Festive Giftwrapping fundraiser

Automatically generated from the audio, so it may not be perfectly word-for-word.

Hi, welcome to the PTA podcast. My name is Yvonne, and I've been a PTA volunteer for a few years now. But I'm just one of thousands of volunteers up and down the country who all want to make a difference to their schools. PTAs are becoming even more crucial in UK schools to boost budget, and I find it fascinating to talk to other volunteers about the different approaches they take. So please join me in this podcast to share information, generate ideas, debate issues, and celebrate success. And I hope that you can take something away for your PTA today. Hello and welcome to episode 20 of the PTA Podcast. How are you getting on with term one so far? Have you had your AGM yet? Mine is firmly on the horizon and drawing ever closer. So I will update you on that next time, depending what happens. I did talk last time about a little fundraiser that we were organizing just to kind of kick off the new school term. So if you remember, my one of my team managed to find a squishmallow toy in the summertime for only £9. So we purchased that and decided to sell names for the squishmallow at a pound a name, and I think we uh put together a list of 60 names, I think it was in the end, and we completely sold out. In fact, it was much more popular than we had expected, and I think we could easily have stretched to 70 or 80 names on that list. Um we did run a name the squish mallow toy at a Christmas fair last year, and uh we sort of had I think we had 60 names again and we struggled to sell them all. We did sell them all in the end, but we did have to really push it. Um so I think that's why we weren't expecting it to be as popular this time, but perhaps it was because um the previous name The Squishmallow Toy had been at a fair with lots of other stores and lots of other things to do, and this was just a standalone event. So we kind of we sort of thought that that could be the reason that it was so popular this time. Um so what we did is we is we sold um names in advance in the playground just at um pickup time. Um we gave the option for people to pay by cash but also to transfer money directly into our bank account, which we have done for a couple of other fundraisers, and that is quite successful. Although you do have to make sure obviously people have paid before you um allocate the names, um, which involves you know um somebody taking the time to check every day that that's happened. Um, and then we ran just a little after school event where we asked for cake donations. Um, we put out our uh secondhand uniform for our first secondhand uniform sale of the year. We happened to have some books left over from a previous event that somebody had very kindly stored in a box in their garage, so we just threw those out on a table as well. I think we've sold the books for like 50p each or something just to try and get rid of them, and we uh made a nice profit. So we made um 60 pounds on the Squish and Mallow names because we sold them all. We took about £60 on the cakes, we sold about um £20 of the second hand uniform, which was really good, and one of our highest um uh secondhand uniform sales actually. We keep our prices really simple, just a pound for uh well, it's two pounds for an item with a logo on, and one pound for everything else, so we just keep it really simple. So that was great, and then we did sell a few books and made £6.50 on the books. So in total, we made £160 from that very short, very simple event, which is a great start to the year. So we don't have any other plans at the moment in the pipeline because we're waiting for the ADM, and as you know, um our leadership of the of my PTA is kind of up in the air a little bit at the moment because I'm trying to step away from being the chair, but there currently isn't anyone who's try who's wanting to step up to be the chair. So we haven't been able to put any uh plans in place for that right now. Uh but I know some of you are probably already planning your Christmas fundraisers. Uh-huh. So I thought this would be a great time to share a bit of a different idea with you for a festive fundraiser. My friend Eve has recently set up her own business called Gift Wrapped by Eve, and she's on a mission to help people make more eco-friendly choices with their gift wrapping. But she's also encouraging people to try and be more creative with their gifts and to really enjoy the process of wrapping a gift and giving it to someone. So I uh had a little chat with her which I recorded for you to listen to, and we're going to talk about how you could potentially run a gift wrapping evening as a fundraiser for your PTA. Um, and also just in general, how you can make greener choices for any gift wrapping you do as a PTA or just on your own. So let's dive straight in. Hi Eve and welcome to the PTA podcast. Hello, thanks for having me. Would you like to tell my listeners a little bit about yourself?

