Day 110 - Ixnay on the Apwray

No Wrapping Paper This Year

Before I start the post, is it just me or does Blogger seem to change the paragraphs on everyone else out there too? I mean, I can have all my paragraph spacing the way I want it, hit "Publish" and BOOM! Suddenly I have about 37 carriage returns

between

each

thought.

Except today when it decided to squishallmyparagraphstogetherlikeonebigrunonsentence,similartothisonerighthere.

Rant over, posting starts here.

OK, continue with my Holiday Plan, this year I will not purchase any gift wrap for the presents I buy. Instead I will:

1. Reuse the gift bags I currently have
2. Reuse the tissue paper stash I have
3. Wrap in comics (for gift giving at home, so I know it will be recycled)
4. Sew up Gift Bags
5. Make bows out of real ribbons that can be reused

Personally, I've always done #1 and #2, not because I've always been eco-conscious, but because I've always been cheap.

I used to do #3 when I was a kid and I'm sure my kids will like it too. I need to start saving those comics now though, to make sure I have enough.

I've done #4 a couple of times with hard-to-wrap items and it's really quite a simple task. It helps that I sew for a meager living and have all the tools and materials already handy.

#5 will be tricky for me, though. I've never been a good bow-tier (that doesn't look like "Tie-Er", which is what I mean to say, not "tier" like a wedding cake layer). Anyhow, I'm going to stop by Michaels and see if one of those crafty ladies will show me how to make a fancy bow.


Savings:

If I remember correctly, last year we stuffed two 13 gallon trash bags with wrapping paper, gift tags, bows and other miscellaneous trimmings. This year, I hope to cut that number in half. At least in half.


Difficulty Level: 2 out of 5

Knowing that I'll have to be creative in my wrapping, and possibly have to sew gift bags, I think I will be more motivated to keep the shear number of gifts to a minimum! Good for the earth, good for the cheapskate's wallet.