Wrapping Presents

I try to spend as little on gift wrap as I possibly can because I’d much rather spend that money on the gifts. 

 

About once every two or three years I “splurge” and buy a roll of Christmas wrap at the dollar store.  Last year I picked up three rolls on clearance for 50¢ each.  We should be set for gift wrap for a very long time. 

 

I pick up my sticky bows on clearance after Christmas too plus I gather up and recycle all the ones that are still in good condition after we are finished opening presents.  I usually end up with enough for all the other gift giving occasions throughout the year as well.  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 or clearance bins for a fraction of their original price. 

It goes without saying that I will collect and re-use the nicer gift wrap, gift boxes, tissue and gift bags I’ve received.  I almost never buy gift bags and I also make my own gift bags too using white or brown paper lunch bags and decorating them with the fronts of old Christmas cards.  It is a great way to recycle and give a second life to all those pretty Christmas cards I've received over the years. 

 

It is very important to me that my gifts look really pretty.  I don't ever want them to look like I wrapped them with old trash and they don't.  I find that in using a little creativity I 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 or butcher paper 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.  I've also used colored copy paper.

 

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. 

I 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.  I've never done it myself but I know of people who do.  I imagine it really keeps things simple and you wouldn't have to store much. 

How do you handle your gift wrapping?