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Wrapping gifts


Night Elf
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Do you wrap your gifts as you get them, or all at once? This is the first time I've shopped so early and having gifts feels very strange! I usually just keep them in my closet but I don't want a stack of wrapped gifts in there for a month! I'll have to put them downstairs in the storage room this year I guess.

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I usually can't find time without interuption to wrap them when I buy them. I just put them in my closet when I get home (or the UPS man comes ;) ). Closer to Christmas I manage to find an hour here or there to wrap. Like if I can get dh to take both kids when he has a rare urge to go to Walmart. I used to be able to do some if I could occupy dd while ds napped, but he only takes a short nap about once a week.

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I used to wrap them and only put a nametag on before stacking somewhere out of sight. I'd add ribbon and bows later. I finally just started putting them under the tree anyway.

 

Once the tree is up (it's up, have to fix the lights and then we can add ornamnets) I'll wrap and stick under the tree. It's kinda fun to watch the pile grow. I only have one who still believes in santa. while he loves looking at all the presents, he's never tried to sneak a peak.

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I've always been afraid to put gifts under the tree as they are wrapped. When the kids were younger, I put everything out on Christmas Eve after they went to bed. We have always had pets, cats and dogs, and I just envision them deciding the packages are enemies that must be destroyed. Once my kids became teens, I put gifts out on Christmas morning because they all sleep in and I have to wake everyone up to start Christmas! Gone are the days when the excited kids run into my bedroom wanting me to get up to see what Santa has brought.

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For the past few years I have been sending dh and the kids to the movies on Christmas Eve and wrapping everything at once. Now that I don't have to worry about the Santa thing, I want to start wrapping now, but I'm out of tape, and keep forgetting to buy more. When the dc were little, I wrapped some at night whenever I got the chance and stuck under the tree or hid them if they were from Santa. That got harder as they got older. This is the first year I don't have to worry about Santa. We believe in letting them believe for as long as possible!

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I tend to do quite a bit of shopping early and then throughout the end of November and beginning of December I take a half hour here or there when I can to lock myself away and wrap as much as I can. I like to have pretty much everything bought and wrapped a week or two before the day so that I can focus on cooking, cleaning, and, of course, enjoying myself :001_smile: .

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Our tradition is that, from the evening the Christmas tree is decorated (usually around the 16th or 17th), one present per night appears magically during the night. We might have to adjust that a little this year, since we're cutting back a bit on gifts. Or perhaps I'll wrap components of gifts individually to make more packages. I haven't decided yet.

 

Anyway, this means I pretty much wrap one gift each evening after the coast is clear. And my husband usually wraps a few at a time whenever he's home alone in the evening. He really likes the tree to fill up with stuff for Christmas morning, though. So, we always keep back any large items or make sure there are enough medium-sized things to make a nice show on the big day. And those usually get wrapped on Christmas eve or, if I'm really organized, a day or two before.

 

We don't wrap with paper. Instead, I made a batch of simple fabric bags several years ago that we keep and re-use. I've added to the collection each year as I find fun remnants at the fabric store or when we need a bag to fit a specific item. We try, whenever possible, to stick with lengths of re-usable fabric ribbon, too. This means that "wrapping," in our case, is pretty simple. We stick the item in a bag and tie a ribbon on it. We do hand-make tags, usually with construction paper. And that can take a little time and effort. But it's still much quicker and more environmentally friendly than wrapping paper (cheaper, too). One bonus we didn't anticipate is that the kids have gotten sentimental about the bags, themselves, and look forward to seeing them each year.

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We don't really wrap--we use the zillion Christmas bags that I've made over the years. The whole gift wrap thing drives me nuts--you either throw a bunch of paper away, stuff it in the woodstove, causing a chimney fire or try to save it--making a mess. I like the bags... :D I pile stuff up in an upstairs closet and we pretty much bag everything at once. Dh didn't want to get a tree whilst the girls were home (makes no sense to me) so now we either go without someone or wait until the 18th. We have to remember the picture of Navy girl--we had her "present" for the Thanksgiving picture and it meant a lot to her!

 

Do you mean you sew fabric bags? That sounds really cute, can you post pics? I am off to google for directions! Thanks!

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Do you mean you sew fabric bags? That sounds really cute, can you post pics? I am off to google for directions! Thanks!

 

Here are a couple of posts from The Frugal Girl that might be inspiring: http://www.thefrugal...bag-miscellany/ and http://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2008/12/fabric-gift-bags-from-old-clothes/

 

Honestly, the bags I've made have been more simple than the ones shown in the blog post. I've mostly used remnants and scraps of fabric left over from other projects. I just put together two pieces of fabric, sew around three sides and turn down and stitch in place the top edge. Each one takes about five minutes to make.

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Here are a couple of posts from The Frugal Girl that might be inspiring: http://www.thefrugal...bag-miscellany/ and http://www.thefrugal...om-old-clothes/

 

Honestly, the bags I've made have been more simple than the ones shown in the blog post. I've mostly used remnants and scraps of fabric left over from other projects. I just put together two pieces of fabric, sew around three sides and turn down and stitch in place the top edge. Each one takes about five minutes to make.

 

Those are cute and they look easier than what I found by googling which was bags with drawstrings. I am planning to find some fun fabric and make these for birthdays! Thanks!

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I'm hoping to wrap them as I get time this month. We will hopefully go get our tree and get it decorated this weekend, so I plan on starting to wrap and put the gifts we have for extended family under the tree. Ideally, I'd like to be able to get the boys' gifts wrapped too, but I don't know when I would have time since they are always here. I usually end up wrapping their gifts after they go to bed on Christmas Eve.

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I wrap once I have most of the gifts, then as the last few trickle in, I wrap those. Right now I have everything wrapped, including stocking stuffers, with the exception of the few gifts that haven't arrived.

 

I always have 2 coordinating papers, and wrap all my presents to match. I change up doing bows or ribbon each year, and last year I did flat ribbon with a flat, glittery ornament on craft paper. Stocking presents ate always a solid that matches the printed paper. I don't like when they don't all match.

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