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Thinking Man: The Lamp!
December 25, 2023
This Thinking Man is a “lamp” is made from PVC pipe, some 3D printed shapes, simple electrical switches, wires and LEDs. It resembles a man sitting, contemplating a slot he has discovered that was cut through the side a mysterious green box resting at his feet. On inspection, one will…
Read moreSimply Impossible Puzzle
December 25, 2022
The Mad Wrapper decided that it was too risky to ship an Etch-A-Sketch machine across country to friends and relatives so an Impossible puzzle was shipped out across America. Each piece of the 3D-printed puzzle was customized with a person’s initials thus becoming a gift tag! This is a variant…
Read moreEtch-A-Sketch
December 25, 2022
The Mad Wrapper created a machine that draws a person’s name on an Etch-A Sketch. A key is attached to a gift. Insert the key and the machine automatically draws a person’s name to indicate who should open the gift. And it even draws pictures! The original plan was to…
Read moreRubik’s Cube
December 25, 2021
A Rubik’s Cube solver robot that solves a person’s initials on the face of a 3×3 Rubik’s Cube. Type in you code name to a webpage and click “Solve”. The pieces move around for a few minutes and eventually come to rest with three letters on the front face —…
Read moreCryptic Chiseled Porker
December 25, 2020
Attached to each gift under the tree is a tag baring a cryptic message etched into a 3d-printed tag. Align the mask and the message is revealed. Each tag is constructed using Inkscape and the font “porker”. The exported SVG file can be imported into fusion360…
Read moreRaspberry Pi Marshmallow Smores
December 25, 2019
A roaring fire makes for a great excuse to toast a marshmallow on Christmas Day. I built a tiny fireplace complete with fire that is controlled by a Raspberry Pi computer. [Full details with complete instructions on how to build this are posted on Instructables: Raspberry Pi Marshmallow Smores.] At…
Read moreBell Model 202 Bluetooth Telephone (1930-2018)
December 25, 2018
Using the magic of Arduino and clash of historical culture I added Bluetooth to an antique Bell model 202 telephone to light up convention conference “Hello my name is” name tags worn by persons at the party. Anachronism in its purest form. There are two parts to this. On one…
Read moreBlockhead Augmented Reality
December 25, 2017
Use an iPhone Augmented Reality App to scan a QR code to find your gift. 2017 was an epic Mad Wrapper year of the magic of new technology. Download the free iPhone app on the Apple App Store. TMW Blockhead open the App Paint the table and the flour with…
Read moreMessage in a Tree
December 25, 2016
Guests encounter a 3-foot Christmas tree decorated in colored lights. Green letters are scrawled one at a time to form a message. The words arrive slowly: Ho Ho Ho The Mad Wrapper says hang your ornament here Under the tree lay identically wrapped packages. The only thing unique about each…
Read moreScratch Hologram
December 25, 2015
A scratch hologram is one of those “hidden in plain sight” tricks. To see the message just angle the glass toward the sun and presto! This is an excellent way to hide your secret message with an extra WOW factor. It is surprisingly easy to make. It’s inexpensive and relatively quick…
Read moreCloak of Invisibility
December 25, 2014
Hidden in plain sight, you will need a blacklight to read the invisible ink on the presents under the tree. This year folks found a bulk of packages under the tree wrapped 100% identically — no distinction whatsoever between one gift to any other. No distinguishing marks, no card, nothing special….
Read more3D Red and Blue
December 25, 2013
Put on the special goggles and your name pops out of the paper. Go ahead and open the gift! Presents under the tree include one with special goggles plus a gift for each person you’re giving a gift to, each of which has a label that lists all persons who…
Read moreRock Paper Scissors
December 25, 2012
Everyone gets a deck of rock-paper-scissors cards. Play them in order. Your gift is determined by how long you can stay in the game. Eight gifts are decorated with Ribbons: 1st, 2dn, 3rd, …, 8th. Person to lose round one opens the last-place (8th place) gift. Next person to lose…
Read moreFire & Candles
December 25, 2011
Insert a message inside a candle. As the candle burns, the message reveals itself. Warning! Use precaution when working with fire. Make sure candles are not lit near flammable objects. Also, be carful not to burn objects that might contain poisonous fumes. Read the labels. Supplies for One Candle A…
Read moreSpiderman Jigsaw
December 25, 2010
Put together a puzzle and discover that there are a few missing pieces. The holes in the puzzle reveal a person’s initials. If these are your initials go ahead and open the gift that was attached to the puzzle. It seems every deep-discount “dollar” store carries shelves of cheap low-piece-count…
Read moreTimex Ironman Watch
December 25, 2009
In the mid-2000’s Timex sold the Ironman Datalink USB — a watch that you could program. I reprogrammed the watch to help guests at the party find their gifts. There is a different number on each gift. Dial that number into the watch. The person’s name is revealed after a…
Read moreCrystal Cube
December 25, 2008
Using layers of plexiglass write names such that each name is complete only when the cube is tilted in a special direction.
