If you are like most people, the Christmas season is a major gift-giving holiday. Along with all the warm memories of family and friends, food on the table and a fire in the hearth, are lasting memories of gifts given and received.

But you might share a frustration with many gift givers. Wrapping.

Perhaps you never seem to have the right supplies. Maybe your corners never fold right, or paper seems as if it is in a perpetual feud with your fingers. Maybe you are spatially challenged, or just plain uncoordinated.

There is good news. Most places will wrap your gifts for you. And there is no worry about having to wrap your own handmade gifts, because if you can’t wrap them, it is likely that you aren’t coordinated enough to make crafts for your friends this Christmas.

Let the store do the wrapping

Those of us who end up taping our fingers to our boxes, or who can never make the paper fully cover the box, are in luck.

Almost every store will wrap your packages for you as if you are giving a gift.

This is true in person, and it is true for many online stores too. This becomes more true as the calendar gets closer to Christmas day.

Here is where you can look:

Online – during the checkout process, you are asked a lot of specific questions. Address, shipping address, contact information, credit card information and … “Is this a gift?” That’s your cue! Pick “Yes” to respond to this prompt. They will send it to you already wrapped. Or – better yet – many places will offer to send it wrapped to your intended recipient. This is okay, unless you want the credit for the gift AND the wrapping.

At the store – many stores will advertise wrapping services during the Christmas season. But these same stores often offer it year-round. There are stories of people asking at Target or other retailers for gift wrapping. Sometimes they offer it as a service. Sometimes you just find a helpful partner who will wrap it for you. Be sure to tip them, or leave an online recommendation.

At the mall – when Christmas is almost upon you, you may feel overwhelmed. Many malls have groups of volunteers, often from local churches, who will gladly wrap your gifts for you. You might have to endure a pitch for their church, but that beats cutting your thumb on the tape dispenser!

Photo by ROMAN ODINTSOV