One of the skills I’m so thankful I got from my mom is my ability to wrap gifts well. When I was a little girl our home looked like a page from Southern Living at Christmas (and the rest of the year, for that matter)…. there was NEVER red or green anything, though. When I was in Elementary school, hour living areas were all pale yellow and cream…. so of course, our tree was too. As I got older, Mom redecorated and everything changed to pale pink and cream… and our tree did too. Along with no red & green decor, meant no “traditional” wrapping either. One year she I think she bought stock in mylar… because all our gifts were wrapped in gold mylar paper…. (that is the hardest stuff to wrap with, it doesn’t crease!!). The older I’ve gotten, the more and more I appreciate this… and have tried to adopt it in our home. Now, of course the no red & green doesn’t fly with my husband, but I’ve tried to marry Mom’s gift wrap talent, with the hubs need for traditional red & green. I think when I was about 5 or 6 my mom went into a shop in Durham (Morgan Imports) where she had seen or heard they wrap beautiful gifts, she had the sales girl teach her to make bows…. and from then on, our presents were the most beautiful you’d ever seen. I’m a firm believer that beautiful presentations are well worth the effort. This year, I spotted some red on red polka dot at TJ Maxx and some red & gold stripe…. wrapping paper, check! Now… ribbon… you cannot and will not find traditional gift ribbon on our gifts… only real, fabric ribbon. It’s a must. So for this tutorial…. you better have the real stuff, or it won’t work. I tend to avoid Michaels when it comes to nearly anything because it’s normally over priced…. but I went in knowing it was a good spot to locate nice ribbon (side note: if I’d had time, and thought about it, I would have ordered from Ribbon Retreat…. that’s where all our ribbon for the business comes from)…. there it was… sparkly, leopard ribbon! I grabbed one roll of it, a roll of hunter green & one roll of skinny gold….. all the holiday ribbon was (and still is!) 70% off! (I went back yesterday and loaded up again!). So here’s our fancy-schmancy wrapping tutorial…. prepare to amaze your loved ones. 1. Wrap your gift. This means USE A BOX. No bags, no exceptions. 2. Tie a piece of ribbon around your box.   2. Cut 2 pieces of ribbon equal length. These were about 18″ each. The longer your ribbon the more loops, or bigger loops you’ll have. So if you need a big bow, go longer length… or if your making a small bow with skinnier ribbon, go shorter. 3. Loop your ribbon. My mom would always loop around something (I showed below with my external drive)… but she often would make “templates” out of pieces of cardboard. The length of your loop, will be the size of your bow…. so if you need a big bow, make a bigger loop…. have I lost you yet? 3. This is THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP. This will make your bow stay, and not flop over. Cut 2 small slits on each side of your loops, going through all the layers. Be careful not to cut too far in. …. see 2 slits , one on each side. 4. Now, repeat and do that again. You need 2 loops, slits in both. 5. Now, go back to your box that you wrapped ribbon around, and put one of your loops over the tied spot, and pull the loose ends of the ribbon that goes around the box, though the slits in your first loop. Tie a loose knot. It should pinch your loop. And yes, I realized after the fact that this would be easier to see if I had used a coordinating ribbon on the box. Sorry! 6. Layer your 2nd loop over the first and knot. 7. Pull all your loops apart, twisting as you go. Those little slits will get caught against each other and hold your bow up. TADA! You’re done! It takes practice to get the loop count, length, size of loop right, but you’ll get the hang of it!  The leopard ribbon is wired ribbon, but it does not have to be. However, if you need to make a really big bow, you’ll need wired ribbon…. otherwise all the loops get too heavy and won’t stay up.   Now go impress people with your new skill! Happy Holidays!