Naughty 'N Nice Gift Wrapping: {Almost} Wordless Wednesday

My husband hates shopping for Christmas gifts and I hate wrapping them. No, I despise wrapping presents. I'm a recycled-gift bag kind of girl. So when it came time to get the deed done this year I tried to put a smile on my face and make them good.

We have a family tradition to buy each other gifts from the dollar store each year (including gifts to/from Lil' J and Snoop), so that ups the quantity of presents to wrap. When I was done I couldn't help but notice the disparity in my efforts.

Here's how my wrapping started.

These are presents for my husband. Some weren't square-shaped so I grabbed boxes to put them in and wrapped them neatly. It's not perfect by any means but nice for me.

After about five gifts, the cutting, folding and taping became too much and I resorted to tearing, crumbling and sticking.

And this is how they ended.

To my credit I figured it would be easier for Snoop and Lil' J to open this way.

Merry Christmas!

Birthday Presents - When to open?

I have been planning Juliet's 2nd birthday party this week and while planning the party itinerary,I struggled with the question of when do we open the presents? When I ask this question, what I mean is do we open present with everyone or after the party and send out thank you notes.

We don't usually open presents but as the girls get older, when is it ok to open the presents at the party? In the past, we don't open presents as there is not enough time and I have this vision of toddlers fighting over the newly unwrapped toys. I think it is probably wise not to open presents at Juliet's party, but at Ainsley's 4th, should we?

I would love to hear your thoughts on this.