Thank you. Um my name's Eve, and um I've known Yvonne for quite a few years. It's it's um it's brilliant to be able to be on on the podcast with you. Um so um I um enjoy listening to Yvonne's podcast because I have been a member of PTA over the years. I've got two children, um uh both have been through primary school, one is still at primary school, so PTAs and all the events and things that happen as part of that has been uh part of my life for a long, quite a long time now. Um so um I um run a small business from home and um alongside looking after my children, and I think as a a lot of listeners might um appreciate that it's juggling all of these things around um children's children's responsibilities means that I'm I've had to look for uh something uh different to do workwise, and uh and that's really why um why I'm here to talk about how my business might be able to help the your PTA potentially.

That's great, thank you. So, how old are your children at the moment?

Um, so I've got um a nine-year-old and a 12-year-old.

Okay, so one's at secondary and one's still at primary. Yes. Yes, yeah. And you said that you used to be um part of your school's PTA. So could you tell me a bit about what you were involved with? Did you have a specific role or were you part of the general team?

Yeah, I was part of the general team for um a couple of years. So um I guess I was a support, a supporting artist.

Oh, I love that term, that's fantastic.

Um, so I was somebody who uh kind of got things done. I I I I love um getting involved in um events and and uh that kind of thing. And um I'm always um I I guess I enjoy organising things, but I was never sort of um somebody who's in charge, but I was uh somebody who was quite happy to get on with um supporting different events and um even though I'm not on the PTA itself um now I've I'm always sort of willing to put my hand up and and help out wherever I can because I know that these things don't happen without um people to actually do the things on the day.

Yeah, no, that's right. I think having a a group of people who are willing to just turn up on the day and and help out is crucial actually. It's it's sort of like the secondary team to the sort of main planning team. So I think that's just as valuable as actually doing the planning. And so nice that you were on the committee and you've stepped off and you still want to help out, because obviously you know what it's like from the inside and how hard it is to get volunteers. So you know, you haven't completely stepped away, you're still kind of there for support if they need it.

Yeah, absolutely. And um, whenever I spot something that I think might be useful um as a fundraising idea, um especially if it's something that seems like it's um a sort of no-brainer, then I was I always share it with um with the with the committee and I share them with you sometimes.

I love it when people come come with ideas, it's it's fantastic because I don't have to think of them all the time. Yeah. It really helps. So did you do you remember any specific fundraisers that you helped with that that went quite well or that you particularly enjoyed?

Um I think I helped um I I've helped quite a few times on um at the school fate.

Okay.

Um, like helping on at on stalls and um on the day and and getting things set up and organised. Um I think I've also helped with getting raffle prizes, um, contacting um, you know, local businesses, uh, which is you know it's quite a time-consuming admin um uh you know thing to do. And so I yeah, I was definitely somebody who got involved with with doing that, helped on the film night.

Oh wow.

Um yeah, I mean, if if if I'm around, I will always put my hand up and say I'll come and help.

Oh, that's great. That's great to know there's other people like that in the world. So uh so you've moved on from the PTA a little bit, and I know you've um started a new venture. So would you like to tell us about what that is and what you actually do?

Thank you. Um my uh business that I run from home is called Gift Wrapped by Eve. Um it's evolved over the years. Um, originally, um, when my children were very small, I was working with um uh a network marketing company um and the products that I sold were predominantly greetings cards, but also some other paper products like GIF Wrap. And I noticed that actually if I showed people how to use um the gift wrapping products, I was able to show um how the quality of them and people um maybe could listen to the tips and and that I was uh sharing with them. So I I went on a gift wrapping course myself. Oh really? Wow. And um because I've always been somebody who loves wrapping gifts and um you know sending people cards and and presents and things. So I I went on it just because I, you know, wanted to learn something for myself and just to really enjoy it. But I realised that actually speaking to the people around the table who were there, a lot of them had um uh businesses um gift wrapping related, and I thought, well, actually, the thing that I'm doing at the moment, this would work alongside. So I started running uh gift wrapping workshops for groups like um the WI, for example, um, and going along showing them how to um do some simple gift wrapping techniques, um, particularly with a sort of eco-friendly um uh focus in mind.

