To understand the deep affinity I have for my black Christmas wrapping this year, I have to tell you about my history with the colour black. Growing up I wasn't allowed to wear black. Not even into highschool was I allowed to wear black. Had I been a bit more ambitious with exploring employment opportunities at the age of 12 I could have made my own money to buy my own black clothing. But as it turns out, my ambitions for work pretty much started and stopped at running upstairs from the rumpus room to get my Uncle Leo a fresh beer for $1. And he only visited once or twice a year so ...
I have no idea why my mother refused to let me wear black but I suspect it was the result of when she herself spent a lot of time in black in the nunnery her parents sent her to. Betty was what they called "high spirited" as a teenage girl. Her parents were what they called "trying to scare the shit out of her".
Then one day, out of the blue, I was allowed to wear black. It was to a grade 10 dance. And it was remarkable. I had found my colour. It was tough and powerful and chic. It was the perfect colour. And I didn't take it off for about 15 years. It felt like me. Black felt strong and decisive and oh yeah, every single thing I owned matched with every other single thing I owned. So black was also a huge time saver.
I can't remember when it was I stopped wearing black all the time but it probably happened slowly over time. I'd add in some red here and some white there and before you knew it I was wearing pink and turquoise and coral. Not purple. Never purple. I'm not a complete asshole.
But whenever I put on all black now I get that exact same feeling of HEY. I'm cool! I saw the Ramones play live and I can crush a walnut in my fist and, and ... I can excise an abscess on my cat's neck if I have to! Your idea of cool might be different than mine.
So this year for some reason I've been feeling a little bolder. A little less light and ethereal. I've been feeling the best bits of black. And it's a great feeling to have going into the new year.
I love this year's black present wrapping. It's cool. By pretty much anyone's standards.
Buy vintage black velvet ribbon
Buy black gift wrapping paper.
The paper is plain black wrapping paper and the ribbon is wide black velvet ribbon and wide black satin ribbon. The huge gold flowers are Christmas tree ornaments.
But my favourite part of these presents is the tags.
I bought small gold frames (the photos in them are 2"x2") and printed vintage pictures of everyone to put on their gifts instead of writing their names.
Some of the people I give gifts to aren't old enough to have vintage photos so I put all the photos through a bit of Photoshopping to give them all the same vintage colour and feel. A bit of blur, a bit of graininess, a loss of most of the colour.
Take that Snow White.
No more brown paper packages tied up with strings.
No more twigs or twine and cute rustic things.
It's black and it's bold and it's gold all over.
Chokin' on bling like a fat Range Rover.
It's Christmas I say, and a New Year soon
You will be strong and tough and reach for the moon
The passion you had when you were still young,
It's not gone, it's still there, the song can be sung,
Don't wither away and pull down the sash,
This year,
Find yourself,
find your black,
find your inner badass.
**Congratulations to Thandi. You're the winner of Friday's Bread Lover's Giveaway package. I'll email you the details."
Tracy Martinez
The black and gold are absolutely stunning especially against the white tree. So elegant. Your poem is awesome as well!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Joanne
I was also not allowed to wear black until I reached the ripe old age of 18.
The explanation I was given was it was a color for mature women, and not to be worn by girls.
Stephanie
Stunning as always Karen. Merry Christmas and happy new year!
Eileen
ok, maybe it's just purple-wearing me (not orange, I'm a "winter"), but how on earth do you keep all that sumptuous blackness safe from gold glitter dandruff????
It does look sooo stunning.
I'm "wrapping" in brown paper grocery bags and old newspaper this year, with recycled ribbon and if that runs out, garden twine. And the recipients should be lucky I'm doing that much. So there.
Mindy
I agree with the masses. The photos are my favorite part.
Ellen in Illinois
........ Well I'm wearing all black today because I'm in mourning...didn't win the prize. Boohoo! I do love your black wrapping paper. Classy. But you can't help that cause that comes naturally to you!
Sara Jenkins
That poem!
Marca
Love the look (and your blog)! I know this is a dumb question, but how did you print your small pictures? Did you cut them down? Shrink them with software?
