ALT-1 How to Save Money on Holiday Wrapping Paper
The purpose of wrapping paper is to accentuate the beauty and value of the gift, to give the recipient added mystery to the gift, and to protect the gift from damage. Gift wrappers come in all designs and quality of material, and can even become more expensive than a cheap and bulky gift item. How to save money on holiday wrapping paper often comes in unexpected ways when you wrap your gifts in the dead of the night - on the eve of the holiday celebrations. Here are creative ways to fall back on saving money on holiday wrapping paper.
1. Use the store-wrapping services and opt for the free store wrappers and gift bags if they are free of charge. Stores that offer such services are usually the larger and more elite ones, and the cost of these services would usually have been factored into the cost of the gifts. Making use of these services also ensures that your gift is properly and presentably wrapped, and you will not have torturous moments trying to figure out how to wrap certain gifts. Besides, the social status of the gifts is accentuated by the recognisable design on the wrappers or the gift bags.
2. Make your own. Buy cheap quality plain paper, such as translucent tracing paper, butcher paper or recycled paper. Stamp designs, or add tasteful squiggles in a tasteful manner all over the paper. An easier manner would be to wrap the gift in the paper of choice, then add a topper and tasteful ribbons or bows around the wrapped gift, then add a gift tag to it. As the usual colours are used for certain holidays, choosing a colour that goes against the norm will bring attention to your gift. For example, red, gold and green are the favourite colours of Christmas. Wrap your gift in white paper, add a red ribbon around the wrapped gift, and add a topper that is a snowman with a brightly painted hat and nose.
3. Use any paper that you have – wall paper, crepe, plain paper and doll up the wrapped gift paper with wall border paper designs cut into the sizes you want. Few can tell the difference, and more are interested in what is beneath the wrapper than the wrapper itself. As with using cheap plain wrapping paper, use a topper or a gift card to doll up the gifts.
4. Use left over cloth from tailoring endeavours. Save up the scraps to wrap your gifts or to cut into strips and decorate plain paper wrapping. They are also easy to make into a simple flower topping, a bow or small stamp-cut shapes to decorate the gift. You might get as much as a metre of leftover cloth that is enough to wrap up some gifts of irregular shapes that do not come in a box. Sew the cloth into little bags to slip the gifts into and secure the openings with strong and colourful string, attractive brooches or diaper clips from maternity stores.
5. Use gift bags or the seasonal shopping bags. Like the wrapping paper, gift bags from large shopping centres are designed with the holiday in mind and are highly attractive to attract attention to them and their contents. These bags also solve the problem of how the recipient will carry the gifts home. They will save you plenty of money and time spent on wrapping up the gifts. Doll up the opening with a card fastened with staples.
6. Give the gifts as they are - unwrapped, and tagged with a gift card. Some gifts are tastefully wrapped in transparent plastics and trimmings, and look good enough to be distinguished as gifts. Have an attractive bag or seasonal shopping bag to hold all the goodies. During gift-exchange, whip out the gifts. The name tags on them will tell you who the recipients are.
Tonnes of wrapping paper are torn and thrown away during holidays. Using the above ideas to wrap your holiday gifts will not only save you money but also make your gifts stand out among others. You will also be saving hundreds of trees that Mother Earth has born by using or reusing materials designed for purposes other than wrapping paper.