Yeah.

So I started doing that um alongside what what I was uh retailing, um, so for quite that was 2018 I started doing that. Um, and um then since last year, actually the company I was working with closed and I decided to just focus in on gift wrapping. So yeah, gift wrapped by Eve, my independent sort of venture is was born. Um so now I'm focusing on doing um workshops in person but also helping people to learn online as well.

Yeah, and I've actually taken part in one of your online courses, and you you also run a really lovely um gift wrapping challenge at Christmas time, don't you? Do you want to mention that?

Oh, thank you. Yes, so this is um uh a little challenge just with a small task each day to get you to help um start thinking about how you're going to do your wrapping for Christmas and also how you might be a bit greener with the way that you wrap your gifts. Um so yeah, I've been running it for about uh three years now, and it's been great helping people and seeing um some how some relatively simple tips and ideas can actually change the way people think about their wrapping. Not everybody looks forward to wrapping like me. I love it, but I know not everybody feels like that, especially at Christmas. So yeah, that's where the challenge sort of idea came from. And yeah, I'll be running it again this year, so in the autumn.

Yeah, and I have to admit that often uh gift wrapping for me, especially especially if it's for children's party or something, is probably the very last thing that I do, and I just go out and just buy the closest uh non-gender specific wrapping paper that I can find and sort of throw it together. But it was really nice actually taking part in your challenge um last year just to sort of try and put a little bit more thought into it and be a bit more conscious about what I was doing. And I realised that it was a little bit of when you do gift wrapping, um I realised it was a little bit, a little sort of section of creativity that you could squeeze into your day, which was quite nice actually. So uh following on from your challenge, I have tried to be a bit more creative and a bit more or do you know, try and try and enjoy the process of gift wrapping a bit more, which has been a lot better actually for me. So uh yeah, so thank you so much.

Oh, that's great to hear that. Because I think one of the things is when we're giving gifts, we're trying to, you know, we've chosen the gift, we've spent time probably on thinking about something that people would like, and then um, and you want to try and give them bring them a bit of joy. So actually, if the last thing you do before you hand over is feels a bit stressful, actually you kind of want to flip that around and and in like you say, enjoy the process. Um, and I try and share things that are not too complicated so that you can enjoy it and um and replicate the ideas so that they don't feel stressful.

Yes, no, I think you've you've definitely set the right tone, and I and the things that you've shown um that I've seen on your Facebook page and on the course and are definitely achievable by somebody who has not really got any gift, you know, not really an expert in gift wrapping. So uh no, I think it's it's very good. And the way you demonstrate things as well is is very well filmed. It's very easy to see how you've how you've actually put things together. Thank you. So um the reason I'm interested in your uh lovely business is from a PTA point of view is that I thought a gift wrapping evening or workshop would make a really good PTA fundraiser, um, maybe to hold just for parents in an evening or during the day. Um and we've talked about this before, haven't we? Now we haven't actually run this as a fundraiser, I'd just like to say. Um, but I thought it would be really interesting just to talk through how it could work in practice if somebody was interested in holding an event like that. So, do you have any thoughts on how it might work if you're running it as a fundraiser?

Yeah, I do. I think it's um it's a nice social event actually, because sometimes it's twofold, isn't it, with fun with PTA events that you want something that is going to be um a good sort of money maker for your group, but also you want something that's going to be sociable and attract people to want to come along. Um and it's sometimes nice to have something that is just parent-focused, yeah, not just for the children. So, yeah, that's why um a sort of perhaps a gift wrapping evening could work. Um, of course, I do fundraising with other groups already. So the WI groups I go to, um they do um uh they they are sort of a fundraiser as well, so they'll they will um they will pay for the workshop, but they will get 10% of of the any of the sales from my little pop-up shop on the day. Okay, then they will get that as a donation. So um so that is one way that you can um fundraise. Um but for a sort of put-on event, um there, you know, we could do um something that's a sort of ticketed price so that they the parents would pay just for a ticketed price and I would do everything kind of behind the scenes. I would come along and and and do the do the workshop and all the materials would be provided as well.

