When you’re in the throes of the holiday rush, buying gifts can feel like a practical task — so much so that you forget that gift-giving is ultimately a symbolic ritual, meant to express appreciation ...

For most of my life, I’ve been a gift bag person. Coming up with gift ideas I can do but gift wrapping? Not so much. Folding perfect edges or cutting the right amount of paper has never come easy.

Prices start at $8. Every Christmas, my mother reminds me that she once had a stint as a professional gift-wrapper at Sweezey’s. The regional department store is long, long gone, but my mom still ...

There are a lot of answers to the question “What is Christmas?” but our favorite is this: Christmas is a time of giving. That doesn’t just mean poring over gift ideas, of course—there’s also giving of ...