Originally Posted by nancia

i have an idea... since we have 10 more days to wait, how about if 1/10th of us open our boxes today. and 1/10 of us open our boxes tomorrow, and so on and so forth. i'll start and show everyone how it's done.
1. put the box in front of you.
2. start tugging on the nearest tape and pp-p-u-u-u-ll-ll-ll.
3. if you hit a cross tape, bite the cross tape till it tears, and continue as in step 2.
4. tear any brown paper, or outside wrapping paper and throw over your left shoulder. ( right shoulder if left handed)
5. open the box top, one flap at a time. if you have a box with no flaps, you can use your non-fabric scissors to carefully cut flaps. or you can turn the box over and over until you find flaps.
6. look carefully to determine if items are wrapped in bright colored papers, or not.
5 1/2. clear the box of any edibles as you may need strength and nutrients to deal with opening the individual parcels. no good fainting into the box from hunger.
7. carefully remove fabric quarters and hang them about your person with gay abandon. this adds to the festive atmosphere and tone of the occasion. i always bring hair pins for this part and re-use any sticky tape to adhere to my chin (no unkind remarks about hairy chins and hair pins, thank you. (nose in the air)). a word to the wise, hanging a fat 1/4 from your forehead makes it more difficult to eat any goodies, and hard to see what's in the package. personally, i hate getting chocolate on my quilt fabric.
8. continue as you will from here. i am busy eating my chocolate! is it illegal to send liquor in the mail?