Oh, okay. So that's included in the ticket price.

Yeah, that's right, yeah. So that would um that we could um work out a way for your PTA to make a a certain amount per per ticket, yeah. So that the material um costs were covered, but then um your PTA could um you know make a sizeable amount depending on the size obviously of your school hall, because we would do it in the school hall probably, um, and um you know how many people would want to come.

Yeah.

Um, but it it it potentially it could be a really lovely sociable evening as well as um uh an easy way for you to fundraise because I would do the work for you. Yes, that's right. All you need to do is invite the people.

Yeah. So I was um when I was thinking about it last year, um I I kind of thought it would be quite a good alternative to a um a wreath making evening. Because obviously a lot of people do most of their gift wrapping for Christmas, don't they? Um and there's been a lot of wreath making evenings and I thought it would make a nice alternative. Um and the way I kind of thought it might work at my school is to set out some tables in the hall so that maybe people could kind of gather round the tables. So um and would they do you run it so that you demonstrate something and then people sort of do copy you as you go along, or do you demonstrate it and then they try afterwards? How does it actually work?

Usually what I do is I do a sort of short talk, um about uh 20 minutes, where I sort of talk through um uh greener gift wrapping and then I demonstrate usually um how to wrap a bottle with tissue paper, um how to make a paper flower that uh you can use to decorate your gifts, and then how to make a gift bag, which is my my favourite thing to demonstrate because gift bags are something that we all like to use. Yeah. Um because they're really easy uh to go and just buy a gift bag, but actually if you can make your own, um you can save money and you can make it, you know, um make it to the size you need, um saving on paper, saving saving money, and also uh better for the environment as well.

Yeah, and so would you need to source uh quite thick gift wrap paper for a pa for a bag?

Yeah, so you can in theory you could use um you can actually make giant um bags with um roll wrap, so sort of craft roll wrap, that sort of thing, which is not that thick. Um but uh the paper that I use that's um that that comes in flat sheets is a little thicker than I would say average paper.

Right.

So um it is better with slightly thicker paper because depending on the weight of the items that you're gonna put inside, if you use very thin paper, um it it would tear. Yeah. So this is one of those things where actually choosing a quality product um is in the long term will probably be bet better because you'll be able to reuse the gift bag that you make.

That's very true, yeah. Excellent. So you're saying that you would demonstrate a couple of things. Yes. Um and have you ever asked people who attend your workshops to bring something that they wanted to wrap, or do they do do they actually wrap something at the workshop?

So what I tend to do is um obviously with the bottle wrapping, I tend to ask them to bring a bottle with them. Right. So usually a wine bottle, but the same technique can be used for candle or um uh a cosmetic bottle or something like that.

So anything that shape, that's a cylindrical shape.

Yes, um, although usually we do it with um lots of bottles of wine. Sometimes people come with different shaped bottles, which is always I like a little bit of a challenge. Um, so you know, uh sort of square shaped bottles and things. The same technique works, but you have to just alter it slightly. Um but that's always it's always nice to be challenged a little bit. Yeah, um yeah. So a gift bag actually is great for most awkward-shaped gifts. So if you can master the technique, you can literally wrap anything quite quickly.

That's really good.

So do your gift bags have little handles on the top as well? You can do them. Um, I mean I've got an example here. Obviously, the listeners can't see. No, but I can see it. Yeah, lovely. You can just you you can just fold over the top or add a decoration, but you can also make handles, um uh, or there are other fancy ways of uh tying the top with different folds and things. Um but the basic one you literally just fold over the top and um and it yeah, it works really well. So you can make you can if um I know you wanted to ask me a bit about um how PTAs um doing um if PTAs are doing lots of wrapping, yeah. Um this is one of the techniques that um works really well because you can make a little production line of of gift bags and um make them in advance even so that you can then wrap the gifts quite quickly.

