tomorrow with all your Darlings.
    Millie x

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  28. Your presents look adorable Amanda, beautisul.

    Hope you have a very Merry Christmas and enjoy all the day brings you xxx

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  29. Your gifts are so beautifully wrapped! I love how you made the red-and-white look so modern. well-done.

    I hope you had a wonderful and relaxing holiday with loved ones. I, too, love looking at past photos and am always amazed at how quickly my kids are growing. I don't see the growth on an everyday basis but the tons of photos I take are a great reminder of the need to slow down and enjoy every moment with our kiddos.

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  30. I really like the red and white combination. I would be delighted to have a gift wrapped like this...in fact, I probably wouldn't open it for a long time because it's just too pretty to unwrap.

    Sweet post! Rambles with Reese

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