The Fourth Day of Catmas

 On The Fourth Day of Catmas, we met attitudes.

Nosicles balked, and a struggle ensued!

 Ever resistant, she shimmied and shook...

 Eventually however, the picture finally took.

 Her ire was naked, she openly scoffed.

 To calm her, we attempted to hold her aloft.

And we heard her exclaim as she slunk from our sight...

"Screw you and your Catmas, you're in for a fight!"

Well, is your level of patience escalating past "murderous rage"?

The least fun part of gifts is the fact that it's socially unacceptable to hand them to the recipient
still in the gas station plastic bag with the receipt and price tag.
You have to wrap them.
This is boring, predictable, and who even notices?
They rip the paper off without comment and ball it up!
Why do you bother?!?!

What say we change this?
Little vase shaped cellophane treat bags are a good start.

An ornament tied on always makes people notice.
This package of shatterproof stars is only $3 at Target.

Put a small cushion of fake snow in the bag and add your gift.
The included silver twist ties are handy.

Choose a glistening bauble...

...add it with the ends of the twist tie, and finish with some Dollar Tree ribbon in a simple bow.

Quick and simple, this will get noticed.
AND you'll be done!

Giving a mug, but the thought of making homemade cocoa mix exhausts you?
Relax. Grab some peppermint mini marshmallows.

Walmart makes a good bulk mix.
Add a shake of cinnamon for fun.

Scoop the mix, cinnamon, a tablespoon of chocolate chips, and a topping of the colorful
marshmallows int one of your treat bags.

If the temptation is killing you, test drive the product.

Tie 18 inches of wired garland around the bag.
Twist loops in the length, then add a star and hide the ends.

Set this in the mug with a tag and hand it over.

Okay, so the pile is growing.

You're feeling good.

You're almost done, right?

Yep, got it covered...

Oh.
Right.
The mug.
It didn't come with a box. Now what?

 Wrap it in some protective stuff.

 And let's tuck that in a coffee can!
I told you guys not to throw stuff like this away.

 To elevate this from "I had no idea what to get you and I panicked"
to "I thought of you," add little bags of fancy coffee from the Target Dollar Spot
as packing material.

Nice and safe.

 Seal it up and wrap as usual.

Giving something....unusual?

 Sure, you could just hand this off with a smile.

OR...you could get a set of scarf and hat intended to gussy up a wine bottle.

 Hand the recipient a card and watch them laugh.

Because there's only one thing funnier than a monkey candle holder.

 A monkey candle holder dressed like people.

 Cause a stir with your ribbon.
I love wire edged because it doesn't care if you're imperfect.
Loop the middle over the top of the box, bring the ends over the bottom corners, and
bring them through the loop.

 Bring the ends around the sides.

 Tie it in a bow and fluff it up!

A little different is a very good thing.

$1 ornaments are nice.
Especially for your wallet.
But they aren't that impressive as a gift.
We can change that...for FREE.
I mean, we're being cheap here, so we need to stick with it, right?

 Take an empty, clean jar, tie a snippet of ribbon around the rim,
and fill it with tree trimmings and water.

 Nestle your ornament in the top.

You just made a really nice holiday offering!

 I mean, look at it!

It's a quick, fool proof arrangement, and all it cost you was ribbon!
Cuttings are free at the tree place!
I filled my trunk at Home Depot.
These are nice around the house to add a touch of live.

So keep wrapping.
Tomorrow, we have a gift for the chef in your life that will WOW him or her.
And it's only going to cost you $4.
If that.
Gather your spray paint and your cats and meet us back here for more
festive seasonal feline torture.