15

Wrap It Up!

A great place to cut back on the cost of Christmas is gift wrap. In fact, depending on the supplies you have available already, there’s a very good chance you can get through the season without purchasing any gift-wrapping materials at all. Just look around the house and you’ll be amazed at what you can turn into creative gift wrap filled with personality and attitude.

Trust me, three days before Christmas is not the time to start thinking about ways to wrap gifts and decorate the house creatively (read: cheaply). In fact, that’s the dangerous time when the crush of the season erases all thoughts of frugality—when the just-gotta-get-it-done pressure sets in and all sense of reason disappears.

Following are great tips and tricks I’ve collected over the years.

Gift Wrapping

Set up a gift-wrapping area. Drape a card table or other surface with a large tablecloth or sheet that hangs to the floor. This is important so you can hide wrapping supplies under the table for quick retrieval.

Sew little pouches of red or green velvet, put small gifts inside, and tie with a holiday ribbon.

Outsmart kids who are prone to snooping by wrapping gifts before you hide them. Instead of using tags, put a color-coded, self-stick dot on each package so only you know who gets the gift.

Turn ordinary shoe boxes into colorful gift boxes. Use an X-ACTO knife to cut simple designs such as stars on the sides and top of the box. Paint the box with brightly colored acrylic paint. Wrap the gift in tissue paper of a contrasting color and let it show through the cutouts.

Brown (kraft) paper is not just for mailing packages. Dressed up with stickers, doilies, fancy ribbon, and such, it’s a wonderfully inexpensive way to wrap gifts. You can either purchase kraft paper in a roll or recycle brown grocery bags. To remove creases from folded or wrinkled kraft and other types of wrapping paper, lightly press them out with your iron, set on the lowest setting. Don’t steam the paper. For persistent wrinkles, spray the wrong side lightly with spray starch. Don’t attempt to iron waxed or foil paper.

Instead of buying expensive holiday wrapping paper, purchase a large roll of white butcher paper and a bolt of red plaid ribbon from a florist supply store.

Start saving the comics from the Sunday paper now and by Christmas you will have a good supply. You can also use foreign newspapers, the sports section, or fashion ads. All make clever gift wrap.

Make a Santa sack for each of your children or, if you are ambitious, each member of the family. Sew together two large panels of Christmas fabric (approximately one yard each) on three sides, add a drawstring to the top, drop in the gifts from Santa, attach a name tag, and place the sack under the tree. You can explain that the elves are much too tired to wrap after making all those toys. These Santa sacks can be reused every year, which will create a new family tradition.

If you use a plain-colored box, wrap only the lid. It saves paper and makes the gift easier to open. If the box is not plain, wrap the box and lid separately. It’s easier to open and allows the box to be reused.

Find paper that’s appropriate for the gift or recipient. For example, wrap a cookbook with pages from a beautiful food magazine or use sheet music for a music lover’s package.

Save your kids’ drawings and use them to wrap gifts. Tape several together if the package is large. This will be a big hit, especially with grandparents.

Snip sponges into fun shapes, then dab in poster paint and press in a decorative pattern on the insides of brown paper grocery bags that have been cut open. This also works well for decorating cards and invitations.

Wrap odd-shaped packages in new handkerchiefs that become part of the gift.

Cut two matching tree shapes out of felt to cover a tall bottle holding herbed vinegar or maple syrup. Sew or glue the sides together, leaving the bottom open. Then cut out felt ornaments and glue them onto the tree.

Place a gift box diagonally on a square scarf and tie opposite corners together at the top. Tie again with gold cord or ribbon.

Wrap a box in brown paper, then hot glue rows of pennies to the outside in a symmetrical design, randomly, or in the shape of a Christmas tree. Tie with a copper-colored or white ribbon.

If a gift is really large, don’t waste yards and yards of pricey paper. Put those cans of spray paint sitting in the garage to use and paint the carton, then add a bow.

A car, or even a bicycle, can be “wrapped” by tying an oversized gift tag to a piece of string. Leave the tag under the tree and run the string to where the gift awaits—in a closet, the basement, the attic, or even the garage.

If a gift is just too cumbersome to wrap at all, didn’t arrive in time for Christmas, or didn’t quite get finished, wrap a smaller box containing a clue about the gift to come, plus a claim check for redeeming it.

If the paper doesn’t quite fit the package, try laying the item diagonally on the paper so the corners can be folded toward the center.

If time is short or gift wrapping is especially difficult, use a white plastic trash bag (two if they are too transparent) tied with a great big bow. With presents, as with people, it’s what’s inside that counts. And now you have armed your recipient with the perfect receptacle for cleanup too.

