There are 2 seasons I dread: school opening and Christmas — and it all has to do with WRAPPING!
Being the “shopper ng bayan” in our immediate family, I do the Christmas shopping AND wrapping. It used to be fun when I was newly married and even more fun when the kids came. Somehow, wrapping a toy or book you knew they’d immensely enjoy added to the fulfillment of wrapping. However, it got to the point where wrapping gifts now already includes the classmates of the kids (I have 4 kids multiplied by an average of 20 friends each), the village guards, the hospital doctors (and their secretaries), the tutors, and the ever growing list of inaanaks….
Then, as classes are about to open next week, here I am again — on the floor — with a 5-meter roll of gauge 3 plastic and a pile of books and notebooks to wrap. It has become an art — measuring the books’ dimensions on the plastic and arranging these in portrait or landscape format — to maximize the number of items one can wrap with the least amount of plastic wastage). Then there is the art of folding the plastic around the covers so that the line mark made when you folded the plastic in half hits the spine of the book dead center. The covers also need to look very firmly wrapped around the front and back. Wavy, loose plastic is a no-no.
At least with C1 and C2 in college, they have assumed some of the wrapping responsibilities for their own stuff but sometimes, when they want their books to look just so, neat and crisp, it is still good ‘ol Mama they turn to…
I turned to the internet and found this Malaysian blog that actually enumerates the steps for wrapping books (imagine that — and HE IS A GUY!!!)
THE EYERIS BOOK-WRAPPING TECHNIQUE
(Done in glorious non-technicolor and zero-picture style!)
Tools/Materials:
* 1 book (looks like lots of pieces of paper with words on them, all nicely bound together.)* 1 Plastic Sheet (preferably clear, and without sickly pink hearts or ‘cuddly’ Pooh bears; easily available in rolled up tubes at stationary shops for less than RM2.00)
* 1 Knife (I prefer using knives to scissors, because I always get blisters on my fingers if I use scissors for too long a time at one go. The best knives are the ones where you can push the blade up and down. Donno what they’re called though)
* 1 Ruler (preferably short, and made of metal)
* 1 roll of Cellophane Tape (Any size will do, as long as it’s sticky. Even better if you have one of those sticky-tape dispensers where you can just tear off the tape without cutting it with scissors)
* 1 floor (preferably not made of wooden paqeut or marble, unless you want knife marks all over your precious floor. Of course, it’s easier to do the cutting on a layer of newspaper or something like that, but where’s the fun in that?
Instructions
1. Roll out the plastic on the floor.2. Place book on the plastic sheet.
3. Cut out a piece of the plastic sheet that can cover BOTH covers of the book, with some leftover at the sides that will be folded INTO the book covers. (No need to measure wan, just agak only lar.)
4. Fold the parts of the plastic that stick out from the SIDES of the book cover (the part where you turn the pages) into the book cover, and smoothen it REALLY flat, so that it doesn’t bounce back up.
5. Repeat for the back cover.
6. Cut away the plastic that is sticking out of the SPINE of the book.
7. Now, fold the rest of the plastic on the upper part of the book covers (the parts that join to the spine lar), and sticky tape all of it together.
8. Voila! The book is wrapped!
9. Now, check and see if there are any stray strands of hair trapped inside the plastic (which usually happens if you’d neglected to sweep the floor before laying out that plastic sheet).
10. If there IS some hair in it, you’ll have to open up all the cellophane tape and get the damn hair out.
11. Repeat steps 1-10 for additional books and continue until you have no more books to wrap or you run out of wrapping plastic.
Disclaimer: The writer bears no responsibility for any torn covers, wasted plastic, or botched folding procedures while using the above instructions as a guide for wrapping your books.
And don’t ask me for pictures to go with the instructions. Me too lazy to take em’. 🙂
Gives me an idea. With the advent of podcasts, I may just save myself a lot of time if I did one on “How To Wrap Books for Dummies” and post this for my kids to watch, learn from, and do themselves.
What do you think?
The joys of parenting. I cut the tape while my wife does the wrapping. I’m also tasked to print the labels and their class schedules.
Cleaning the mess is my duty as well. So much for the lowly husband. Well, if you should ask, I wake up the kids, prepare them for school and drive for them. The wife needs to rest too you know?
