During the year a few ideas often compete to be the next gift wrap. This year it was basket weaving.
I don't weave, but I know where to buy the supplies. A few quick tips gleaned from the Internet and jump right in! The idea of a randomly woven ball seemed the easiest course of action. I knew I couldn't weave a fine looking basket with the time available; I wasn't sure how what I was doing would turn out. I surely did not anticipate how this one evolved. It looks like some kind of spore highly magnified. Before it got too tight I placed a gift box with diamond earrings in the midst of the tangle and kept wrapping and weaving until the openings were quite small.
It wasn't the prettiest wrap however, so it required painting some sticks black and embellishing them each with their own design and sticking them through the tiny holes in the package. It's barely visible, but one of them (lower right) proclaims "Merry Christmas."
This year we celebrated Christmas in Bellevue with CJ and Kirsten and the Bohlmans. I was hoping TSA wouldn't think the carry-on was too suspicious.
I'm never certain how Pat will manage to open the gift. I guess that makes it an authentic challenge. After some delicious chocolate martinis, she pulled all the antennae free and manipulated the fibers until a hole large enough to pry out the earring box was formed. Brilliant. The box is born.
(editor's note from 2021: creepy how much this thing resembles COVID-19)
