Meanwhile, Martha Stewart writes about elegant ways to wrap gifts. Her ideas include decorative doilies, intricate ribbons and gingerbread gift tags. Let’s just say they’re for people with some time on their hands.

One more safety tip: If someone spends hours decorating your gift with snowflake doilies, don’t tear into it like a raccoon in a garbage can. The resulting evil eye can be deadly.

In slightly less scary news, dentists are learning their trade on a cool new robot. When its teeth are drilled, the simulated human says things such as, “Ow, that hurt!” and “I’m OK.”

Future models will have built-in excuses for not flossing. They’ll also respond to dentists with more realistic patient phrases such as, “Waah aw you twyin to do, kiw me?”