Gift Wrapping

It is so easy to drop a small fortune on gift wrapping supplies.  I’d rather spend that money on the gifts, quite frankly.  Because of that I try to spend as little on gift wrap as I possibly can. 

About once every two or three years I “splurge” and buy a roll of Christmas wrap at the dollar store.  I pick up my sticky bows on clearance after Christmas.  I usually buy at least two bags so I have enough for all the other gift giving occasions throughout the year.  Throughout the year I will also pick up spools of curling ribbon, flat ribbon and wired ribbon as I come across them at thrift stores for a fraction of their original price.  This summer I picked up three brand new rolls for just $1. 

I like to re-use the nicer gift wrap, gift boxes, tissue, gift bags and bows I’ve saved from prior years.  I almost never buy gift bags.  I make my own gift tags too. 

That doesn’t mean my gifts look don’t beautiful because they do.  It is very important to me that my gifts look really pretty.  Using a little creativity you can make all kinds of things into gift wrap. 

One of my favorite things to do is use brown paper grocery bags.  I cut them along one edge and along the bottom edge to completely remove the bottom of the bag and so it lays flat.  I use packing tape to wrap the gift with because it sticks to the paper better than regular Scotch tape does.  Then I use bright red ribbon and bows for decoration, finish it with a handmade gift tag and quite often I add a tree ornament as well.  It turns out super cute. 

A fun project for children is to color on or stamp paper bags to decorate them.  They could use stickers too.  Let them make their own gift wrap to use on the gifts they are giving this year. 

Colored tissue wrap makes nice gift wrap too.  Use three to four pieces to wrap a larger gift so you can’t see through it.  For smaller gifts use two sheets and then fold it in half for the right thickness. 

My grandmother used to use aluminum foil when she ran low on gift wrap.  I will sometimes borrow her idea for smaller gifts like CDs or DVDs, jewelry or a book.  I wrap the gift with the shiny side out and add red or blue ribbons and bows.  It is a really neat look. 

Other ideas include butcher or freezer paper (waxed side in), construction paper, copy paper and leftover wallpaper.  With wallpaper you will want to use packing tape too so it sticks better. 

I watched a video once on YouTube that showed you how to take a scarf or fabric square and wrap and tie it around a gift so that it wraps it and makes its own bow.  I’ve also seen a bandana used in a magazine article.  Cute ideas, although to this day, I’ve never tried them. 

I also love the idea of having one solid color of paper to use for all gifts and dressing it up with the ribbons and bows.  You could purchase one of those rolls of drawing paper for a child’s art table to use for this purpose. 

Try a little creativity this year and see what happens.