The following is a guest post from regular contributor, Morgan from Morganize with Me.
Over the past year I’ve revamped my gift wrapping system to better streamline things – for not only the holidays but for all of the occasions when we need to wrap and bring gifts. As much as I adore cute themed gift wrap and fancy, colorful bags, I’ve realized that when it comes to gift wrapping, simplifying can truly be a life-saver!
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve needed a “boy” gift bag for a birthday party and all we had available was “girl” themed gift bags, or vice versa. With my streamlined system this problem is now a thing of the past! My system works for all occasions and makes it really easy to personalize gifts as necessary. Here’s how I keep my gift wrapping organized.
First, I no longer buy gift wrap. Enter in this beautiful, well not really, postal wrapping paper. (Scotch Postal Wrapping Paper, 30 Inches x 30 Feet (7901)) This works for ANY gift. When my kids need to wrap a board game for a birthday party, this does the job, and they can color and decorate the paper however they want. For a baby shower present, I can attach a colorful ribbon and a baby toy, and boom the package has a “theme.”
*Please note – you’ll want to use a more industrial type of tape to secure this paper as it is thicker and sometimes a little harder to work with.
Secondly, I purchased a set of these brown paper bags, they are a medium-sized bag that work for most smaller to medium-sized gifts (Craft Gift Bags ~ Brown Paper 1 dozen – 10″ x 5″ x 13″).
Same thing as with the brown gift wrap, I add a little color with a ribbon or tie, attach a card, and the present comes to life! Gone are the days of wondering if a Christmas themed gift bag will work for a wedding present…
Thirdly, I keep a nice supply of ribbon and ties. Not only are these a fun way to add a little color, they also help to secure gift bags so that you can’t see in! And, they give a wrapped present a much more finished and polished look.
I also try to keep on hand plain gift tags and general cards for thank you’s and birthdays. And tissue paper is another great way to personalize a gift and give the brown neutral packaging a pop!
With a little prior planning and shopping, I have found that the stress of wrapping has gone to the wayside! Now I’m off to work on my holiday shopping gift list. Sing with me…“Brown paper packages tied up in string…these are a few of my favorite things…”
Your turn…How is your gift wrap supply looking? Do you need to do some simplifying? What tips have you found helpful in organizing your gift wrap stash?
Morgan is the energetic and motivated, but also realistic girl, behind Morganize with Me. She is a list lover, fitness fan, and chaos controller! Her mission is to share tried and true techniques that she hopes will encourage her readers and clients as they focus on their health and homes. Join one of her Challenges and be sure to check out her Shop full of fabulous organizing printables!
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Tara says
Very good idea, it might be nice to have a few stamps boy/girl/Christmas to quickly decorate them with x
Morgan says
YES – stamps are a great way to add some personalization!
Deborah says
I do something similar, but I use solid white paper. I think it is pretty enough for even wedding or shower gifts. Our party store carries it, as does Michaels.
Morgan says
Oh, that is good to know – white would look very nice too. Thanks for sharing!
Margot Nowicke says
I only use cloth ribbon now. We travel for all of the holidays and quite a few birthdays. Cloth ribbon may crush a little but nothing like traditional gift wrapping ribbon and it is totally capable of being simply and quickly coaxed back into shape.
Morgan says
Love the look of cloth ribbon, great idea!
Kelly says
I love this idea. However, most of the gift bags I have are from gifts our family was given. Many of them I don’t like the look of, but it feels wasteful not re-using them, if they are in good condition. What do you do with gift bags you receive?
Morgan says
I do one of two things –
*If I really don’t like the look of them then I just recycle them. They weren’t sparking joy. 🙂
*If I do like the look of them, then I keep them and reuse them.
I’ve just made a point to stop personally buying “theme” gift bags. Great question!
CynthiaJo says
I would donate them to a local thrift store. That’s actually where I buy most of mine. So if you don’t want them, someone else might. Or you can see if the person who gave you the gift might want them back to re-use themselves. I always give my mom back the bags she gives gifts to us in, that way she doesn’t have to buy more the next time.
Cynthia Carter says
I like that idea, I can get white and Kraft colors. I have bunches of nice ribbon and stamps. As for kid wrap, our local paper prints the Sunday comics in heavier weight paper during the holidays, we just save up what we don’t use for the rest of the year.
Morgan says
I’ve always loved the look of comics for gift wrap too!