Secret Santa Fail - Excellent Wrapping Paper Needed

December 14, 2016 8:36 AM

The super awesome Twin Peaks wrapping paper I ordered isn't here in time for my Secret Santa shipping deadline. Help me find really great and unique wrapping paper I can buy in person today in the San Francisco Bay Area.

My employer has a very involved Secret Santa tradition, including elaborate/themed wrapping that fits the personality of the recipient. The Twin Peaks (tv show, not the place in SF) wrapping paper I ordered still isn't here but I have to ship this today. Where in San Francisco (or nearby) can I pick up out-of-the-ordinary wrapping paper, today? My FedEx deadline is 8 PM tonight.

Is this even a thing I can find IRL, or just the realm of Etsy?

I'm interested at this point in basically anything that would appeal to a person in their late 20s/early 30s. Details on the person, in case I have the ability to be choosy: she's into nostalgic 80s or 90s movies or TV. She's a badass lady, generally nerdy, likes comic books, and big fan of comedy. Likes the Pacific Northwest.

Themes that would generally go over well, even though not specific to her: wrapping paper with adorable animals like baby goats. Something meme related. Something related to the cloud or technology could work.

Anything arts related - performing arts or visual - is also appropriate. I'm going to give SFMOMA's gift shop a call and see if they have Warhol wrapping paper or something like that...this might be my backup plan.

Themes/styles that generally appeal to a hipster/Etsy aesthetic would be a good fit, but I'm not sure where I'd buy that in person.

I'm bummed Little Otsu isn't on Valencia anymore, I feel like they would have helped on this quest.

(Conversely, if you have generally clever wrapping ideas that fit the interests above and don't involve just buying gift wrap, I'm open to that. I'm just not super crafty and have little time to acquire supplies.)

San Francisco stores preferred, though I'm willing to BART elsewhere if it's especially awesome.

posted by soleiluna to Shopping (22 answers total)

What about using a map of the PNW?
posted by carmicha at 8:50 AM on December 14, 2016 [3 favorites]

It depends on how big the gift is, of course, but if it's small enough you could buy a single issue of a comic book and wrap the gift in the pages? If you've got time and tape, you could even go to the supermarket and use the pages of a Betty and Veronica double-digest.
posted by AmandaA at 8:52 AM on December 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

I don't have SF specific ideas, but if it were me I would find and print images, then use packing tape to decorate with them on a plain wrapped package. Some fun ones (that would be easy enough to cut out) here and here. Another very simple Twin Peaks send up would be something like this design, which will immediately read as Twin Peaks but you could execute with some plain red wrapping paper, a white band and a sharpie.
posted by LKWorking at 9:00 AM on December 14, 2016

Can you wrap the gift in a bunch of plastic wrap?
posted by phunniemee at 9:04 AM on December 14, 2016 [5 favorites]

Hit up your local book shop/stationary store/card shop - should have some usual gift wrap!
posted by nuclear_soup at 9:09 AM on December 14, 2016

How large of a sheet do you need? Any chance you could work up a design in Photoshop or a graphic program and have a kinkos/staples print you an oversized sheet?
posted by 26.2 at 9:13 AM on December 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

Have you looked at Papyrus? They have some very cool single sheet wrapping paper. Or is that too run of the mill?
posted by janey47 at 9:15 AM on December 14, 2016

Response by poster: Good ideas so far! In terms of gift size - it's nothing too big. There's a box approximately half the size of one of those department store gift boxes for shirts, a bag of coffee, several pins, and a card.

Re: local bookstore/stationary store - my go-to shop closed :( I'm open to suggestions of specific ones that people know have good wrapping supplies.
posted by soleiluna at 9:16 AM on December 14, 2016

Target has foil octopus wrapping paper!
posted by jillithd at 9:20 AM on December 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

To riff on phunniemee's idea, you could print out a "Laura Palmer wrapped in plastic" image and put it between the layers of plastic wrap. As a TP fan, I would find this really clever.
posted by LKWorking at 9:51 AM on December 14, 2016 [4 favorites]

You could wrap the gift up to look like a log--tie a bow on it and put something about the Log Lady on it. You might even find paper in a scrapbooking store that has wood patterns on it.

