I did not initially like this paper very much.

It was dull (literally, rather matte, but not matte enough to be cool), with boring colours—I mean, grey for holidays? I was so unenthused I put two gifts together just so I would only have to do one decoration.

2 gifts in white wrapping paper with touches of green, grey and black; white sateen bow; green curling ribbon shreds; black and white striped string; black beads25dec23, sony ILCE-7C, sony 90mm macro, f/2.8, ev -0.3 ,1/500s, ISO 100, WB: cloudy; darkened slightly & cropped in gimp

But as is so often the case, the fault lay with the artist, not the tools (or materials). By the time I decorated the second gift, below, about a week later, I'd discovered the black shreds with silver accents. Ah-ha! Now I had a visually interesting filler (though it's a bit difficult to see in the photo.)

White wrapping paper with touches of green, grey and black; mylar bow; stretchy silver garlanding; twisted black and white string; black and silver shreds; green silk leaf; hot glue. 01jan24; sony ILCE-7C, sony 90mm macro, f/2.8, ev -0.3 ,1/100s, ISO 100, WB: cloudy; lightened slightly, cropped & scaled in gimp

Much better. The real problem is not the paper, it's that I have so relatively few black decorating materials—no curling ribbon, frex, which is my go-to for the ‘fill’. Truly, any colour can be beautiful, under the right circs.

Also, one of my 2024 resolutions clearly needs to be ‘Tidy and Organize the giftwrap area’.

Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.