Wrapping Things Up

In Japan, “tsusumi” is a philosophy wherein the wrapping is considered a part of the gift itself; both are chosen and implemented with thought, care and consideration.

This is not to dis the convenience of a colorful gift bag with tissue paper, but there's still time to put a little thought and ingenuity into your own tsutsumi for this year's holiday gifting.

Here are some ideas for creative gift-wrapping:

• Enlarge a meaningful old photo and use it as gift wrap -- extra great if the photo ties in with the gift inside somehow. I used a picture of my dad and brother in classic 70s tennis togs to wrap a funny book on fatherhood... the book was soon forgotten, but the wrapping paper was definitely memorable.
  
  
• Enlarge the gift recipient's signature or favorite doodle...trace it with glue and add glitter. Dazzling!
  
  
• If you have photo-editing software and photos of your giftee on your computer, you can have fun using creative filters and wild effects on digital photos, and use the printed output to wrap a gift.
  
  
• Old maps are big pieces of paper that make perfect gift wrap -- especially if the map somehow ties in with the gift recipient or the contents of the package.
  
  
• Go green: expired calendars, blueprints, posters, shopping bags, newspaper pages (Sports section for the sports guy!) and the Sunday comics can also find a second life as wrapping paper.
  
  
• Magazine pages with beautiful (or funny) ads can make lovely gift wrap for small packages.
  
  
• If you have little kids, you can turn a fun rainy-afternoon activity into wrapping paper production session. Tape a long roll of kraft brown or white paper on the kitchen floor and put 'em to work with finger paints, holiday-colored markers, or sponge-stamps and tempra paint. Once it's dried you'll have a nice roll of custom gift wrap (which the kids will be proud to see under the tree).
  
  
• Think outside of the box -- really! There are lots of clever ways to package your gift besides boxes: new paint cans (available at hardware stores), reusable shopping bags (colorful Chico bags are perfect), takeout containers, mailing tubes, jars... 

Get Your 1,000 Words' Worth

There are so many gifts you can make with photos (including, um, framed photographs), but it is early enough in the season right now that there is plenty of time to have some cool gifts custom made with your favorite pictures (old or new).

Be sure to pick photos that will be meaningful and loved by the recipient (see if you can use a photo he/she hasn't seen for a while -- if ever). And please don't just slap a picture on a coffee mug -- think about what your giftee will use and enjoy!

Here are five ideas to get things rolling:

1. The photo book. If you have a lot of photos, it's easy to upload your pictures online to create a beautiful bound book -- ideal for capturing vacation memories, family history, special events, baby's first year, favorite sports shots, whatever. There are a lot of book producers out there now; I have seen good ones made by KodakGallery.com, Picaboo.com and Snapfish.com.

2. Photo memory box. Pick a favorite, meaningful photo and have it made into a tile on a beautiful laquered box. Bonus points if you fill the box with something special (jewelry, a gift card, cash, chocolate kisses or a personal note, perhaps). I just ordered a very nice personalized photo keepsake box from CafePress.com for $23.

3. A locket. You can use your computer and printer to shrink down a great photo and add it to a piece of jewelry to create sentimental, wearable art. UncommonGoods.com sells a pretty sterling silver and glass locket for $48.

4. Playing Cards. If you are finding a gift for someone who loves to play games (or your resident poker player), simply find a good (vertical) photo and upload it -- easier than a game of 52-card pickup! You can find photo cards for $20.99 at KodakGallery.com.

5. A Jigsaw Puzzle. This is a good idea if you are putting together a gift for someone who enjoys puzzles (duh), but it could also be a fun one if he/she will be spending the holidays with a group who could have fun working on the puzzle together during their downtime (apres ski, perhaps?). KodakGallery.com has 252-piece puzzles with matching box for $24.99.

~

Calendar Notes

Three important calendar notes as we move into the new week (and the new month):

1. Monday, November 30 is now referred to as “Cyber Monday” -- the online equivalent of Black Friday, with retailers revving up to offer great deals to deskbound shoppers. Get your mouse fingers ready (and don't be surprised if overwhelmed online retailers encounter technical difficulties).

2. Ready or not, December is upon us. If you are into advent calendars, it is worthy to note that Trader Joe's sells chocolate-a-day calendars for 99 cents...you can create a sweet tradition for less than 4 cents a day.

3. 12-month photo calendars for 2010 make a wonderful gift for grandparents, adult kids (pull up pics from their childhood), pet owners or friends of great photographers (like you?). Bonus points if you customize your calendar(s) with birthdays, anniversaries and other important dates. Super-bonus points if you order now to avoid the rush! I always create my calendar gifts at our local Kinko's (Fedex Office, whatever), but a friend of mine has had great success ordering calendars online via Snapfish. Compare for yourself. Cost is less than $30 for a year's worth of lovely gifting!

~

Photo Notecards with Matching Postage Stamps

We all need to send thank-you notes after the holidays and throughout the year (ahem, right...?). Here is a gift set that is a wonderful combo for anyone who appreciates the art of the hand-written, snail-mailed note -- perfect for any season.

This is a two-part gift, ideal for pet lovers, newlyweds, new homeowners, parents, grandparents, artists or travelers who have shared their photos with you. All you have to do is have one or two photos on your computer, and then get busy uploading and creating:

1. Notecards from KodakGallery.com

2. Matching or related photo postage stamps from Stamps.com

These websites both make the process very easy, and the personalized gifts are a lot of fun to receive and use. Plan ahead to have both items shipped to you so you can combine the goods (with a lovely pen, perhaps?) to give them as a set in a beautiful box / basket / gift bag.

~

It’s not stealing, technically.

If you are visiting your family or friends for Thanksgiving, chances are they have some wonderful photos lying around -- there for the taking and just waiting to be made into holiday gifts.

So…if you have a chance to sneak away or the nerves to do a little sleight of hand while in the presence of loved ones, take advantage of this opportunity to spend some time looking through old photo albums or boxes of pictures, and snag some that you think might maybe somehow, some way, make good gifts. You'll need to be a little creative for this part. Find pics that you think will make your prospective gift-getters happy, sentimental, suprised or some combination thereof.

If you are a good citizen, you can just ask to borrow the photo and make up a vague excuse as to why you need it. Or you can just take the photo and leave a note where you borrowed it, promising to return it (and do). Better still, if you are sneaky and your folks live near a Kinko’s (FedEx Office, whatever) or large chain drug store, you can have high quality digital copies made (as large as possible, please) on their little self-serve kiosk and then return the photos before anyone even knows they are missing. Tricky you.

Guard the loot carefully, and we'll figure out later on how to transform it into a great gift.

~

Pack your camera…

Just planning ahead a little bit, here…with today’s digital technology, there are some very cool presents (and more than a few lame ones) you can create with photographs. The trick is to have the right photos to make the right gifts special…and Thanksgiving can be the perfect time to set yourself up for some choice gift options.

If you are visiting family or friends for the holiday, get busy and grab those Kodak moments – we can figure out what to do with those pictures later on.

- Most important thing: make sure you have your digital camera set for a high or medium-high resolution. The bigger the better – you can always reduce the file size later.

- Closeup shots of small groups or individuals are best for future gift creations.

- Aim to capture some good shots of pets, multigenerational moments, traditions (Touch football game? Walk on the beach?), or even special aspects of the house itself.

~