Yes, yeah, that's a great idea and they'd all look so lovely because they'd all be about the same size. So sort of stacked up on a table, they'd have quite a big impact, wouldn't they? Yes. Um and I know that some PTAs run um little gift shops where children can go in and choose a gift for their parents or Or loved one at Christmas time or for Mother's Day or Father's Day. And perhaps it would be nice to give them an empty gift bag and then they could put their gifts in, so they feel like they've been part of the wrapping process in a way. Yeah, absolutely.

And if you did uh choose to to make them, you could make them with different designs. So they had some choice over the design they chose, so they would feel like they'd made the selection themselves. Um, although I would say that actually older children probably would be able to make these.

Oh okay.

Um you know, it's it's a few folds and um a little bit of tape, it's it's not too tricky. Um so yeah, for older children, perhaps in yeah five, six, um they might be able to do it themselves.

And what about the lovely um tissue paper flower that you've got on that one? Are they quite straightforward to make?

Um yeah, again, they're it's a quite a simple technique. Um they um uh but basically you use um the little rectangles of tissue paper, it's great for using off cuts of paper um and just a little bit of ribbon or or twine for the centre. It's yeah, as long as you can um uh use a pair of scissors, it's a great craft to do with children as well. And they um they're good for party decorations too.

Yeah, yes, that's that's a that's a really good point, actually. So you could use these gift bags for um end-of-party party bags, couldn't you, as an alternative to the little plastic ones that you can buy? Yeah, absolutely. Um and then choose your gift wrap to suit the theme of your party if uh if you're running a party like that. Yeah, that's great. So um is there anything else that you would do out of gift wrapping demonstration events? You said you would start off with a a sort of introductory talk and then we'd do some demonstrating, people would have a go. Do you kind of walk around and help people if they get stuck?

Absolutely, that's what I'm there for. So people tend to, after about 20 minutes or so, they want to get stuck in themselves. Yeah. So then um I yeah, tend to walk around and and help. Some people get it straight away, some people want a little bit of extra help, and and that's what I'm there for. So um yeah, it's uh it's always a really um fun evening, and I love meeting different people, getting their views on on wrapping and and and um what they what they like and don't like, and it's always really interesting to hear.

Yeah. And so because you have quite a hands-on approach at the event, do you have a feeling for how many people it it's good to have from from the other events that you've done?

Yeah, I think probably um uh 20 to 25 is a is a good good number, um, and also probably a reasonable number for a for a PTA to expect to with uh ticket sales wise. I think larger than that, um, and then it gets quite tricky to be able to help people uh on you know, just with just me.

Yeah.

Um but that normally works quite nicely and it's a nice, a nice uh group size.

It is, yeah. And what and as you've already mentioned, it's it would be quite a nice sociable evening, wouldn't it, with everybody having a go and talking about the gift wrapping. Um, because part of a PTA's function, I think, is as well as the fundraising is to bring the school community together. So it's a really nice, sort of different way of of doing that. And I love practical events like that because if you're a new parent and you don't know many other people, you can always talk about the thing that you're doing, can't you? So there's always something to say. Yes, that's a good point. Yeah. And I think if we were running it at my school, I'd probably make sure we had some refreshments that people could buy and maybe I don't know, you can always stick a raffle into any event, I think. So probably stick some sort of raffle in there at some point.

Absolutely. And we could even run a raffle um that was, you know, to win some other gift wrapping gift wrapping supplies, maybe for me, or or perhaps a place on my online course, because that is something that anybody uh sort of my online one of my classes or something like that, because that's something that anybody could dip into. Yes, that's right.

It's not local, specifically local to where you are, it's anyone, isn't it? Exactly. So yeah, raffle always always a good idea. Always a good idea, yeah. And I know that you've also organised um a gift wrapping event with an afternoon tea in a local cafe. So is does that take the same format as the thing we just talked about?

