StyleSpy with Katrina Szish

It's not even Halloween yet, but New York City is already in the holiday spirit.  Lampposts in the Seaport are decked with twinkling stars.  The windows at Henri Bendel's on Fifth Avenue have been transformed into a winter wonderland.  Skaters are spinning at the ice rink in Rockefeller Center.

And, although I am really excited about tomorrow (CANDY!  COSTUMES!  MORE CANDY! Plus my husband and I carved the cutest -- I don't do scary -- jack-o-lantern last night; check back tomorrow for pictures), I am already having visions of sugarplums (figuratively, as I really don't know what sugarplums are...anyone??).  Translation:  Holiday shopping! Wrapping!  Entertaining!...right around the corner.  And, call me crazy, but I love every minute of it.

My mom is the best gift-wrapper in the universe (yep, even better than you-know-who), so I have learned the importance of a beautifully wrapped gift.  It shows the receiver that you care.  It is a preview of the treasure that lies within.

Your gift wrapping style is also a reflection of your personal style.  Do your gifts give off a Valentino vibe?  The look of a Louboutin?  A rugged L.L. Bean sensibility?  Or do you just let the store do the wrapping?  Or perhaps do the gift bag-topped-with-tissue paper thing?   My mom's motto: "Hide the uglies"  -- suddenly makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?!  It's truly amazing what you can do with double-stick tape.

My wrap-style hovers somewhere between Ralph-Lauren-Hits-Vegas and Jonathan-Adler-Does-Tokyo, i.e. kitschy-classic chic.  Red and green?  Nope.  Try graphic black and white.  Gold paper with velvet ribbon??  Nah.  Flamingo pink with yellow polka-dot ribbon is way more fun.  The season is steeped in tradition, so why not do the unexpected?  You don't have to wrap holiday presents with holiday paper.

Presentation is key to style, so after wrapping mounds of gifts and tying boatfuls of bows, why pack all that prettiness in a bland cardboard box for shipping?  Hand-decorating boxes can be time-consuming (I've tried), and I've since discovered an easier solution: Custom-printed mailing labels (take a look at iomoi.com) topped off with groovy packing tape, just like this (from Fred Flare.com, $8, buy it now!):

Essentially you'll have a gift within a gift within a gift.  The triple threat.

So, choose your gift-wrapping style mindfully, perfect your bow-making abilities (or get crafty with paper cut-outs and a glue stick), and take yet another step towards living life with style.

That's a wrap.