Trappings and Wrappings
Wrapping a gift so that it looks exciting and enticing can be the more expensive than the gift. Everyone loves to receive a beautiful present, with lovely wrapping paper and gorgeous decorations, but if you are the giver it can be difficult to come up with cheap ways of wrapping. 52 weeks of Sunday comics should be more than enough wrapping paper.
This Christmas, try some of our wrapping ideas they are novel, quick and very cheap.
Wrapping a gift so that it looks exciting and enticing can be the more expensive than the gift. Everyone loves to receive a beautiful present, with lovely wrapping paper and gorgeous decorations, but if you are the giver it can be difficult to come up with cheap ways of wrapping. 52 weeks of Sunday comics should be more than enough wrapping paper.
This Christmas, try some of our wrapping ideas they are novel, quick and very cheap.
Use plain old B & W newsprint, but leave the comics out for Santa to wrap his presents before escaping back up the chimney. This way the children will know which Christmas morning offerings come from the man himself as they will be wrapped in colourful comics.
An in-law found that by buying those 'fancy' smallish paper bags to put Christmas gifts in, the bags would open easily and neatly and could be retrieved for the NEXT gift giving season. Yes, it requires up front costs, but last for years. They can be bought at any $2 or discount store from 50 cents up depending on the size. And as a side benefit, the bags close up easily to make wrapping fast and easy. This is ideal for elderly people or those who leave the wrapping to the last minute.
It used to be that when it was time to wrap the baskets I used plain old cellophane wrap and lots of ribbon for decoration but now there are Christmas themed cellophane available, it's just that much more festive. To finish up the basket, tie the cellophane with a bread tie then attach (reused) ribbon(s). The cellophane can be reused to wrap items on down the road.
Try shrink wrap, the kids will love it. You can buy it in sheets from the Reject Shop, or in rolls from specialty paper suppliers. Then you don't have to worry about being neat with odd shaped parcels; just wrap, tie and then shrink with a hair dryer. And the gift looks professionally wrapped.
Get roll ends from the local newspaper if they do their own printing, and wrap gifts in that. You can decorate it with crayons, coloured pencils, stickers, or markers. The off-white looks great with gold ribbon.
Make fans out of coloured paper, gift wrap etc, by folding them accordion style. Tie one end with some curling ribbon and lay flat on the gift like a ladies' hand held fan. Alternatively, fold the pleated paper in half, tie in the middle with string or curling ribbon to secure it, glue the two halves together so that you have a semicircular fan, then glue the base of the semicircle onto the gift. Add a few bits of glitter, ribbon, pinecones etc. and you have a stunning gift decoration.
Make a cornucopia by making a cone out of brown paper. Glue pine cones, ribbon scraps, beads etc inside the cornucopia, then attach to gift.
Cut potato chip bags into strips and use shiny side out for ribbon or decorating the packages other ways. Make bows from the strips, too.
Make your own bows from any material you have around. Cut strips the width you want plus a half inch, and hem, either on a sewing machine or by hand. If you're doing it by hand, a simple and quick running stitch works fine. Tie this into a bow, then spray with starch or sugar water so it will keep it's shape. Alternatively, iron the strip with heavy starch, then make the bow.
Cereal boxes make great gift boxes. Simply spray them with coloured paint (gold, silver, red or dark green for Christmas) and use them as gift boxes. You can also use cracker boxes, soap powder boxes etc. If you take a lot of medication, you can save the small boxes your tablets come in to use for small gifts such as jewellry.
This Christmas, try some of our wrapping ideas they are novel, quick and very cheap.
Wrapping a gift so that it looks exciting and enticing can be the more expensive than the gift. Everyone loves to receive a beautiful present, with lovely wrapping paper and gorgeous decorations, but if you are the giver it can be difficult to come up with cheap ways of wrapping. 52 weeks of Sunday comics should be more than enough wrapping paper.
This Christmas, try some of our wrapping ideas they are novel, quick and very cheap.
Use plain old B & W newsprint, but leave the comics out for Santa to wrap his presents before escaping back up the chimney. This way the children will know which Christmas morning offerings come from the man himself as they will be wrapped in colourful comics.
An in-law found that by buying those 'fancy' smallish paper bags to put Christmas gifts in, the bags would open easily and neatly and could be retrieved for the NEXT gift giving season. Yes, it requires up front costs, but last for years. They can be bought at any $2 or discount store from 50 cents up depending on the size. And as a side benefit, the bags close up easily to make wrapping fast and easy. This is ideal for elderly people or those who leave the wrapping to the last minute.
It used to be that when it was time to wrap the baskets I used plain old cellophane wrap and lots of ribbon for decoration but now there are Christmas themed cellophane available, it's just that much more festive. To finish up the basket, tie the cellophane with a bread tie then attach (reused) ribbon(s). The cellophane can be reused to wrap items on down the road.
Try shrink wrap, the kids will love it. You can buy it in sheets from the Reject Shop, or in rolls from specialty paper suppliers. Then you don't have to worry about being neat with odd shaped parcels; just wrap, tie and then shrink with a hair dryer. And the gift looks professionally wrapped.
Get roll ends from the local newspaper if they do their own printing, and wrap gifts in that. You can decorate it with crayons, coloured pencils, stickers, or markers. The off-white looks great with gold ribbon.
Make fans out of coloured paper, gift wrap etc, by folding them accordion style. Tie one end with some curling ribbon and lay flat on the gift like a ladies' hand held fan. Alternatively, fold the pleated paper in half, tie in the middle with string or curling ribbon to secure it, glue the two halves together so that you have a semicircular fan, then glue the base of the semicircle onto the gift. Add a few bits of glitter, ribbon, pinecones etc. and you have a stunning gift decoration.
Make a cornucopia by making a cone out of brown paper. Glue pine cones, ribbon scraps, beads etc inside the cornucopia, then attach to gift.
Cut potato chip bags into strips and use shiny side out for ribbon or decorating the packages other ways. Make bows from the strips, too.
Make your own bows from any material you have around. Cut strips the width you want plus a half inch, and hem, either on a sewing machine or by hand. If you're doing it by hand, a simple and quick running stitch works fine. Tie this into a bow, then spray with starch or sugar water so it will keep it's shape. Alternatively, iron the strip with heavy starch, then make the bow.
Cereal boxes make great gift boxes. Simply spray them with coloured paint (gold, silver, red or dark green for Christmas) and use them as gift boxes. You can also use cracker boxes, soap powder boxes etc. If you take a lot of medication, you can save the small boxes your tablets come in to use for small gifts such as jewellry.