Yeah, it is similar actually, yeah. So um it's a ticketed event, um, it covers all the materials, but also covers the cost of an afternoon tea. Oh lovely. Not not made by me, yeah. Made by somebody else. I'll focus on the gift wrapping somebody else will be making the delicious cake. Um, and that uh again is sort of around 20 um 20 maximum. Yeah. Um and then the pop-up shops there as well. Right, okay. Yeah, that could be an alternative um you and uh a way that your if your PTA could provide um the afternoon tea, then that could be a different way of doing something that was not um an evening event.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And maybe something nice on a weekend or something for people to go to. So it's not during school time. Yeah. Um okay, so you already touched on the fact that you um are trying to make um the gift wrapping greener that that you're working on. So I just wondered if you had any uh tips that you could share on how to sort of change your current gift wrapping into something a bit greener. So what would you advise people to do?

So with your own personal gift wrapping, um, if you're not doing um uh a you know a bulk amount, um then I would always uh start by looking at what you could reuse and uh repurpose.

Okay.

So look at the materials you've already got, perhaps the perhaps some wrapping paper that you've um been given a gift in. Could you reuse or repurpose it? Could you um with when it comes to ribbon and and things like that? I've got a little box where I've scribbled away ribbon that people have given me and I try and reuse um wherever possible. But when you're um looking for materials, then look for paper that has either got the FSC logo on, which is forest stewardship council, um, or look for recycled options. Um so some paper is actually made from completely recycled materials. Um look for things like um uh sort of um plain or matte paper that doesn't have embellishments or coatings on it, and the same with um tape as well. Look at um how you're fixing things together and and go for the plastic-free options.

Oh, plastic-free cell tape. All right, so that can be that I guess that just degrades then, does it?

Um yeah, it's usually made from something plant-based. Um ideally, you take off the tape before you recycle your paper because sometimes in the recycling process, if it looks like it's got tape on, even if it's recycled, um, it can um stop the recycling process. So ideally use less tape. Yeah, use so use some of the techniques that I show you, and you'll use less tape anyway, so it's less to remove. Yeah. Um, but also there are lots of compostable options like paper tape now, um, and lots of lovely designs and colours even. Um so you don't it doesn't have to be boring to be um eco-friendly.

That's a very good point. So if you are a PTA and you have a Christmas shop or a Mother's Day shop or something, and you are wrapping in bulk, what do you think would be the best things to change or the easiest things to change that that wouldn't add too much to the cost of the wrapping?

I mean, you can buy um craft paper now. So what you would call the sort of traditional brown paper, you can actually buy lots of coloured versions of that. So coloured craft paper is nice and bright and vibrant, um, it's eco-friendly, it's um pretty inexpensive as well. If you buy if you're buying in bulk, you can buy big rolls. Um and um you can add um your own embellishments. You can use stamps, you can um you can use um coloured ribbon or coloured twine um and s still make your presents look good um in a cost-effective way without having to kind of go to the the pound shops on the Humble High Street, which I know are so tempting but um are not always the best um eco-friendly wise. Or having said that, the high street has got a lot, lot better. Yes, it has, yeah. You know, providing eco-friendly options.

Yeah, and even the packaging now for wrapping paper, they're not being covered in the cellophane so much, are they? It's more like cardboard and or sort of held together with stickers or something. One roll I bought, yeah.

Sometimes they provide a little bit extra paper.

Um that when you rip off the seal, you're not wasting your wrapping paper. Yeah, actually, that's right. And actually if you were um wrapping with the brown craft paper or just a plain paper and and it was an event where the children had chosen presents for other people, you could then actually have that as part of the experience that they would, I don't know, stick some stickers on or draw something on their bag to personalise it and decorate it for their for the person they bought the present for. So that's kind of an extra thing that the children could take part in if they wanted to, isn't it? Because I at home I've got a whole um uh envelope of stickers that have, you know, when you buy those sticker books and your child never quite completes the stickers, and I can't bear to throw the stickers away. So I've got this really random collection of like farm stickers, train stickers, tractor stickers, all sorts of things, like faces that you can make with different eyes and mouths and things. And every so often we get them out and just do some sticking random pictures, but um, you know, if anyone's got leftover craft things, that's a great way to use up those bits and pieces, isn't it? Yeah, sounds good. Well, that's so great. Well, Eve, thank you so much for coming to talk to me about your business and all of your gift wrapping ideas. I think a gift wrapping evening or a an afternoon workshop for parents would make such a great fundraiser for PTA and it's something very different to do and very hands-on and practical and and creative as well. So thank you for sharing all your ideas. Can you just remind my listeners where they can find you online if they want to find out more about your business?

