marciamae:

I don't have a Dollar Tree but my dollar store has Christmas stuff.  I just bought Christmas wrap there...really nice stuff.  I NEVER pay more than a dollar a roll for Christmas wrap.

There's really no point in spending more than a buck for Christmas wrap, is there? The paper at the dollar store is just as pretty as anywhere else and it all just ends up in the garbage anyway. I have begun keeping an eye out for alternatives to using so much wrapping paper, especially at Christmas time. Anybody got any unique ideas about this?

Our Dollar Trees have had Christmas stuff out for a few weeks now.

 

I have been sewing some reusable gift bags out of scrap fabric to reduce the wrapping paper in our home.

How big are the rolls of paper at the everything $1 type stores?

 

Marlene Alexander:

I have begun keeping an eye out for alternatives to using so much wrapping paper, especially at Christmas time. Anybody got any unique ideas about this?

I'm with you, Marlene, that's why I don't spend more than a dollar a roll for Christmas wrap!  Another thing I do is save all the gift bags we get for the next year.  Most of them are in good enough condition so you can't really tell they're being reused.  That's an old trick so I'm sure you have thought of it yourself.  I have heard of people getting big rolls of plain white paper and letting their kids draw on it or use Christmas stickers and cut tags out of old Christmas cards. Rubber stamping is another possibility, though I have found the initial outlay for stamping is pretty expensive so I don't do that myself.  DH likes the pretty paper so I compromise and buy it all at the dollar store but there must be a better way than that!

Marlene Alexander:

I have begun keeping an eye out for alternatives to using so much wrapping paper, especially at Christmas time. Anybody got any unique ideas about this?

 

I use old maps, posters from yard sales, the Sunday comics, material cut from old shirts, baseball caps make great gift baskets as do most old ladies type hats from thrift stores, I use long colorful socks and stockings, I send a package of brown lunch bags to friends with little ones and send along markers in holiday colors.  Thru the year she has them decorate a few and just before Christmas she sends them to me for use the following year.  I found 3 dish towels for $1 each at Dollar Tree, I can use those also.  When I come across nice tins with lids I stash those to "wrap" gifts.  I also paint clay pots and use the bottom dish as a lid attaching a wooden knob to the center.

M ~ 

 

i went a little nuts bout 3 years ago, and bought tons of wrapping paper for something like 25 cents a roll-----i have so much, that i could wrap all of my neighobrs gifts as well!

large pieces that look nice get saved, gift bags get used and reused (until it leaves my house for a gift that is, otherwise, ill use them until they fall apart)

i use comics for bday gifts for everyone, savign those too, ifthey arent all mangled, and will use again if i can

shoeboxes covered in nice paper (or glued on candy wrappers, liek starbrust wrappers) get used an used and used (too bad all of my shoeboxes  currently are being used for storage right now)

magazine pages, childrens artwork (large pieces) fabric on occasion

Do I understand correctly that you have to pay for wrapping a present in the stores? Here in Holland that all is included in the price. Even if you don't have it wrapped you will get no refund orso.

 Very few stores will gift wrap for free. Sometimes you can pay extra for gift wrapping or a gift bag. Babs

Now I can image why you all do make such an effort on wrapping your gift! I do buy wrappingpaper sometime just to make sure that  nobody will know in what store I bought it. I never thougt of it that you had to pay for it!!

Never thought of that. It's so common here that they wrap the present for you that I never thougth of paying for it. Most stores have wrapping paper on rolls after you paid for your items so you can wrap them as you want to.