Thrifty Christmas: Thrifty Gift Wrapping

You can spend big, big money on wrapping paper, ribbons and bows for Christmas, just take a stroll through Wal-Mart, Target or even Hallmark. So here are my "tips" for cinching up that wrapping paper black hole:

• After the holidays, take advantage of the clearance wrapping paper and store until next year
• Purchase a generic paper (like I've done here) that will work for any holiday, I generally find mine on clearance or the dollar stores.
• If you like the regular Christmas paper, shop at the Dollar Stores and shop EARLY for the best selection.

Bows (to me) seem like a HUGE waste of money (not too mention get crushed and pop off!), so here's a few ideas to replace them:

• Tulle (found on clearance or I've seen it at rolls at Dollar Tree), lend a certain elegance to a simple wrapped package (see pic above), I've never gone wrong with tulle and one spool goes VERY far!
• Thread (yes, thread, see picture above) wound several times looks fabulous and is something I have every color of in my sewing cabinet. You can finish it with a simple bow, I finished it with one of my glittered snowflakes.
• Jute, looks FABULOUS on mens packages, especially if you've wrapped them in "shipping" paper.
• String (like kite string) also looks great
• Fabric strips, torn, also looks great on shipping paper packages
• Mini Candybars make great bows AND get eaten!
• Ornaments (I personally love the snowflakes at the dollar store that come in packages of 10!)

Do you have any wrapping ideas? If so, I'd love to read about them, just leave a comment!

Tomorrow I'll discuss quick and easy (and thrifty!) package labels...