Christmas Gift Wrapping Tips to Ward Off the Peekers

There's always one in every family - the child who likes to peek at the presents that are neatly stacked beneath the tree or the child who scours the house looking for the hiding spot where the most wanted presents may be hidden.

So, how do you help prevent them from peeking? Well, there's no sure way to do it, but the Christmas antics that my little brother did growing up has inspired me to keep the guessing of which presents are theirs a secret until Christmas morning!

It wasn't until about five years ago that my mom shared with me my younger brother's Christmas antics. Growing up with two little brothers always led to some interesting adventures, but especially when the older of the two took the lead. There was always a mischievous look in his eye, and today it is no different - in fact his youngest carries with him that same twinkle that probably results in some interesting stories, too.

For the first few years when my brothers were maybe 5 and 3, my parents would wake up Christmas morning and scratch their heads. The gifts that they bought for the youngest one were being opened by the older one and rightfully so since it had the older one's name on it. My mom thought that she really made mistakes labeling them incorrectly, after all, she did often call us by another sibling's name.

One Christmas morning, maybe two years later, the older of the two was so excited to come downstairs and see a firetruck desk with his name on it! It was so large that it couldn't be wrapped. It was a really neat desk with a seat and a chalkboard top that would lift up to store papers, crayons, etc. The three of us ran upstairs to wake up Mom and Dad and when they came down and saw that the older one's name was on the firetruck where they were certain the youngest one's name was placed the night before, they finally figured it out.

All these years, my mischievous little brother would sneak down in the middle of the night, peek at all the presents with his and my youngest brother's name on it, then figure out which was the cooler of the presents and switch the tags! It wasn't just one toy, it was usually several.

Now, of course, after seeing that the firetruck desk had the wrong name on it, there wasn't much that they could do - surely Santa didn't make a mistake.

After having a family of my own, I decided that I wasn't going to take the chance of peekers for the gifts that we purchase for the family. Fortunately, my kids don't peek, but if you've got a peeker, this might be the solution for you! Of course Santa labels everything, but this may prevent some inquisitive little ones from spoiling their surprise with your gifts Christmas Day.

Instead of putting gift tags on the gifts, I do one of two things:

Choose one wrapping paper for each family member...but don't use tags

Using one pattern of wrapping paper per family member makes it easy to distinguish between gifts Christmas morning, especially if your kids keep track of how many gifts they get in comparison to their siblings since it allows you see at a glance how many each child has.

It also brings more curiosity Christmas morning when they look at the gift and it has no tag, until you tell them who the gift is for! The one with the candy canes might be for your husband, the one with snowflakes might be for your daughter, etc.

Use different color ribbons for each family member

Like the previous tip, this is a tagless system, but it allows you to mix up the wrapping paper and is an especially great option if you love to use lots of different kinds of paper under the tree. They'll never know the difference that that white ribbon is for your son, while the blue ribbon is for the family pet!

I've used both of these solutions for the past five years and it works great! I usually hand out the unmarked packages so that they never figure out what the system is!

Just remember! Don't put labels on them, but certainly decorate with bows or ribbon, if desired. Intermix the packages under the tree and no one will know until Christmas morning when you are the only one who knows the secret of which presents belong to whom!