Portable Gift Wrap Center by Snapware
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Product Details
Edition: KitchenTools and Hardware Reviews of Portable Gift Wrap Center by Snapware
Customer Review: Okay, but Definitely NOT Worth 90 Bucks!
Summary: 3 Stars
Like many people, my gift wrap items are stored separately all over the house. Any past attempts to consolidate them were foiled by my failure to find a single storage container that would accommodate it all. Even after weeding out the unnecessary I still couldn't find an acceptable storage container.
I came across the Snapware Portable Gift Wrap center while browsing through one of those organization catalogs right after the holidays. Intrigued but unwilling to pay $99.99 for what amounts to a large plastic storage box, I shopped online for a lower price and naturally found it on Amazon. Although the price was ten dollars less and the item received an outstanding review on Amazon, I still didn't feel it was worth such a high price. After much debate, I decided to order it.
True to its description, the container has room inside for both regular and long 40" rolls of gift wrap. The problem is that there are two separate compartments, one of which is longer to accommodate the longer rolls. That's not a problem if you have more short rolls than long ones; just store them in the longer compartment. But what do you do if you run out of space for long rolls in the long section? You can't store them in the shorter one, unless you cut a few inches off the ends, something I've never been able to do without creating messy, ragged ends.
The inside of the box also has two smaller compartments on the ends, one of which holds the two clips you can attach to either end or the long side to hold a roll of paper in place while you cut and wrap. The other end contains a small "drawer" in which to store scissors, pens, tape and ribbons. This drawer also attaches to either end of the container for easy access to wrapping supplies. While these two compartments are convenient, they can also present another problem: storing the clips and drawer inside leaves no room for supplies like bows, extra pens, gift cards, and the like. You can leave the clips and the drawer attached when you're finished wrapping, but once you lift the entire container by the handle to store it everything in the drawer will fall out unless you put it all away. Perhaps I'm nitpicking here, but for $90.00 I expected this to be a little more thought out.
The lid of the container, which doubles as the work surface, has a grid molded into it to guide your scissors and cut straight lines...nice touch. The lid also has a small built-in compartment covered by a blue lid that's incorporated into the design of the container's lid. This lid has a flat surface for writing things such as gift cards and tags...another nice touch. The small storage space underneath is somewhat helpful. You can store flat gift wrap and extra pens and other items. The manufacturer suggests storing gift bags there as well, but I have a lot of gift bags in a multitude of sizes, most of which won't fit into that small compartment. I'll have to store my gift bags separately, defeating the purpose of purchasing this item.
As for portability, be warned: this item is heavy when it's empty; it's even more so when it's full. You certainly won't be lugging this up and down stairs with any ease. Its large size also makes it unwieldy...I had quite a time carrying it to the adjoining room without banging it into walls, doorways or furniture. I suggest storing it in the room where you plan to use it, perhaps in the bedroom where you can store it under the bed and slide it out and extend the attached legs to use.
The item's sturdiness depends on your definition. The manufacturer warns against placing anything heavier than 20 lbs. on its surface when it's being used as a table. Although it would probably be difficult wrapping anything over 20 lbs. unless it's on the floor anyway, a lot of small items are deceptively heavy, something to keep in mind before placing it on this item.
Pros:
All-in-one design, fits extra long rolls of gift wrap, comes with clips to hold rolls of paper in place during wrapping, decent amount of storage for essentials such as scissors, tape and pens, doubles as a table when the legs are extended, legs fold flat for storage.
Cons:
Inside separated into compartments, possibly creating some difficulty storing additional long rolls of gift wrap, container built into lid too small for anything but the smallest flat gift wrap or gift bags, too expensive. Large and heavy, thus affecting portability.
Conclusion:
The jury is still out on this one. I've only had this item for a few days and used it a few times. I haven't decided if the cons are enough to warrant returning it. But for the price I'm certainly not impressed. If you don't plan to lug it around from room to room and don't have many rolls of long paper -- and you don't mind spending the money -- give it a shot. Otherwise, consider a cheaper alternative.
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