By Travis Hudgons, contributor

People who buy their holiday gifts from small, locally-owned businesses have the opportunity to wrap their gifts locally, too.

Kirkwood is home to That’s a Wrap!, a business that offers expert gift-wrapping services year-round.

Owner Mia Canada, known as “the gift-wrap goddess,” started out offering professional gift wrapping services at area malls during the holiday season. In 2013 she claimed her Kirkwood brick and mortar location.

“I love the feel and energy of Kirkwood,” Canada said. “I live in the neighborhood and I love being able to walk to work.”

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Inside her small shop located behind Le Petit Marché, gift givers will find two types of wrapping services. The Premier Line features bold designs, festive papers and themed finishing touches.

There’s also the Mia Line. Canada consults with customers, showing them different papers, fabrics, and embellishments to incorporate personalized elements.

The turnaround time for most gifts is 24 to 48 hours, depending on how complex it is.

That’s A Wrap! is staying open every day through Christmas Eve.

Andresa Echols of Norcross recently dropped off gifts for her aunt after seeing pictures of Canada’s work on Facebook.

“I wanted to do something special…and her work was amazing,” Echols said.

Thomas Moody admits that wrapping gifts isn’t his strong suit. He came to That’s a Wrap! in search of help.

“They have really unique wrapping and it helps set the tone of the gift,” he said.

Moody, a Belvedere Park resident, likes supporting a small business in his area.

“You don’t find a lot of big businesses that put this much thought and heart into what they do. And when you find a small business that does excellent work, you want them to stick around.”

Canada says December is her busiest season, but she has clients who visit her for birthdays, weddings and corporate events.

“Weddings are huge,” she said.

Canada offers a service where wedding guests send all the gifts to her for wrapping. She brings the wrapped gifts to the wedding and designs a themed gift table.

Canada teaches gift-wrapping classes and offered some advice for those who choose to wrap their own gifts this season: Use quality paper, measure your paper, and crease your edges.

“This makes all the difference,” she said. “Regardless of how bad you wrap, if you crease it, it’s going to look amazing.”

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