Who loves to wrap presents? I do! I do! I get way to excited about it sometimes, I’ll admit. Any stroll through the local card shop or grocery store aisle will tell you that it can get pricey….at least for something that is going to be ripped off and thrown away in just mere seconds. (Especially if it’s intended for a child’s birthday party! We all know how paper fast flies there!)
I tend to hold to the tenant of “less is more” when it comes to visual presentation. That is a good thing, because in this case, it can save money. I buy value rolls of solid color gift wrap, often under $3.00 for 48 square feet. I collect all colors, then buy huge skeins of curling ribbon in various colors (for $2.00 a piece at larger craft stores). I can color coordinate (or use contrasting colors…or make multicolored bows for even more drama) and the gift turns out striking! (Just goes to show you don’t need gaudy, printed gift wrap to make a gift “pop.”)
To dress it up, sometimes I let my kids go to town with crayons or markers on the outside once I wrap it (it’s a blank canvas, so to speak, for their creativity). I also take those brightly-colored sticker dots (blank price stickers) from the office supply store and stick them all over to make polka dotted wrap in a snap! One Christmas I wrapped all of our gifts in inexpensive brown craft paper and splatter painted “snow” with white paint, then used a snowflake stamp to embellish it a little more (you could even make a matching gift card to tie on the top). I tied plain raffia around them to complete the “homespun” look.
The choices are endless when you start with plain colored papers and simple ribbons. Less-is-More gift wrapping works for me!
Go see other WFMW ideas for this week at Rocks in My Dryer!
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Marcia, Organising Queen (3 years ago)
Oh, I do exactly the same and when you add the ribbon and bow, they look gorgeous, don’t they?
Edi (3 years ago)
One year I wrapped all the Xmas presents for our family gift exchange in “Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String” – with those words written in pen across the gift. A little “Sound of Music” theme :) For cheap brown paper to wrap it in – I used grocery bags – cut them down the middle and flatten them out…store logo etc go on the inside – outside is blank.
Ellen (3 years ago)
I confess, I hate to spend money on gift wrap. And I feel like my presents always look tacky because I don’t know how to make the wrap look cute. I think I could handle this, though. Where do you get these cheap rolls of plain colored paper? Thank you for helping an inept wrapper. =)
Daiquiri (3 years ago)
I’m with you – simple is better. I like to buy a simple brown (like paper bag type brown) paper, and then stock up on pretty ribbon when it goes on sale at the craft store. I love real ribbon :) Simple, yet with a bit of class :)