Issue 07 – A Holiday Wrap Up
Packaging, but make it holiday-ish
Unbox Inbox is a weekly newsletter packed with packaging inspiration and observations
Hello, welcome to the last Unbox Inbox of 2023! Because I’m feeling festive, this week we’re going to take a look at some cute gift wrap, which counts as packaging in my book. It’s like packaging for packaging, no? I’m also going to recap some of the best books I read this year, because what are book covers if not packaging? Ok, maybe that one’s more of a stretch.
I’d also like to take a moment to thank you for your support on this little side project of mine. I’ve had such a blast going down these rabbit holes and sharing my findings with you, and every thoughtful email reply, text, comment, like, subscription means so much to me. I’ll be back in January, and in the meantime, enjoy the packaging palooza that is this time of year.
A Gift Wrap Deep Dive
I’m one of those people who loves wrapping gifts. Growing up, I would wrap my sister’s so Santa (I mean my dad, the other wrapper in the house), wasn’t swamped come Christmas Eve. My happy place as a kid was The Container Store during the holiday season. All to say I get into this sort of thing, and would rather not wrap a gift at all than wrap it in sub-par paper. So I did some digging and found some that’s worthy of your most thoughtful gift, or perhaps even a frame on your wall.
1. Holiday-y but not Hallmark-y
To each their own on gift wrap, but I find these to be much more interesting and fun than the usual Santa and snowman laden stuff you often see under the tree (all sources linked below images).
Stamps, Kickline, Dogs, Gingerbread, Holly, Apartment
2. Florals galorals
There is an abundance of beautiful floral gift wrap out there. Maybe one day I’ll do a floral power clash under my tree.
Poinsettia 1, Poinsettia 2, Red and Green Florals, Daisies, Meadow, Icelandic Poppies
3. Bold and graphic
How fun is that holiday color palette gift wrap in the top right? Awkward Office Party Red, Diet Starts Tomorrow Green, Hideous Inflatable Snowman White? Incredible. And as a word puzzle lover, I love the idea of the bottom gift wrap. Just be careful not to tear up the whole thing before you find all the words!
Stripes 1, Color Palette, Reclaim Joy, Stripes 2, Word Search
4. Looks good enough to eat, but would still just taste like paper
As if there wasn’t going to be a food-related section in this round-up. Maybe one day I’ll make my own, but for now I’ll keep telling my best food illustrator friend to please make some food-covered gift wrap.
Cheeseburger, Today’s Special, English Breakfast, Bananas, Hot Chocolate, Fruit Cocktail, Tomatoes, Butter, Steak
Book Wrap-Up
In addition to being someone who likes to wrap gifts, I’m also someone who has a note in my phone where I save words that I come across while reading. This practice has led to my favorite end of the year ritual, where I pick a favorite quote/phrase/sentence from each month and then share it on the internet (here’s last year). The fun part is looking back and seeing what resonated each month, because it usually says a lot about where my head was at and what was going on in my life at the time. Often there are patterns or lessons that come up again and again–sometimes I learn them and sometimes I don’t. I haven’t done 2023 yet (because I’m not done reading!), so stay tuned for that in a week or two. In the meantime, here are the best books I read this year, in no particular order.
East of Eden: I read this in high school, loved it, and forgot nearly the entire plot. So I read it again, and as is often the case with books, it seemed to find me at exactly the right time I needed it. Required reading for a reason.
Four Thousand Weeks: I saw this book all over the internet and avoided it for most of the year because I’m sick of life hack culture. This book is not that at all. It profoundly impacted how I think about time, and I savored a chapter per morning because reading it put me in a great headspace.
The Nature Fix: If I still lived in a city, this book might have stressed me out a bit. But because I live in the country now, it made me feel even better about my choice than I already did. We all know nature is the best etc. etc., but this book helped explain exactly why that is, and got me off my butt and outside a bit more each day.
The Rachel Incident: If you’re a Dolly Alderton fan, or love books that take place somewhere in the UK about 20 slash 30 somethings who start out not having their shit together, and eventually get it a bit more together by the end, you’ll love this.
