A Bow for the Boys

Did I ever tell you about the time I wrapped Daniel Lanois' Christmas presents?  Yup.  I did.

It's one of the many bizarre jobs I've done over my lifetime.

For those who don't know who Dan Lanois is, he's a musician, songwriter and producer among other things.  Most notably, he produced several U2 albums, including The Joshua Tree.  He's won a bunch of Grammy's and stuff.

Which is all well and good, but he can't wrap a present worth a hoot.  Or I suppose, he didn't have time to wrap his Christmas presents because he was busy discussing sunglasses and Africa with Bono and shining his Grammys.   Either, or.

When I was in university I had a friend who was his personal assistant at the time.  He told me Daniel Lanois needed someone to wrap all the Christmas presents he was giving that year.  Being a wrapping fool since the age of 5, I was given the task.  While being a wrapping fool doesn't often translate into award winning albums and shiny Grammy's I'm still kindda proud of it.

Every once in a while I look in my bathroom mirror and tell myself I'm partially responsible for the success that is Daniel Lanois.  At the same time I often debate whether one of my eyes is smaller than the other.

I spent an entire night wrapping Daniel Lanois' presents in white paper with handmade birch bark tags.  Conversely other presents were wrapped in birch bark with white paper tags.  All the presents had pinecones and twigs as bows.  Keep in mind this was manyyyyy years ago and at the time was quite impressive.

I got paid $10 a hour if I remember correctly.  Plus he paid for my supplies.   It wasn't until years later that I finally met Daniel Lanois when I interviewed him for a music show I was hosting.  I neglected to mention the presents.

I also adorned one of his presents with this little bow ... something I came up with at the time and have been using ever since.

Use it and you might also win a Grammy!

Here's how you do it:

First grab yourself some ribbon.

Then do this:

If you need better instructions on how to tie a tie take a look at this post from The Art of Manliness.  No relation.  :)

After you tie your tie, all you have to do is slip it off your neck and slip it over your present. A rectangular present works the best. Hic.

You also need to grab a pipe cleaner, as the piece de resistance.  Cut it short and use it as a tie clip.

When it's all wrapped up, this is what you've got!

Now as I said yesterday, beat it.   I've got crap to do. Not the least of which is wrapping a mountain of presents.

Which this time around, I am not getting paid for.