FAUX Second Thursday Tutorial on Christmas Eve

Not only am I late with my Second Thursday Tutorial, it isn't even a real tutorial!  It's late at night, cold both outside and in, and I'm in my nightgown.  I need to wrap a few gifts, so I'm going to give you some ideas for last minute gift wrapping.

I had looked at that ugly once-red rosin paper that protects my work surface long enough. So I removed everything from the table

and set it on my chair I use when I sew.

My brain was obviously frozen, so I wasn't thinking about the order of things, as I usually do before I start a tutorial.  Thankfully, this is not one of those "real" tutorials.

I've had this red rosin paper since 2010 or 2011, and I've used it for everything, from covering my table when it gets too ugly for even me to stand it, to making a rosin altered book.   I'll have plenty more for future use, too.  You get this at your local big box hardware store, your local building supply store, or online.  I would NEVER order it online unless shipping was free, because this weighs a ton and it's about 1/2 used. 

For those of you unfamiliar with red rosin paper, it is used in a wide variety of construction applications, including roofing, flooring, and as a protective covering at work sites. When used on walls, it acts as a separation barrier, protecting against wind and dust entering the home, while minimizing squeaks on floors and stairs.

My friend Sally often gives me weird and totally UNUSEFUL gifts.  But, one gift she gave me many years ago are these electric scissors.  They make cutting the length of red rosin paper faster than I can take a photo of them.  

I never measure but cut what I think I will need.

This time I got the paper a bit short, but if it covers the table, that's all I care about.  That's when I realized I should NOT have cut this paper yet.

Instead, it was time to decorate the old paper that set on my desk for longer than it should have.  Of course, I STILL can't stamp, even though I have a stamping aid gifted me by a dear friend.

Next, it was time to measure the gift I wanted to wrap, and cut the red rosin paper to "size."  Size is a relative term, since I hurriedly eyeballed the amount I would need in the cold of the craft room.

Then it was time to decorate the rest of the paper, or at least enough that would cover

more gifts.  Note my heater is running full blast, and I still can't stamp, although I think the ink in the pad is nearly gone.  That's my excuse, anyway.

Now it was time to place everything back on the table, including the newly cut red rosin paper.  Had I created a proper tutorial, I would have worked through it in my head that I needed to decorate and cut the old rosin paper before cutting the new.

It took even longer to place items back on the table, and I didn't have time or bother to straighten my messy catch all that Wendy is photobombing.

Once I placed my ugly mat back on the table, it made the table look bad again.  BTW, while teaching my altered book class several years ago, I laid the mat on my guillotine cutter, then proceeded to cut some paper, as well as accidentally cutting the mat.

This is what you normally see when I create a tutorial.

I normally never show this side of my table, although you often see the many glue options I have sitting nearby.

But now it was time to assemble the packages so I could add the gifts.  Although I never sit to create art, I always sit to sew.  I can't figure out how others can stand and sew anything.  It boggles my mind.

All finished and all designated and labeled, too.  It's obvious, these are going with me to Scott's family in the morning.  Of course, it's a bit hard to tell the packages from the table

so maybe this is a better view.

Thanks for joining me for this faux tutorial that just might give you some last minute ideas if you have one or two final gifts to wrap and there are no more gift bags or wrapping paper in the house.