So Benjamin’s birthday was… a month ago. And we got him presents. And we wanted to wrap said presents.
But all we could find was Christmas wrapping paper. Neither my husband nor I wanted to go out and buy wrapping paper. My husband reasoned that a one-year-old wouldn’t know the difference and set out to wrap his gifts in red and green.
But I knew the truth. I knew that pictures would be taken. I knew that this one-year-old would one day look at this picture as a twenty-five-year-old and would raise his thick, bushy eyebrows and ask in an incredulous, baritone voice, “Christmas wrapping paper? For my birthday?” And then his fiance would look over his shoulder at the album and would vow to herself she would never be such a failure of a mother as I so obviously was.
So something had to be done.
Noting that the back of the paper was a clean, matte white; brilliance struck. “Wrap it inside out!” I exclaimed.
My husband then raised his thick, bushy eyebrows and asked in an incredulous, baritone voice, “Inside out?”
Being a good man, he obeyed.
And we did this:
(That would be Olivia and Grandma hard at work… Good little slaves… Good…)
And the finished product:
Leap Frog Fridge Phonics – $20
Wooden train set – $10
Hand-made wrapping paper – Priceless.
(I do apologize for the Mastercard thing. I know it’s been overdone. But it was a perfect segue!)
I knew that Christmas wrapping paper can be bought ridiculously cheap after the holidays, but I had never stocked up before. I just might start doing this now…
Anyone else have frugal wrapping paper stories they want to tell?
Your story made me laugh, especially about the fiancee looking at the photo album someday…oh how true 🙂
Great idea!
NICE! I don’t think the back of our Christmas wrapping paper is white though. OH well! We use newspaper sometimes, the comics work good. or paper bags. Also you can buy rolls of brown paper (like for mailing packages) for a few dollars, and there is more paper on it than on a roll of wrapping paper.
What we do more is use gift bags. Seems like lots of people are doing that now, so we get them and just keep them.
I was at a baby shower a few weeks ago, and the mother in law was taking all the tissue paper from the bags (as the pregnant woman took it out of course) She said she reuses it! I thought What a great idea! everyone always throws it away, and although tissue paper isn’t THAT expensive, every penny counts right?!
When I was a little girl we used to reuse wrapping paper all the time. We used very little tape. And the person unwrapping had to be VERY careful!
Many times when wrapping a present, we would reminisce about what had been wrapped in it the year before! Or try to remember who had originally started that particular wrapping paper’s circulation!
Of course, that was back when wrapping paper was more durable!
If you have any leftover wallpaper (or find some cheap or free at a garage sale), it works well as wrapping paper.
If you have some scrapbooking paper you know you’ll never use, that works too.
Thanks for the tip and cute pictures. 🙂
Jennifer
My mom also did the comics from the Sunday paper (because those were color), and I have used tissue paper to wrap things as well. But I read about an idea that I thought was really smart: save the artwork that your kids do (the miscellaneous drawn pictures, coloring scribbles, and paintings) and wrap things in that. Works especially well for gifts to grandparents, so I’ve heard. Plus then you don’t feel guilty about throwing them away (you can’t save them all, right?).
My sister’s birthday is 2 days before Christmas. I don’t think she has EVER had a birthday present not wrapped in Christmas paper.
When Christmas paper is on sale I try to buy some of the pretty foil papers that are just plain colors to use in cases like this (red, silver, green, gold). Those work well for just about anything.
A word to the wise though, don’t let your 3 year old daughter who is in a Dora the Explorer phase go with you to buy wrapping paper for the husband’s birthday present. My husband’s friends still tease him about his Dora wrapped birthday present and Dora birthday card that she chose for him 😀