The Laura Palmer wrapped in plastic is clever but kind of morbid!

Another idea: wrap it in plain blue paper like the color of the diner uniforms, a white bow and add a gift tag that you make by printing out an image of an iconic piece of pie. (Glue the image onto card stock if you can find some and maybe even cut it out for extra fanciness?

Another idea: wrap into in anything woodsy and make a gift card that looks like a flannel shirt. Maybe also print an image of the waterfall from Twin Peaks and paste that on too.

I don't know SF stores, but in general I would try Paper Source, but otherwise Target might have something good too.
posted by purple_bird at 10:06 AM on December 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

the art store by my house in rwc has many awesome designs of single sheet wrapping paper. maybe check dick blick on market or flax in cow hollow?
posted by koroshiya at 10:08 AM on December 14, 2016

Daiso in Japantown usually has some fun wrapping paper and gift box options. I would also check the Japanese bookstore and paper supply store on the second floor.
posted by Wavelet at 10:27 AM on December 14, 2016

ARCH Drafting has excellent interesting wrapping paper-- they are about a 30 minute walk from 16th St/Mission BART. Green Apple on Clement St may have wrapping paper this time of year. Aaron Brothers in the same neighborhood will have some decorative paper and some generic Christmas paper this time of year.

Blick's, now on Market St, will have decorative paper and/or wrapping paper. Flax on Market (and their paper room) is gone, but they will have something at the new Fort Mason Center location, or at the Oakland store. The Magazine on Larkin off of Geary will have more paper ephemera type of stuff, but may have some interesting old posters, newspapers etc you could use (though they will probably be too expensive and interesting for what you are doing.) Rainbow Grocery at 12th and Fulton will also have wrapping paper in the gifts and sundries area.

Daiso/Ichiban Kan are excellent suggestions, and Kinokuniya has wrapping paper in the gift section of the store.
posted by blnkfrnk at 10:51 AM on December 14, 2016

Options: the card shop in the Castro that used to be next to Tower Records (now CVS) if it's still anywhere, Scribbledoodles at 24th/Noe in Noe Valley has fancy paper with some interesting and possibly-thematically-satisfying patterns, and the stationery store across from Kinokuniya Bookstore in the Japantown Mall.
posted by rhizome at 11:49 AM on December 14, 2016

Oh! You could try Cliff's Hardware on Castro (just after the movie theater) too. The gift/craft side or the hardware side might have interesting wrapping paper. And failing that, they have fabric by the yard.
posted by blnkfrnk at 11:54 AM on December 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

FLAX has been my go-to for wrapping paper and art papers. They always have interesting and beautiful papers that can't be found elsewhere.
posted by quince at 12:14 PM on December 14, 2016 [2 favorites]

I fell in love with this seal and walrus with Christmas hats paper yesterday, but if narwhals are more your speed that's an option too. There are a few Paper Sources in SF where you could pick it up in person, including one in Union Square.
posted by asphericalcow at 2:16 PM on December 14, 2016

Maido in Japantown has lots of really beautiful paper--more expensive than Daiso, but prettier and sturdier (that's the one across from Kinokuniya that rhizome mentioned). There's also Wishbone, which is one of those stores with cute/weird/hip stuff. They might have something.
posted by wintersweet at 2:52 PM on December 14, 2016

If you're in Japantown during banker's hours, downstairs at Soko Hardware might have some options.
posted by rhizome at 3:56 PM on December 14, 2016

For around $15-20 you should be able to get a large nautical chart of Puget Sound or Inside Passage/Georgia Strait at your local nautical supply shop. NOAA 18440 is the bog-standard chart for whole-Puget Sound. A quick google indicates about a dozen shops in SF/Oakland that probably sell charts. Call and ask if they sell charts, and if so, do they have 18440. Maybe 18400: North Sound, San Juans, Juan de Fuca, and Vancouver I.

I was going to suggest Japanese wrapping paper as well; they have different-enough wrapping traditions, both in paper style and method that it's a novel thing to see in the States for most people.
posted by Sunburnt at 7:45 PM on December 14, 2016

Seconding FLAX.
posted by bendy at 9:15 PM on December 14, 2016