Hi, I don’t know if it’s just me but if I run out of tape, I could still wrap a book with plastic by just folding/tucking the excess plastic in between the book cover & the plastic sheet itself. Yes, the same thing for that excess plastic on the spine. My take on this is, it makes the book corners tougher if i don’t cut the excess plastic.
I hope I didnt confuse you :D.
@Schumey – More and more, I really admire you as being a hands-on Dad. You are RARE!
@Linnor – Actually, unlike the blogger from Malaysia, I do what you do, leave the excess plastic intact instead of cutting it off. Yes, I agree with you that it does make the book corners tougher. Now as to tucking it when you have no tape, that is something new I have not yet tried. Thanks for that tip! 🙂
When my kids reached high school, I insisted they cover their own books and notebooks. Eh wow clueless. They started whining. Plan B was to divide the books and notebooks between hubby and me so I would have to cover all. Eh wow clueless din yung tatay. He insisted he never learned because his mom did it for him even when he was in high school. I called up my mother-in-law to find out if he wasn’t just making palusot. Eh totoo pala. Bad trip.
P.S. I cut off the corners kasi it looks bulky if I don’t.
*so I would have to cover all*
Sorry.
*so I WOULDN’T have to cover all*
waaaah I should go to sleep. 😐
@Connie – grabe! ganyan din in my case. si hubby walang kwenta sa wrapping department (unlike Schumey – see his comment above – na may silbi, hehe).
Now that really gets me thinking about a podcast on wrapping books. This will push our old-enough kids to do the wrapping themselves and allow us to retire (my daughters better learn too because when their kids start going to school, Grandma here will refuse to wrap the books of all the apos!!!). 🙂
From a “child’s perspective” – my mom obliged us siblings to wrap our own stuff early on in our student life. Started my career in the wrapping department (books and gifts) as early as 8 years old (I was in Grade 2).
Do you know that there is a technique for “tape-less” book wraps? (i.e. no sticky tapes needed!)
Hmmm…you think I should put this in my list of 6 oddities? =)
@Chon – Good for you, Chon. Gets me thinking I may just declare a new mommy proclamation that next year, everyone wraps his/her own books, hahaha.
Is your tape-less technique like Linnor’s above? If not, let me in naman on your secret.
Hindi ata oddity yan. Isip ka pa! 🙂
there was a time na gustong-gusto ko ang nagbabalot ng books. ngayon, ayoko na. e isa pa lang ang nag-aaral sa amin, di lalo na pag pareho na sila 🙂
I am not fond of wrapping books nor notebooks. I don’t know why. I always get those notebooks with cover for my daughter but she complains they tear easily so I end up wrapping them again. Good thing their school doesn’t have many books, only 5-6/schoolyear so its a lot less than what other parents wrap 🙂
I love people who can do the “tapeless” books, its rare. Its an art, if I may say so, hehehe.
@ Cess, Julie – Hay naku. With my 4 kids before, isang katerbang books and notebooks yung binabalot ko. At least now, it’s just the last 2 kids. But still…
But you know, now that I have kids who, in 10 years or less, may be getting married, I tell myself I have to savor these moments instead of getting irritated. Kasi kapag hubby and me nalang in this house, I may miss these wrapping moments, hehehe….
Sis, you hit the nail on the head. These moments we should cherish as our kids will build a family of their own someday. That’s when we parents get our payback, they’ll be doing the thinks we did for them. Hahaha….I really enjoy doing things for my kids but I do let them explore on their own. I only have 2, the girl is 18 and the boy is 10. I try to get as much quality time with them. We were blessed wwith kids because the Lord knows we will take care of them…..the beauty of being a parent.
with 4 kids it just took up too much time!
i taught yaya ludy how to do it… in the beginning it made me climb the wall to see her interpretation of what i wanted her to do but with patient training i am finally liberated from this chore. now, my book covering is limited to the books i buy for my self.
i taught her how to wrap my christmas gifts too. i have time to embellish special gifts now and enjoy chirstmas shopping more because i don’t have to deal with the wrapping even for the guards, secretaries, etc.
@Schumey – Amen! And advance Happy Father’s Day to you, special DAD!
@Aly – Yehey for Yaya Ludy! Can we clone her? 🙂 You have really become so adept at this special gift wrapping thingie. We really enjoy getting gifts from you with your own personal touch. It says a lot about the giver. You know….you could make a go of that talent…