by Currie Jean

Created on: November 30, 2010

Wrapping paper faces a tragic fate: it exists to be beautiful, only to be thrown away after fifteen minutes of fame as swiftly as a one-hit wonder. Poor stuff! And worse, poor wallet! All that money spent on a few fleeting moments of glory, before all is ripped away and forgotten. As sad as we may feel for the newly anthropomorphized stuff of gift wrap, we understand and accept that if we want to save money over the holidays, the best place to gouge spending is in the department of the disposable.

It isn't mandatory to use wrapping paper. Gift bags of both cloth and tough paper work just as well, and can be reused year after year to limit wrapping spending. Even wrapping paper itself can be reused. When unwrapping a gift, subtly pull the tape from the seams instead of recklessly ripping along with the kids. When collecting wrapping paper, go through it in private and pick out the good pieces. Fold them into squares and place a few books on top. The used wrapping paper will most likely emerge as good as new in a day or two. Pack it away for next year.

You can also make your own wrapping paper out of uniformly-placed binder paper, newspaper, or inexpensive plain brown paper. Dress it up with some sparkly ribbon for an environmentally friendly chic look. The contrast is quite visually pleasing, especially when using brown paper. You could even use the plain surface of a flattened paper bag for wrapping.

Sometimes, when you shop for Christmas presents, stores offer to wrap them for you for cheap, or even for free. Take advantage of this. It will save you money while making the gift look professionally beautiful.

If you want to make your own wrapping paper, use stamps on newsprint or plain paper. Carve the stamps from potato, or make cutouts and paint around their edges. Another option is to dip Christmas cookie cutters in your acrylic paint. To really save time and money, make a bulk batch of paper in one day and store your extras for later. Let the kids help, too!

Avoid expensive foil paper. The beauty of foil is sure to impress, but spending more on the gift beneath the paper impresses more. If you really want some sparkle, invest in nice ribbon, and use it sparingly. If you want to wrap the gift in ribbon like a parcel, measure it around the gift before you cut it, so you don't waste ribbon in lots of trimmings.

Buy your wrapping shortly after Christmas for next year. Wrapping materials are the first thing the stores reduce the most after Christmas, since it isn't used for anything but Christmas. You might even manage to find really nice foil paper for cheap, to give next year's gifts an expensive look. Buy paper in bulk in packages of multiple rolls, and store it in a cool, dry place along with this year's leftover wrapping materials.

Your most creative (and possibly strangest) option is to forgo wrapping altogether. It might be an interesting family Christmas tradition to hide gifts around the house Christmas morning as though they were Easter Eggs, and send the family on a hunt for them. Or - to keep the kids entertained for a bit on Christmas morning, letting you sleep late - leave a single present for each child unwrapped under the tree, with a "from Santa" tag on it. Allow the children to play with and explore their first gifts in the morning, so that they'll only awaken older siblings and parents after they get bored.

Whatever you do, don't stress over Christmas wrapping paper. There's always something you can use, and it's the gift beneath the paper that really counts.

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