Why spend a fortune on gift wrap when you can create beautiful and inspired packages at home?
Birthdays, anniversaries and of course Valentines Day..it seems as if there is always a present to wrap. While you can shop the after holiday sales for gift wrap and keep it in your gift closet, there are plenty alternatives right now in your home. Why not try some of these ideas or let them inspire your own?
Comics for kids: As I mentioned in an earlier blog, Squeezing Money from The Newspaper, the comic strip (or funnies, as my parents always called it) makes a great gift wrap for kids birthday presents.
Crossword Section: While we are on the newspaper theme, what about wrapping a gift in the crossword section of the newspaper for someone who likes to do pencil puzzles? A suduko page would be a nice update to this idea.
Help Wanted Section: Have a gift for a graduate? Wrapping the gift in the help wanted section is a cute idea, especially if you circle job ads with a red grease pencil or marker.
Old Maps: Old map make great gift wrap for dads and granddads in particular. You can use world maps and atlases, or even those free road maps that you get at gas stations. Vary the map according to the personality of the person getting the gift. Are they a sophisticated adventurer or a car enthusiast? Why not use a theme park map for a child’s present? I used a Hershey’s Chocolate World Map to wrap a box of chocolates for a friend.
Plain Paper: You can decorate plain paper using rubber stamps and stickers. Or ask one of your children to decorate the wrap. Grandparents love to have child-decorated gift wrap. Or you can leave the paper plain, but tie a colorful ribbon around it and tuck in some picked wild flowers for a visual impact. This is a Martha Stewart-worthy idea, but also very frugal.
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