You can purchase pastel and brightly colored paper lunch bags very cheaply at a discount store. Decorate and use them for gift bags. Wrap a gift in tissue and place it in the bag. Fold the top of the bag down and punch two holes through all thicknesses. Thread a ribbon through the holes, then tie a bow or add curling ribbon.

Coffee cans with plastic lids (both small and large sizes) make terrific gift containers. Simply tape or glue a piece of colorful paper to the outside of the can. Top with a bow or raffia.

Many magazine ad pages make terrific wrapping paper for DVDs and other small objects. Try to match the selection with the personality of the person receiving the gift. Great magazines to consider are Martha Stewart Living, Oprah’s O, and Real Simple. Top with a treatment of cord or narrow ribbon.

You can wrap a box with a new scarf, towel, tablecloth, or other piece of fabric. Now the wrapping becomes part of the gift itself.

Old road maps make perfect gift wrap for a traveler or remind the recipient of a favorite trip.

Print your own wrapping paper. Visit the “Activity Center” at websites such as HP.com to find free printouts of gift-wrap designs and gift boxes that you can fold yourself using the instructions the site provides. Once at the site, click on “Explore & Create,” next “At Home,” then “Project Types.” You’ll discover lots of fun, exciting, and free projects.

Spray paint a bag. Cut open several large paper grocery bags or some kraft paper and crumple it several times. Then flatten it out and use spray paint to color the paper. (It is best to spray the paint at an angle.) Let the paper dry before you store it. You won’t even have to worry about it getting wrinkled.

Use your paper shredder to make your own basket filling. Once you have placed your gifts inside, you can shrink-wrap the basket yourself. Just purchase some inexpensive shrink-wrap from a craft store and use your blow-dryer to heat the wrap.

Tags, Trims, and Cards

Visit a decorator fabric shop, upholstery supply store, or sewing supply store and look for braids, cordings, tiebacks, fringes, and tassels to use instead of ribbon. Bolt ends are often sold as remnants at just a fraction of their retail price.

Tie a couple of pieces of a child’s favorite candy (wrapped in colored plastic wrap) to the outside of a gift.

Use new, colored, or patterned shoelaces to tie up small packages. Add jingle bells for that special touch.

Recycle old Christmas cards to make gift tags. Cut out a part of the design, punch a hole, and tie it on.

Any all-cotton fabric will tear into lengths of “ribbon.” Allow the edges to fray and you will have an amazingly beautiful presentation. Use homespun fabric (this means the pattern is woven in, not printed on one side) “ribbon” on plain brown paper wrap for a beautiful country look.

Cut strips of wrapping paper and curl them with the edge of a scissors blade the same way you would curling ribbon. This requires a gentle touch so the paper ribbon does not tear, but the final effect is lovely.

Stop by a local print shop and ask for any scraps of colored paper they are discarding. Use green paper to make holly leaves. Add tiny red berries cut from red scraps, and you have beautiful gift tags. Make blue stars and yellow bells. The possibilities are endless.

Using holiday-shaped cookie cutters as a pattern, cut tags from file folders or other heavy card stock. Decorate with stickers, markers, or rubber stamps.

Recycle silver-lined mylar potato chip and popcorn bags into gift ribbon. Wash them carefully to remove all traces of salt and oil. With scissors, cut one long ribbon of your desired width, starting at the top and spiraling around the bag. Curl as you would regular curling ribbon.

Instead of writing a recipient’s name on the tag, attach a childhood photo. It’s fun for kids to try to match the grown-ups with the pictures.

Get a marking pen that writes on glossy surfaces (Sharpie is a popular brand; check stationery and art supply stores), and you can skip the gift tags entirely.

Just in case the tags fall off packages under the tree or while in transit, write the names of the recipients on the back of the wrapped gifts.

Don’t throw away those wrinkled gift bows. You can reuse them by placing the bows in the dryer along with a damp washcloth. Set the machine on “fluff” or “air dry” for two minutes. The bows will come out looking like new.

Make your own stamps with Christmas symbols for hand-decorated cards and gift tags. Draw a pattern on the wide end of a cork. With an X-ACTO knife or similar sharp instrument, carefully cut the cork away from the design to a depth of about a quarter of an inch. Stamp the cork onto an ink pad and press down hard on the paper. Because corks are small, so are the images; therefore, plan to make lots of different simple shapes such as hearts, stars, and trees.

Send postcards instead of traditional Christmas cards. They are cheaper to mail, and a clever sender can create one by recycling last year’s cards.

If you have a very long Christmas card list and feel rushed to write the personal notes you love so much, divide your list over four or five holidays such as Valentine’s Day, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Explain that this is your annual greeting. To keep your records straight, color code every name in your address book to indicate on which holiday you wrote the note.

