Love that victorian lady nite lite. I can't blame you for wanting to have her for your own home. In the event you don't win, (which I think is unlikely because your present is beautifully decorated), I hope she will still be available to purchase another. I just went on the website to order one for my DM. The victorian lady matches my parents MBR/MB decor, and will definitely be a great accent to their MB while providing a bit of light for a late nite trip to the MB. You can't beat the price either. I was wondering if you set a limit on spending for your exchange? We do a Yankee Swap on Christmas day before dinner. There is a $25 limit. It's been a hit, but we keep it to fun and the odd - off the beaten path-type gifts. The gifts have to be suitable for both a man or a woman. My DB is the best at finding the "fun" gifts. I am trying to give him a run for his money this year, lol. One year I wrapped a leopard snuggie, and that present was stolen several times. Why, I've no idea as I think I would trip and kill myself trying to walk in the snuggie. I think my DSIL eventually got the snuggie and she is a mere 5 ft. tall. I have 2 of my 3 swap gifts purchased for this year. Need an idea for the 3rd. Wow, the guys doing a present decorating contest. Now that will be such fun to see. Make sure to take pics of all of the presents before they've been opened. I would love to see the creativity of those you're up against. I think you're not giving yourself enough credit. Your present looks great. Very pretty, and creative with the pretty paper, elegant ribbon and the berries and pic in the middle. Can't wait to hear about your contest results.

Does this happen to anyone else? No matter how organized you are or how big your work surface, there's never enough room and you always lose the dang tape and scissors! One year I bought a tape dispenser that fits on your wrist like a bracelet, that worked great. I wonder where it wandered off to? lol I used to wait until I had everything purchased and did them all at once. The prettiest year we ever had I did all the wrappings in variations of green and silver. As I was boxing up gifts to mail, I remember thinking that those were the nicest ones I had ever done. Probably because of the 2 color theme.... I just know that was my best year, wrapping-wise. And I carried it over too, to the dining room, green tablecloth, white and silver china (my mom's set) silver deer candleholders and matching napkin rings. Man, it was pretty. Usually it's a mass of color around here, but that simple combo really worked. It kind of got lost though as people arrived on Christmas morning and stuffed all their colorful packages under the tree, but I enjoyed it up until then.

I'm loving these gift topics! The topic about not liking certain gifts at Christmas reminded me of a funny & awkward situation I was in. I was in Dillards a couple of weeks before Christmas buying some makeup for myself at the Estee Lauder counter. When I made my purchase I was given a huge, and I mean huge, makeup/lotions/perfume sample kit. The kit was about 20" x 15". EL has nice size samples too. I decided to give it to my MIL as one of her Christmas gifts, knowing she'd like it. She loved experimenting with new makeup anyway. I had planned on telling her it was a freebie, she wouldn't have cared. She was spending the night Christmas Eve, and a commercial for E.L. came on. I casually mentioned how I love getting their free kits with purchases. She immediately said, "I can't stand those." Nevermind that I had seen those little EL makeup pouches in her bathroom. :) She was the type who would often disagree just for disagreement sake, but she was a very nice woman. As soon as she left the room I grabbed the gift and took it to the bedroom. Weird! Do you have any funny memories?

I learned I have to be careful in how I present gift cards. Once I was giving two kids gift cards attached to wrapped candy bars. I gave one to the first child and was with her as she opened it and found the GC. Her sister was asleep, so I asked her to give the other candy bar + gift card to her sister later.... I found out the sister had not noticed the GC and threw it in the trash with the wrapper. Luckily, it was still there when I told her to go look for the GC with the wrapping paper. So however clever you make the presentation, make it obvious that there is a card, too.