Every other Tuesday, our lovely cleaning lady comes to visit. She is a precious person and I love spending time with her when she's here. This week, I was wrapping a kid's birthday present while she was working. I was so proud of the freshly wrapped gift that I showed it to her when I was done. The first thing she said was, "Did you take a picture of it? You have to take a picture of it!".
So I did.
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When it comes to gift wrap, I face a bit of a personal conundrum. I LOVE GIFT WRAP. To me, when a present is nicely wrapped, the presentation is better than the gift itself. The paper snob in me often has fights with the treehugger in me. Dead trees make wrapping paper......paper that, frankly, most people don't appreciate. It just gets ripped off and thrown in the trash (for most people). When Hubbs had his surgery a few months ago, my dear friend gave him a present. It came in a white bag and had the most adorable tissue paper. Plus a cute dog-themed ribbon. Of course I saved it. When I went to wrap this present (a hardback copy of this book), I combed through my gift wrap collection, pulled out these tissue papers and put together the above present. I didn't spend ONE CENT on the wrapping. No resources were wasted on new paper/gift bag, I had an enjoyable moment of creativity and, I hope the recipient and his parents will enjoy the presentation and appreciate the effort put into the wrapping. For me, it just felt good and I was so happy to pass it on to someone else!
On occasion, I will purchase a roll of fresh, new paper. I go for the high-quality stuff since I buy it so infrequently. Paper Source Wrap is 100% recyclable and is made from 30% post-consumer waste....which makes me feel a little less guilty about buying it! My most recent purchase is the hedgehog paper below. Love, love, love. It looks great with simple twine wrapped around it and a mushroom-shaped grocery store bag card (wish I had a photo to share).
This is thick, hardy paper that can be reused over and over again. It's so beautiful that I can't bear to think of the recipient just balling it up and throwing it in the trash. I have one piece of this paper that I've now reused three times! And, in case you're wondering, this is in no way a sponsored post ~ I know it sounds that way!
I adore being at a party or shower with someone's grandmother or great aunt or senior friend/relative who can't bear to throw gift wrap away. I love when they regale party guests with tales of surviving The Great Depression and not believing in throwing anything away. Those great ladies can teach us a lot!
I have to say, also, that I'm always a little crushed when I receive a gift and it's been thrown in a cheap, ugly, Dollar Store gift bag with some crumpled up tissue paper. Am I the only one? You see, I call myself a paper snob for good reason!
I keep a Pinterest board just for gift wrap ideas and I look at it often for ideas and inspiration! There are some GREAT recycled gift wrap ideas on there!
I decided to write this post because I'm curious what others do. Do you recycle gift wrap, ribbons, bows, etc? What's your gift wrap philosophy (yes, there is such a thing!)? Do you buy the cheap stuff (since it will likely be trashed) or invest in the good stuff? Do you appreciate a nicely wrapped gift? Are you as passionate about gift wrap as me? Please share!!!!
I could seriously talk about gift wrap all day long.....
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As an aside, I once used a sweet owl print wrapping paper for a baby shower a few years ago. (I am SO NOT a traditionalist when it comes to gift wrap ~ I refuse to use pink wrapping paper for baby girls ~ girls are SO MUCH MORE interesting than that!) The gift wrapped in the vibrant green and orange with the adorable little owls really stuck out on the gift table and lots of women commented on how much they liked the paper. One lady went up to my friend afterwards and asked if she could have the leftover owl wrapping paper. She liked it so much that she wanted to frame a little piece of it for her daughter's bedroom and reuse the remainder! That made me smile from ear to ear.
So pretty! I love making an effort with gift-wrapping too -- it really does show you care, plus it's fun getting creative :)
ReplyDeleteI had a feeling you might say that! You make such beautiful things!!!
DeleteWell, I usually use gift bags for their convenience BUT I'm very picky about which one. I also love to receive gifts in bags so that I can use them again. There are so many cute ones now that you can really make a cute presentation. Of course I like to add all the things to go with (coordinating tissue, bows, cards). At Christmas I wrap all of my presents with brown butcher paper and embellish them in different ways- paints, ribbon, raffia. I guess I'm a bit of a paper snob too. Your gift was adorably wrapped!
ReplyDeleteHi Jeanette! You know, I did the exact same thing once for Christmas. I wrapped everything in brown postal paper but then embellished with little bells, nice ribbon, a pretty bow, etc. I loved how they all looked so GORGEOUS together. I'm a dork and I usually try to coordinate ALL of my holiday gifts. I can't help myself. Thanks for visiting...
DeleteOkay, that settles it, you MUST be my daughter!
ReplyDeleteARE you KIDDING me? I have been teased for YEARS about saving paper and re-using it, for many more years than you, I am sure! Have you ever been so excited over the wrapping that people will say to you, "Just open the present already and quit talking about the wrapping!"?
I love the wrapped present that you showed us and your cleaning lady was right, it needed showing! Beautifully wrapped, well done you!
Haha. YES, that has absolutely happened to me. I REALLY appreciate when someone takes the time to "do it up nice" so I gush a lot when it happens. Some friends had a baby shower for me before Clara was born. Someone gave me a gift still in the shopping bag. She just handed it to me and said she didn't have time to wrap it. Now I am all about the thought behind the gift and I was very thankful and appreciative. But, as for me, I'd sooner arrive without a gift than to not wrap it!!!! (PAPER SNOB) Thanks for your sweet comment, as always! Blogging is just so much more fun when you're involved, Kay!
DeleteAudrey - I stumbled across your post and wanted to let you know about a reusable, stretchy fabric gift wrap my husband and I developed to help save time and trees. You can check it out at www.lilywrap.com -- as a lover of beautifully-wrapped gifts and a bit of a tree hugger, I had the same internal battle as you did. All the best, Ashley
ReplyDeleteHi Ashley! Thanks for letting me know ~ I'll definitely check it out. Sounds so fun!
DeleteHi Audrey!
ReplyDeleteI'm catching up as you can see!
Please get over your guilt about using beautiful gift wrap! Your beautiful gift wrapping brings people joy!
And try not to get too hung up over people tossing your creations in the trash ~ all you can control is the beauty you send out into the world!
I love wrapping gifts, and I always try to take care, even if I'm time-stressed. I try to salvage and reuse everything! I'm flattening out tissue paper and puffing up bows.
I save beautiful gift boxes too. Sometimes I reuse well-shaped sturdy boxes, although now I'm trying to be a little more selective. The frozen chicken breast box I recycled to wrap a nephew's present in caused quite a sensation one recent Christmas morning!
Please keep wrapping your beautiful creations!
Hi Louise! "All you can control is the beauty you send out into the world!". Um, I LOVE THAT!!! That really spoke to me this morning. Thanks! I'm sure that frozen chicken breast box did cause a stir. That is too, too funny (and totally something I might do, if I ate chicken!!!). Thanks so much for your comment!!!
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