As I’d suggested earlier, the first layer of a gift may be the packaging of it. In fact, creative gift packaging itself may be in more than one layer, adding to the pleasure and meaning of the gift. The "sheath" of an offering leads up to the "inner gift" - like the red carpet rolled out for royalty... It adds to the demonstration of honor that a gift implies in the first place.

In fact, the outer layer of a gift may be utterly intangible... a gift may truly "begin" with suspense! We’ve all experienced the heightening of interest that anticipation of a gift can bring. To me, wrapping seems like an instinctive means of expanding the impact of the thing given.

The outer layer can also be a lasting part of the gift - as with a useful container "wrapper".

Taking care with, or being creative with, a gift’s packaging means something. How this is done means something, gives something, else.

Here are some principles that can be applied to packaging a gift with meaning...