Karen
Hi Marca! I scan them if I need to, upload them to my computer then do all the resizing/editing with Photoshop. I increase the pixels to 300 so the images are as clear as possible then shrink the image to 2" x 2" in this case. ~ karen!
Linda G
Lovely black on black, Karen. There were several wrapping paper options at mainstream stores this year (Target, for example) that included black this year. I like solid black and buffalo check, but it seemed strange to wrap gifts for little kids in that paper. I opted for penguins.
Julie
Those tags, tho'! Stealing for next year. So awesome!
Marti
Not to be crass and commercial at this time of year, but um... have you thought about providing your readers with a lovely partner link on amazon.com, because some of us want to know where to buy black gift wrap and of course, provide a teeny-tiny benefit to our favorite cray-cray blogger who annually turns into a holiday design maven just in time to make us all drool.
Karen
Maybe you should be my manager, lol. Good thinkin' links are up in the post now on black paper and black ribbon. ~ karen!
Monique
Beautiful!
I do put photos on my gifts..but I have to say the little frames make it even cuter..prettier.I have several because when we had comppany I used to put the frames with the guests photos as the place cards..never entertain outside family now so I know what I will do next yr.I really enjoy when you share your gift wrappings.Thank you.
jainegayer
Those are the BEST wrapped presents EVER!!
Marilyn
Wow. I love this...family pictures will always win me over, i'm a sucker for them..such amazing memories to be had and the looks on their faces , the styles of clothes , I have them everywhere in my home. Those gift tags tugged at my heart.and I definitely see Estelle in that first one...I know it's not her but she's in that face , that DNA , you can't hide it ..great job Karen .
Karen
Thanks Marilyn. :) I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. ~ karen!
Ei Conklin
It's all just gorgeous. Now please tell me you've already gotten in a supply of black toilet paper too. You do, right ? It would be so perfect . If not, Amazon has it .. Renova 3 Ply Soft Colour Toilet Loo Bathroom Tissue Paper Rolls 6 Pack (BLACK)
Brenda
Haha - sherry in Alaska - I just online ordered the best purple top to go with a great pair of black with a purple lace pattern pair of pants and can't wait to own my bad ass(hole)ness now!
This year I'm all about black florals ... I think I bought as much as I can handle now. YES - yay black ... and yes guild those lilies, too.
And yes Thandie congratulations - you are the envy of us all! Enjoy! YayYou!
Deborah Skluzak
Those packages are definitely badass. They are gorgeous. The picture frame instead of a tag is inspired.
Karen
1989. Taking 2 hours to get ready to go out to be seen at The Silver Crown on Richmond. Was I seen? Hell no. I was dressed in black from head to pointy Queen Street toe shoe in a club darker then Hollister! But I was in black. Loved it then. Love it now.
Maureen Locke
Love the black and gold, but I'm not elegant in any way so that wouldn't fit in my hash tag of a house. I also wear purple..... and orange ( love orange ) and I know I'm not an asshole so there. :p Congrats to Thandi on winning those awesome gifts. Maybe I'll treat myself for Christmas and just order them for myself. We'll see.
Five more days of work and then it's here. We had a lovely blanket of snow down for Christmas and then the rain came yesterday and took it all away. Looks like it's going to be another green Christmas. Typical NS weather.
Thanks Karen for that frozen yogurt tampon video which brought me to you. I've loved every moment ever since.... well except being called an asshole maybe.
Karen
Don't fret, no matter how big of an asshole you are, there's always a bigger one. Like say, someone who wears houndstooth. ~ karen!
ronda
houndstooth??? there's nothing better! well, maybe black on black ... Christmas wrapping, pants, shirt ... its ALL good!
Grammy
Sometimes I just think I don't know you at all. First you put together the most breathtakingly beautiful array of Christmas gift wrapping and then you say there is something wrong about wearing purple. So, which is it? What side of that coin are you on? Because, Missy, wearing the occasional something purple would not make you an asshole. Wearing orange would make you an asshole.
But, congratulations to Thandi, who won the terrific breadmaking trio of items. It's a wonderful thing to make your own bread. It makes all right in the world, at least for the time you are doing it.