Read moreLenticular
December 25, 2007
The image changes based on the viewing angle. View the lenticular from the correct angle to find out if the gift is yours. The angle is defined by a special dongle attached to your gift under the Christmas tree. Vertical lines block what you are not supposed to see. The…
Read moreBad Chess
December 25, 2006
Play a bizarre game of bad chess indicated by moves on a card attached to a package. The game ends when someone’s initial(s) are presented by the final standing pieces. Attached to each present is an envelope containing a card. The outside of the card shows a picture of a…
Read moreMonogrammed Toast
December 25, 2005
Put a slice of bread into the correct slot in a hacked toaster. Wait. Up pops toast monogrammed with your initials! Great fun and happy eating! Hack a toaster by inserting copper wires that mask the heat. Shaping the wire into letters results in monogrammed toast. Find a toaster…
Read moreAlignment of the stars
December 25, 2004
Align two pieces of plywood correctly so drilled holes will line up to display a person’s initials.
Read moreCard Tricks
December 25, 2003
Each gift comes with a deck of marked cards. Put the cards in order to reveal a name spelled out on the edge of the deck. If is your name, go ahead and open the gift. It’s yours! Here is a fairly easy Mad Wrapper set of gift tags. All…
Read morePlasma Ball
December 25, 2002
Every gift comes with an ornament attached. Place the ornament against a Plasma Ball to find out whose gift it is. Warning Warning. Be careful. Never leave plasma ball unattended. You could actually start a fire! If you follow the steps that the Mad Wrapper used you will probably violate…
Read moreMagnetic strip
December 25, 2001
Gifts are tagged with a very long thin magnet. The magnet is embedded with a message decoded by magnetic decoding film. Very easy to make. Cheap magnets often found attached to refrigerators across the globe can also be purchased in long strips. It turns out that you can use a…
Read moreMonogrammed Pancakes
December 25, 2000
Turn the crank on a giant machine and stop in the right position. place you pancake into the slot and sprinkle it with powdered sugar from a sifter. Monogrammed pancake! If the pancake has your initials, go ahead and eat it while opening your gift!
Read moreHitClips
December 25, 1999
In 1999, Tiger HitClips were all the rage with the kids. I modified a set of these to play a TWM message instead of the usual Britney Spears or NSYNC song of choice. If the message is director to you, then the gift is yours.
Read moreBraille
December 25, 1998The gifts came with cardboard tags. Glued to the tags are rhinestones positioned to spell out a person’s name in braille — lettering for the visually impaired.
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Golfball Xylophone
December 25, 1996
Place 3ft rails on a pegboard according to instructions on a gift. Roll a golf ball down the ramps. The bin it drops into is labeled with a name. If it’s your name, open the gift — it’s yours! Leaning against the wall next to the tree sits a 8…
Read moreGPS Road Trip
December 25, 1995
Insert a floppy drive into your computer, connect up another computer and run DeLorme GPS software to simulate a trip across America. If the destination town matches your name (or close enough), the gift is yours! At the Mad Wrapper’s house, packages scattered about the tree are labeled with green,…
Read morePaint by number
December 25, 1994
All shapes on a sheet of paper attached to a gift are numbered. Each number matches a crayon color. Fill it all in with the correct colors to reveal the name of a guest of Christmas day. Every present from the Mad Wrapper was marked with a piece of paper…
Read moreStereograms
December 25, 1993
Hidden in plain sight! Early in the 1990s Magic Eye Stereograms were at the height of popularity. Each gift is labelled with a stereogram of a person’s name. Cross your eyes and stare long enough and it will pop out from the surface of the paper it is printed on….
Read moreThe Great Marble Sort!
