There are some gorgeous wrapping papers out there, but an unexpected choice can add special interest to a gift. You can of course make your own, and I've done that; but it's time consuming. There are other ways to a less conventional covering. My mother often would use the Sunday Comics Page to wrap birthday gifts because it was easy, colorful and inexpensive. That's never appealed to me, but recently it occured to me that instead of throwing old maps away, their highly graphic qualities would make them ideal for wrapping gifts.

This is not a new idea; in fact, you can purchase wrapping paper that attempts to reproduce old maps (which sadly have become so popular with collectors that they're being stolen out of public libraries and colleges at an alarming rate) but I think nothing can beat authenticity. This gift is one such example. This map was cream colored with blue and black ink, so I chose some black edged ivory ribbon, a cobalt blue bow, and blue flowers to co-ordinate with it. Cream flowers and sky blue narrow ribbon fill in for overall cohesiveness.

Summer, 2001

Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.