To Feel the Fa La La, Deck Your Gifts With Flights of Fancy

Holiday shopping, once based on a healthy hike around the mall in search of just the right thing, is now a one-click exercise that, frankly, leaves us feeling a little ho-ho-hum.

Perhaps the way to make gift-giving more personal this year is by paying as much attention to the outside of the package as to the inside.

So don't settle for last year's leftover Santa wrap. Cover your gifts in sparkling paper or pop them into a candy-cane-covered Chinese-takeout box. Then use ribbon to tie on a trinket -- a whimsical robot from Paper Source or one of the store's elegant chandelier ornaments. Floppy slippers will look cozy (or goofy, which is just as good) hanging from the bow on a big box. Small photo holders can dangle from a jewelry box.

You could trim a package with a crepe-paper penguin that unravels to reveal five tiny ornaments or with a bubble-bath ball in the shape of St. Nick. For certain children on Santa's list, there's bubble gum that looks suspiciously like a lump of coal.

The latest gadget on someone's wish list may not be very original. But you can put a lot of personality into the way you wrap the gift.

-- Ariel Alexovich