After going out of your way to think of a good gift for a friend or loved one, and fitting the expense into your budget (hopefully), the last thing that any frugally inclined person will want to do is spend the extra money on gift wrapping material. Here are a few pieces of advice for wrapping gifts for free or for very cheap.
Have a Gift Wrapping Supplies Reuse Box
We have a box in our house that is dedicated specifically for saving and reusing gift wrapping supplies. Whenever my husband or kids receive a gift they know to be very careful to keep the wrapping nice. Our box has collected all types of ribbons, gift bags, and even some fancy gift wrapping paper.
Also, from an environmental perspective reusing gift wrapping is a must. According to Stanford Universities official site if in the next year, instead of wrapping presents in regular wrapping material, every family in the US were to use reused wrapping materials instead, the paper saved could cover 45,000 football fields
Use the Newspaper
The first time that I used a newspaper to wrap a gift I thought that it would turn out looking really cheap and ugly, but it didn’t. I actually think that wrapping a gift in cheap material is better than wrapping a gift with fancy wrapping paper.
• It’s more noticeable- since most gifts are wrapped with gift wrapping paper, gift recipients don’t really notice when they receive a gift wrapped up with wrapping paper. So your gift wrapped up in newspaper actually stands out.
• The gift isn’t a letdown- Fancy wrapping suggests that the gift inside is similarly fancy, while newspaper wrapping doesn’t- your gifts recipient will have no reason to be let down.
• It’s engaging- every time that I have used newspaper to wrap a gift somebody has picked it up and started reading one of the articles. The words on the page become more of a novelty when they wrap a gift.
Check out this post to see how to wrap and make this cute bow out of your newspaper!
Buy Real Wrapping Paper for Cheap
If you insist on using real wrapping paper, then buy it a after the holiday season for major discounts.
Not every gift-wrapping option will work for everyone. Some people will simply not appreciate a present which is wrapped in newsprint, while others will love it. And as they say, “it’s the thought that counts,” so put some thought into who will appreciate what, and your gift will give just the right impression.
Author’s bio:
Rachel Walker is a FastUpFront Blog contributor and business consultant. Fastupfront offers business cash advance financing based on future sales.
I love doing this! I use colored tissue paper for smaller packages and I save all manner of ribbon for wrapping. I usually just tie it in a knot and trim the ends and don’t even bother with bows. And you can make great gift tags out of scrapbook paper, construction paper or coloring book pages.