However, I do agree with some other posters. There are two friends of mine who are really into beautiful wrapping and bows. I always try to do something extra special for them. But for the others, I say, bring on the signature wrap!

I used the Sunday comics sections for kids’ gifts for many years. Another trick is to add stickers to the plain paper repurposed from some prior use. Young kids always seem to have leftover stickers around.

Truth is, I enjoy the art of wrapping presents and making them look special. Considering how modest the gifts themselves often are, making a nice presentation is added value, and depending on the receiver (most guys and children don’t care), is recognized as added love. It also makes a little look like a lot under the Christmas tree. But as a family, we have moved away from gift giving. This year I doubt if we will give presents at all. No one has any money.

I use and reuse gift bags with colored tissue paper (which can then also be reused), gift boxes which then become part of the gift and/or get reused, and I make wrapping paper out of used packing paper.

I bought some dishes at Crate & Barrel this year, and I know that all the packing paper they used to cushion my purchases will be getting fully crinkled (so it looks textured rather than “used”), flattened, perhaps decorated with drawings or stamps (if I have time) and then used to wrap stuff.

I have a variety of ribbon that I have simply saved from various gifts/flowers I’ve been given. (Collect a whole bunch of used ribbon in a container, and then iron the wrinkles out of a bunch all at once. It’s quick and easy.)

However! If you (like me) think that wrapping gifts and making them gorgeous is at least half the fun of gift-giving, buy all the paper you want! There are plenty of gift wrap holders available now. Gift wrap only becomes clutter if you don’t use it and you don’t make a place for it.

We also have fabric that is intended to be made into bags, but that hasn’t happened yet.

We also use a roll of paper from IKEA on our IKEA easel. The paper gets fed through the easel and held with a huge binder clip. When the kids are finished coloring both sides, I can use it for wrapping paper.

Another fun place? Thai Silks in Los Altos — they sell silk scarves which are 36×36 inches for about $5 and they are beautiful (there are many sizes & colors). You can wrap kid or adult gifts in these and they can become part of the gift or reusable gift wrap. Kids can play dress up with them, too!

I also like reusable shopping bags — IKEA has some holiday themed bags which would be great for large gifts which are about $2 each. Beautiful reusable shopping bags can be purchased at http://www.reusablebags.com/ for under $10, or you can sew your own if you’re crafty.

Also a solid colour paper stands out against all the multi-coloured wrapped pressents in a pile

Yes for the fabric bags thing – I did that a year or so ago, while fabric with a black swirly design and a red ribon to tie is up. Bags can then be used to hold undies when you go on holiday (or is that just me?).

One family member wrapped everything in the Finatial Times with red ribbons, looked really good – the FT is a distictive tan colour rather than regular newspaper colour.

I gave up gift tags years ago, they get lost – write their name and your name on the wrapping paper directly, one less thing – the tag – and more practical

I live in Tokyo and Japanese give a LOT of gifts all year round.* They also have very (very!) small homes. Consequently almost no one wraps their own gifts – the stores do it as a matter of course right at the check out counter. If they want something more personal, gift wrap is sold only in very small quantities (which makes it relatively expensive). Then again, stuff here is over-packaged from the get-go and frequently even daily use items look rather gift-y.

*About types of gifts: kids’ BD parties are rare and Xmas is just another imported holiday for a bit of fun, not the maniacal frenzy of a Stateside Xmas. Entire books have been written about the meaning of Japanese gifts – many of which are a way of fulfilling an obligation – and not heartfelt little wonders. Those exist of course, it’s just that a lot of the gift-giving going on is of a more ritualistic nature.

The SOLE purpose of wrapping paper should be to keep the gift a surprise. If the recipient is as pleased about the wrapping paper as the gift, then the gift is not all that good.

Going all “craft paper” and “grocery bags” is just lazy and shows that you have no imagination. Just get some whimsical ideas from whimsypress and be done. My gifts are always the hit of every party.