December 25, 1992
Attached each gift is a marble. Yup. That’s it! On closer inspection, each marble is a different size. Drop yours into the marble sorting toothpick machine. Where it lands determines who gets the gift. This ranks near the top of best Mad Wrapper contraptions of all time. Great fun! …
Read morePOV Midair Magic
December 25, 1991
Wave the magic wand and chant “Umba gadda boomba, …” in a dark room. A person’s name is spelled out in mid air. Persistence of vision has become a fad that seems to be lasting. The Mad Wrapper was ahead of the times on this one. In 1991 few people…
Read moreRemote Control Car
December 25, 1990
An electronic circuit controls the remote on a remote-controlled car. A person’s initials are spelled out as the car drives around the “track”. I hacked the remote adding a connector for a circuit that automates the joysticks. It worked ok but required a lot of intervention. Without feedback on actual…
Read moreStretched perspective
December 25, 1988
Hidden in plain sight! Labels on gifts a completely distorted beyond recognition. Significantly tilt the package to read the message. Once you know how to read the message you will forever wonder why you couldn’t see it in the first place. It’s all about your Perspective Here is puzzle to make…
Read moreMorse Code
December 25, 1988Plug a computer chip into the connector. LEDs slowly blink out morse code that spells a person’s name. The first of a series of electronic Mad Wrapper schemes showed up on Christmas 1988. The party became very excited yet baffled, by the pile of presents tagged with a simple computer…
Read moreJigsaw Names
December 25, 1987
A homemade jigsaw puzzle is attached to each gift under the tree. Put the puzzle together to find out who the gift is for. All puzzles are identical but a different name is written on each completed puzzle. Most craft stores sell blank puzzles. You can buy a set of…
Read moreMobius strip
December 25, 1982
To/From message on gift tags is written on a mobius strip — a never-ending “one-sided” shape. Take a long thin sheet of paper about the size of a bookmark. Put one twist in the paper and glue the two ends together. Write whatever message you want. Make it long enough…
Read moreOrigami Doughnut
December 25, 1981
A present arrives topped with a 3 dimensional mechanical doughnut made from cardboard. It’s sort of a gear which continuously folds into itself. Open a flap and discover the words: “To Sara, Merry Christmas”. Actually, the story of this chapter occurs many years before, when I was young, attending my…
Read morepaper fortune
December 25, 1980
Messages “To/From” are written on grade-school folded-paper Fortune Teller. Directions on the sequence to follow are written on gifts. Nearly any grade school child, if asked, will gladly tell your fortune from a homemade fortune telling device built entirely from a simple folded square of paper. If you listen carefully…
Read moreTinker Toy Sign
December 25, 1979
Straddling a gift under the tree is a giant tinker-toy contraption. At the top of the contraption sits the label “To Eric, From The Mad Wrapper”. You can turn the crank to make the label spin. My tinker toy windmill (or sign) was not a puzzle, riddle, calculator, or illusion….
Read moreBalloon Pop
December 25, 1979
A balloon holds the gifts from view. Pop the balloon and the gifts come tumbling out! Kind of silly but perfect as a Mad Wrapper attention-grabbing gag to give Linnea some nice kitchen utensils.
Read moreLover Doll
December 25, 1974Under the tree is a doll. In the locket on a chain around the doll’s neck is a picture of Eric. That’s it. Very subtle. The doll “obviously” has proclaimed that it belongs to Eric by carrying his picture always close to her heart. This one is probably too subtle…
Read moreTo Eric From Mozart’s Movement
December 25, 1972“To Eric From Mozart’s Movement” found its way on a card in 1972. A year of especially great potty humor (in the eyes of a highly impressionable early-teen). There were various other similarly bad-humored tags placed under the tree but no documented reference to The Mad Wrapper that year.
Read moreTo Don From Beethoven’s 10th
December 25, 1971No known TMW occurrence was ever documented in the year 1971. The Mad Wrapper possible took a vacation. But some other strange tags did appear. Such as: “To Don From Beethoven’s 10th”
Read moreTo Eric From Ms. Claus’s Husband’s wife
December 25, 1970On Christmas of 1968, a tag showed up: “To Eric From Ms. Claus” – my mother’s handwriting is unmistakable. The following year a gift showed up under the tree: “To Eric From Ms. Claus’s Husband” – my father was not to be bested. The handwriting and ink-color on the second…
Read moreTo Mike From the Mad Wrapper
December 25, 1970“To Mike From the Mad Wrapper” was written on a tag on a package Christmas in the year 1970. This seems to be the earliest known reference to The Mad Wrapper. (Note the typo his first name “The” is not capitalized. (The first of many fundamental mistakes The Mad Wrapper…
Read moreTo Eric From Ms. Claus’s Husband
December 25, 1969On Christmas of 1968, a tag showed up: “To Eric From Ms. Claus” – my mother’s handwriting is unmistakable. The following year a gift showed up under the tree: “To Eric From Ms. Claus’s Husband” – my father was not to be bested. The handwriting and ink-color on the second…
Read moreTo Eric From Ms. Claus
December 25, 1968On Christmas of 1968, a tag showed up: “To Eric From Ms. Claus” – my mother’s handwriting is unmistakable. The following year a gift showed up under the tree: “To Eric From Ms. Claus’s Husband” – my father was not to be bested. The handwriting and ink-color on the second…
Read more“To Linnea From Seven Toes”
December 25, 1963The Mad Wrapper has roots that go back at least as far as 1963. Probably farther back than this. “To Linnea From Seven Toes” was on a tag from Don to his lovely wife Linnea.
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