For the natural look, pinecones, sea shells, dried flowers, and seed pods can all become decorations for the top of a package. Glue pressed flowers onto small squares of paper for a pretty gift tag to finish it off.

Dress up a gift with a tag that can double as a necklace. Get a mini brass hinge at the hardware store—the type of hinge that has two equally shaped sides that fold in the middle. See how it looks like a tiny book? Glue two pieces of colored paper to fit the front and back of the hinge. Glue a strip of paper to fit inside the “book.” Decorate the cover with tiny beads, stickers, or a drawing. Allow to dry, then write a message inside. Fold ribbon in half to make a loop. Thread the ribbon ends through one of the screw holes, then through the ribbon loop. Pull snug. Knot ends. Attach it to the gift with a note that says it would make a dandy necklace.

Decorate gifts with ribbon alternatives. Plastic pearl necklaces (Mardi Gras beads) make festive ribbon. You can also curl long, thin strips of colored paper just like ribbon and tape them to the top of a package.

Make sealing wax tags. Tear off a small square of foil and place it on the table. Melt some wax and let it drop in a puddle on the foil. Quickly take a decorative button or stamp and press it into the wax. Peel the button or stamp off and let the wax dry. Add some hot glue to the back and attach it to a ribbon. Then attach the ribbon to the gift.

Prepare for Shipping

When you need to pad a package, recycle whatever you can. Instead of bubble wrap and Styrofoam, use newspaper. If you or someone you know has a paper shredder, save a bagful of the shreddings. Use stale, air-popped—not buttered—popcorn and include a note instructing the recipients to keep the gift and give the popcorn to the birds.

Cut empty wrapping paper tubes to fit inside a box you are mailing. They cushion the contents but add little weight.

Cut a brown paper bag to accommodate the item you’re sending. Using heavy tape, seal three of the sides. Slip the gift into the mailer, provide padding as necessary, and tape up the fourth side.

Don’t use shoe boxes for mailing, because they tend to split.

If you use Styrofoam peanuts as a packing cushion, spritz them with an antistatic spray first.

The US Postal Service says address labels should be legible from thirty inches away. That’s about an arm’s length.

Mark packages that contain breakables as “fragile” in three places: above the address, below the postage, and on the reverse side.

Use filament-reinforced tape to seal packages for shipping. Do not use twine, string, or cord—they will get caught in automation equipment.

As you unwrap gifts this year, save discarded paper, ribbon, and packing materials to use as packing material for next year.

Enclose a piece of paper inside the box with the address of the recipient and yours as the return.

Just before you seal up a box for mailing, sprinkle in some pine-scented potpourri. When your recipient opens the carton, the whole room will smell like Christmas.

If you write an address directly on a box, use a waterproof marker.

Mail early. Avoid the temptation or requirement to upgrade to a faster shipping method. It really hurts when the postage exceeds the cost of what’s inside.

Consider the environment and your wallet before throwing mountains of used wrapping materials into the trash. There are so many ways to give paper a new life rather than sending it to the landfill. Some types of paper can be shredded to use for animal bedding or for packaging material you’ll need in the coming year. Or reuse paper for the purpose it was created in the first place: as gift wrap! Taking a little time to deal with it now could save you a lot of time and money in the future.

One year around April, I started squeezing out thirty dollars per month from our monthly budget. I would set the cash aside in an envelope, hidden from everyone. I had to have the actual cash on hand, because it is more tempting for me to spend money if I can simply transfer it from a savings account to my checking account.

In late November, I started collecting lists from everyone and watching ads. When an opportunity presented itself, I purchased the gift with the cash. We were able to add a little extra to the fund in December (about one hundred dollars), and the bottom line was everyone had a great Christmas. We were able to purchase many items on everyone’s lists, and we didn’t have any debt to pay off. We did have a small budget, but no one felt slighted. There were still surprises, and we had enough for the neighbors and teachers at our church. My thirteen-year-old son said it was the best Christmas ever.

L.N., email

Because my husband and I both have large families, we decided that for each other we would only exchange ornaments for our tree. The ornaments could be store-bought or homemade. The key was to give an ornament that had special meaning for that specific year.

This has become our annual tradition. We open these on Christmas Eve because we can’t wait until Christmas to see what we have picked out. One year I took a picture from our vacation together, cut it down to fit in a small frame, and hung it with red ribbon. The year I got my master’s degree my husband wrapped up an ornament from the university I attended. The year we rededicated ourselves to attending church, we unknowingly both gave each other a cross ornament.

As the years go by and we maintain our debt-free Christmas, we will have enough ornaments to trim the entire tree!

Maureen S., Georgia