The Thornbirds: Aside from the above genre, my other favorite is generational family sagas that span decades, ideally that take place somewhere outside the US. This book takes place in Australia, and also has the OG hot priest character. So in some ways, it’s like a cross between Fleabag season two and East of Eden.
In Awe: I got the audiobook of this from the library and happy cry-listened to it while strolling the streets of SF when I was visiting earlier this year. It’s one of those books that puts things in perspectives and reminds you that life is really just about being surrounded by good humans and being a good human.
The Inner Game of Tennis: One of the rabbit holes I went down this year was tennis. I blame Break Point and the abundance of tennis wags with YouTube channels (I can’t believe I just publicly admitted that). It took playing tennis with my partner twice and two private lessons to understand what a physical and mental game tennis is (the pros make it look so easy). Anyways, this book is about the mind/body connection in tennis, but you can and should apply it all to life in general.
Tom Lake: This one needs no explanation. Probably like a lot of you, I read it in a day. If you didn’t, it’s a story about a mother and her daughters, and who we know our parents to be as we know them, and who we know them to be through the stories they choose to tell us about before we were around.
Feeling Good: I mentioned this in last week’s letter, but since then I’ve finished it (okay, I didn’t read the last fourth that was in depth explanations about every medication under the sun). This book is marketed as “drug-free treatment for depression” but I’d recommend it to anyone who would like to waste less time on unproductive thoughts.
Doppelganer: This was my introduction to Naomi Klein, and I can’t wait to get into her other books now. It felt like an incredibly intelligent and well researched commentary on all the things we complain about at the dinner table in 2023: social media, influencers, AI, global warming, how you can’t believe your uncle really thinks that politician is a good leader or trustworthy human, etc. And it helps to make sense of how we got here, and how “they” got “there.”
Lonesome Dove: If you want a book that will take you somewhere else for a long time (800+ pages long), this is for you. It’s a classic for a reason, and you’ll fall in love with all of the characters.
This is What it Sounds Like: A few years ago I went down a music rabbit hole and watched every documentary about a musician or band under the sun. I came out even more in awe of how insane it is that people can write songs out of thin air, and curious why we each like the music we like. This book gets into all of that, and it’s written by an enthusiastic listener, not musician, so you don’t need to have any musical talent or technical understanding to appreciate it.
Fat Talk: This should be required reading for all humans, but especially parents. If you grew up thinking heroin chic was something to aspire to, and don’t want to spread any more of that toxic nonsense, this is for you.
Sea of Tranquility: I am not a sci-fi enthuiast, but Emily St. John Mandel is so fucking good at writing I’d read anything she wrote. If you want to time travel to an imaginary future to gain some perspective on the present, this is a goodie.
The Secret History: I had zero idea what this book was about before I started it, and I think that’s the best way to go into it. It was not at all what I thought it would be, and I’m still thinking about it a couple months after finishing it. Donna Tartt is another author who is simply so good at words I’ll read anything she writes.
Wow I can’t believe I just blabbed about books for that long (but also, I can). If you have any books you can’t shut up about that you read this year, please share with me!
Packaging Peanuts
(Those loose leftover pieces at the bottom of the box)
Very inspired by these Austrian holiday cards from the early 1900s. There’s something about lighting a candle with a super long match. Give the joy back. The best holiday sweaters for your pup (Plum has four 🙃). Speaking of Plum, I think I’m obligated to make these homemade sugar plums. I impulse bought this peppermint bark chocolate bar the other day and it hit the spot. Been jamming to this quality XMAS playlist by Nancy Meyer’s daughter and recklessly burning through this holiday candle to get in the spirit. Cornbread, but make it festive for the holidays (I’ve made this many times, it’s good). And if you’re in need for a good ol’ fashioned cooking project, this two-sheet lasagna by
looks insanely delicious.
Happu Holidays! If you made it this far, thanks for reading. I love you. If you’re feeling generous or inspired, please subscribe and/or share it with a friend who might enjoy too <3
These wrapping paper finds are *incredible.*
Thank you for the book recs! This year I loved The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson and Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.