Oh, thank you so much for having me here. I've really enjoyed the conversation. And isn't it interesting how when you just talk to somebody else about um what you think you you you you know all about? Actually, lots of different ideas are generated. It's been brilliant. Um so people can uh find me on Instagram and on Facebook um at GiftwrappedByEve. Um, and my website is giftwrappedbyeve.com. So come and find me and you can um download a free tutorial of how to make a gift bag and that'll help you get started.

Oh, that's lovely. And um I was going to ask if it's okay if I take a photo of your gift bag that you brought and put it on my um web page as well and my Facebook page so that people can see what we were actually talking about.

Absolutely, and this is the free tutorial that people can download is how to make this exact one.

Oh, perfect, excellent. Great, well, thank you so much, Eve. It's been great to talk to you. Thank you. I absolutely loved chatting to Eve all about trying to make your gift wrapping greener, and it sounds like there's quite a lot of easy changes that you could make. I think I'm definitely going to try um the paper tape that she was talking about, which is something that's quite new to me. Uh, and also maybe try and get the children to help me use up though that massive bag of stickers that I've got and try and get creative with some uh plain wrapping paper somewhere along the line. Have any of you been tempted to have a go at a gift wrapping evening as a fundraiser? I would love to give it a go, and I think it would be a fantastic social event too. I can definitely envisage a group of parents getting to know each other better whilst making a gift bag or learning how to wrap a bottle. I can kind of just see our school hall buzzing with chatting about how it's going and which bit do you put here and pass the seller tape and that sort of thing. Um, the bottle technique, in fact, is actually fantastic. I have tried that myself and it looks very impressive when you finish. It's really easy to do, and it really does make a bottle look more exciting than just putting it in a bottle bag, which is what I would normally do. So I would highly recommend having a go at the uh bottle wrapping technique with the tissue paper. So if you want to find out more, anyone is welcome to join Eve's Facebook group. It's called Gift Wrapped by Eve, and there are loads of helpful tips and videos on there to help you. She does post on there quite regularly, so it kind of keeps gift wrapping at the forefront of your mind, which I find really helpful. And Eve has also written a blog post on her website which is giftwrapped by Eve, all one word.com. I'll put the link in the notes of this episode so you know where to find her. And she has actually written us a specific blog post with some ideas about how to use gift wrapping in your PTA if you want some more information. But obviously, not many of you probably have a gift wrapping guru uh living close by you like I do. Um, and so I thought a way round that would be if maybe a couple of you, as members of your PTA, learned some of Eve's techniques, then you would be able to demonstrate those if you did organise a festive gift wrap evening, for example. And Eve has a free challenge coming up in November for one week, it's from the 4th to the 8th of November, and you can join in this gift wrapping challenge free of charge on her Facebook group, and um you can learn some of the techniques in there, and then she is actually having a um a Christmas wrapping boot camp, which is um going to happen after that. So, if you are interested in learning some of the techniques, then do um get in touch with Eve and she can tell you more about it. I really hope you enjoyed my chat with Eve. I thought it was something a bit different and hopefully you might consider running something similar. Eve and I would love to hear about your experiences if you do give it a go. So do let us know. Maybe you've um changed some of your gift wrapping habits just for yourself, or maybe you've tried to change something about the way that your PTA gift gift gift wrapped things for your children. So do let us know. Drop me an email using hello at ptapodcast.com. I would love to hear about your experiences. Um that's it for this episode. Good luck with whatever your PTA is working on right now, and I'll chat to you next time. Bye for now.