Global Gift Wrapping

There are two places in the world where wrapping is taken to a whole new level whether it is for a gift or just for a purchase in a store. In France or Japan when you make a purchase in a store, it is carefully and neatly wrapped in paper and secured with a piece of tape. It is not just tissue paper as some of our stores do. It is more like a gift wrap paper. Your purchase is ready to be given as a gift when you walk out the door of the store.

The Japanese are especially careful about their gift wrap since gift giving is a big part of their culture even when it's not Christmas. By the way, they celebrate Christmas with a trip to KFC. Its become such a tradition that lines form around the block on Christmas day. But I digress.

In Japan you will also see gifts given in a piece of cloth, wrapped and tied neatly. This gift wrap is called furoshiki. (Click here to see some examples.)

Whether it is paper or cloth, the wrapping of the gift is as important and significant as the gift itself. Should you find yourself in the fortunate position of receiving a gift from someone who is Japanese, be sure to unwrap it with care and respect.

All of this reminds me that Mary wrapped God's gift to us, Jesus, in swaddling cloths. A precious gift wrapped with loving hands.

Color Coated Gift Wrap- By Trish Berg

One of the best Christmas gift wrapping tips is to color coat your gifts for each child or each extended family event.

We have 4 children, so from the time they were babies, each child inherited a gift wrapping color, which matches their stocking color as well.

Hannah - Hannah is green. So all her gifts are wrapped in paper that is mainly green.

Sydney - Sydney is red.

Colin - Colin is blue.

Riley - Riley is gold.

I purchase my wrapping paper at the end of the season on clearance prices, and store it in the attic. And keep in mind that the color coated paper does not need to be solid colors. It can be a pattern, just mainly that color. Then you don't have to label any gifts, each child knows their color. I also stack each child's gifts under the tree in a pile all theirs, so they know where to choose their gifts form one at a time to open them on Christmas morning.

As for extended family events, choose one color or type of paper for each extended family gathering so when you pack the car, its easy to see which gifts go where.

We also save all our boxes, store them in the attic, and reuse them every year. Any boxes worth saving (sturdy ones that are nice) make life easier when you are in need of boxes at wrapping time.

Christmas Package Decorations

I didn't realize how plain my gift wrapping had gotten until one year my daughter-in-law joked about there not being any ribbons or decoration on the Christmas gifts. When I thought back to some of the gifts I'd received as a child, I remembered some friends of our family who always had cute little dolls, or holiday greenery, or little toy trains tied onto the packages we unwrapped. Yes, I admit, I was shamed into getting more creative with my Christmas wrappings.

To save money on what can become an expensive endeavor, I hit the dollar stores and places where I know I can get small items to tape or tie to the tops of packages. The best happens when I plan ahead and shop the post-holiday sales. I can find all sorts of things to use for decoration that only cost 10 to 25 cents.

Or try using some floral pics that are out of season. Use some glitter spray to make them look more like the holidays. Who says you have to use red and green colors or only poinsettias for Christmas?

Another inexpensive gift topper is colored netting you can purchase in a fabric store. I cut 6-8" circles, gather them in the middle and tie a bit of curling ribbon around them to fasten. It beats trying to make big bows out of expensive ribbons.

How fancy do you get with your gift wrapping?

Money saving tip

My tip saves money and is kind to the earth since it recycles paper. When I see gift bags on sale, I buy a few. At a dollar store I bought several sizes of gift bags, in solid color green and in gold, for a dollar each.

Since they don’t have holiday themes on them, like Santa Claus or a Christmas tree, I use them during the year for family gifts at birthdays, and then use them at Christmas, often many times.

The bags don’t get torn, or taped, and look brand new each time we use them. I understand that traditional Christmas wrap releases toxic fumes when burned, and can’t be put with the recycling papers, so the festive bags are our wrap of choice.