Each year, when I sit down with my Christmas list, which is inevitably long, my husband asks the same question. “Are you really going to wrap all those?” You see, the gifts don’t bother him, but wrapping, to him, is a waste of time and a waste of paper. He does not understand why I would go through so much trouble to give my friends, family members, and co-workers small gifts that are wrapped perfectly. I explain, every year, that it’s my way of showing that I care. Last year, things were a bit different. I just didn’t have the time! I looked at my Christmas lists, one for gifts and one for cards, and I had a light bulb moment. I realized I could wrap the small gifts in our personalized Christmas cards! My husband was obviously ecstatic about this plan, and he even “wrapped” his gifts for others all by himself.
We themed the “small” gifts around this idea and we ended up having so much fun picking out gifts in every price range. In the end, it turned out we had bought all our gifts to fit in cards. My co-workers received glass pendants, his co-workers received ornaments, and many on our list received gift cards. Since we always buy personalized holiday cards, with our names and a message printed inside, we used those beautiful cards to wrap everything. We sent our daughter a pair of handcrafted earrings and a gift card, and our son-in-law received tickets to a game. The most exciting part of our “small” gift adventure was the challenge. It was like a game, trying to find gifts in every price range that we could fit inside our Christmas cards. My husband had such a good time; he’s continuing the tradition this year!
Great idea! I’m going to do that this year for my co-workers and siblings. It’s going to be so much fun to get creative like that.
That’s such a good idea! Even though you will have to get creative you will save tons of time not wrapping and storage space. I always fill our office with the gifts I buy and when I need to use the computer, well… let’s just say that getting creative sounds a lot better than pushing all of those gifts around!
BUT I just LOVE wrapping gifts. Must be a sickness. If I buy say 3 separate gifts that could fit in one box I will still wrap each one individually. I like how presents look all wrapped up with bows and ribbons and the card. And the first impression of a beautifully wrapped gift is impressive.
I like this idea a lot. I don’t mind wrapping presents but when you get down to it the wrapping adds a lot to the cost of the gift. By the time you get the box, the paper, the bow and the card (which is a must) a $30 gift becomes a $35 – that’s like a 20% increase. And the box and bow gets thrown away – so why waste more money. Good ideaJayne.