Faye Mayberry, director of the Bureau of Condominiums, and Rep. Peter Rudy Wallace, D-St. Petersburg, will give an update on the Bureau of Condominiums at a breakfast forum presented by the Suncoast Chapter of the Condominium Associations Institute from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Cove Cay Country Club, 2612 Cove Cay, Clearwater. Cost is $8 for members, $10.50 non-members. Reservations required. Call Jesslyn McBride at 521-3054 in St. Petersburg. Home-buying tips The Community Housing Resource Board of St. Petersburg Inc. will sponsor a free seminar on how to buy an affordable home from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday in the Community Room on the 22nd floor of Barnett Tower, One Progress Plaza in downtown St. Petersburg. Robert Rowan, housing manager for the city of St. Petersburg, will be among the speakers. For information, call Vicky Cassidy at 893-7358. All wrapped up Finally! An alternative to gift-wrap paper, ribbons, tape, scissors . . . not to mention the trouble of finding them all. Now, for small presents at least, you can make your own decorated gift boxes. The Victorian Gift Boxes by Jane Thomson and The Floral Gift Boxes by Petula Stone (Hearst Books, $20 each) contain press-out boxes that don't require much more than a bit of folding and some glue to assemble. (We put one together in less than a minute. It was easy. Trust us, we're all thumbs.) Each book contains 22 boxes with coordinated tags. Available in many book stores and gift shops. _ NANCY PARADIS