Share you favorite wrapping technique / secrets here ~ 2011

[YouPdWhat]

Share you favorite wrapping technique / secrets here.

[OneHotMomma]

We're trying something new this year. I'm tired of all the waste in our house so I made up some gift bags from some pretty Christmas sheets. I'm hoping we'll be able to use them over and over instead of having to buy and store gift wrap every year. It keeps trash out of the land fill and if we can use them to store decorations and things too. Simply wash them in the machine after we get everything out of storage each year.

[collectorofbells]

well...that depends....for those that I mail gifts too...I wrap each person in the same design-helps me keep track of where I am in the shopping :)....for those gifts that defy wrapping then it's gift bags....they might, match they might not. gift bags for everybody at work....and for the immediate family whatever I happen to put my hand on first! ( one year I did do each person in the same and mom said she preferred all the different wraps under the tree to make it look more festive)

[$Saving!]

We're trying something new this year. I'm tired of all the waste in our house so I made up some gift bags from some pretty Christmas sheets. I'm hoping we'll be able to use them over and over instead of having to buy and store gift wrap every year. It keeps trash out of the land fill and if we can use them to store decorations and things too. Simply wash them in the machine after we get everything out of storage each year.

When my nieces/nephews were smaller and I had to mail out presents I did the same thing. I'm a sewer, so having Christmas themed fabric around was never an issue I made up a ton of fabric bags, even sew tacked ribbon to the back of the bag near the top to tie and then made labels to sew on the bottom with the message "Christmas 19XX (whatever year they were made) Please reuse!" Some of those are still making the rounds.

Just stuffed with the gift and tissue paper filler and some are even using the same tissue paper

[mommy22boys]

I wrap pretty much all my presents as opposed to using gift bags. Mainly because I have always loved to unwrap a present so I assume it's funner to everyone to unwrap something rather than pull it from a bag. lol

One thing I do to cut down on expenses is just write my kids names directly on the wrapping paper of their presents with a permanent marker. That saves using a bunch of to/from tags that the kids could care less about cause all they do is scour the area for anything with their name on it!

[Gnorga]

newspaper and twine

[MsSweetCheeks]

I love getting the foil wrapping paper. I think it is so beautiful. When I wrap my gifts all the edges have to be tucked under so my gifts don't have any ugly edges. Then, I take some flat ribbon and wrap it around the package going up and down once and then side to side once. Where the ribbon meets I add curling ribbon and a bow with the name tag. I love making my packages look pretty.

[CW&M Mom]

Give to DH and let him wrap them as he does a much better job then I LOL!

[everprincess]

I hate wrapping presents but I usually just buy a bunch of wrapping paper on sell then put on a bow on top. I'm just not crafty.

[JulieDB]

Years ago I got some reusable felt bags. They are large so great for larger things. The people I gave them to gave them back to me so we use those year after year. I do have some smaller paper gift bags that I got from my daughter's school when they were selling such stuff a few years ago. And I am always on the lookout for such things at a cheap price. I no longer do anything fancy. I used to use fancy foil paper and all sorts of ribbons and tie tree ornaments or other geegaws on the top. But no more. I haven't the time or the inclination. So bags it is! I also buy some fancy gift boxes for when I give cash or a gift card.

My mom saves all the gift bags and boxes. And I used to stock up after Christmas on paper for cheap. I would also look for some that I could use at other times of the year. But our house is so small now. We just don't have a place to store the stuff. I gave away most of our rolls of paper, keeping only a couple. I did keep the flat wrap and the bags and those are in plastic boxes.

I also got rid of most of the bows. My family did away with the use of bows. My parents did reuse them year after year which I thought was silly. I would only buy bow when they were like 10 cents for a large bag. I can't see keeping stuff like that.

I also like the idea of making gift baskets or using things like a baby blanket to wrap a baby gift. But for the most part I am not good at wrapping and I just don't do it any more.