The Frugal Father

by Fred Claus
Grand Island Dispatch, December 1, 2006

Gift-wrap isn’t always paper

I know it’s hard to believe, but the holiday season is almost upon us again. You go out and buy all the gifts for friends and family, then bring them home. Now what are you going to use to wrap them with? When I was researching this column, I found no shortage of advice. Here are some of my favorite ideas.
After Holiday Sales

Make a note: A lot of the stores hold after-holiday sales on all of that holiday’s related items. Some stores go as far down as 80 percent off the regular price. That’s a great time to stock up for next year. Gift wrap, and the like can be very costly, and if you don’t buy year-specific wrap, you can save a great deal by picking up some after the holiday is over. Some stores even put these items on sale the night before the holiday as a way to get rid of the items but still catch this year’s holiday rush.

Free Gift-wrap

While you are out doing your holiday shopping, check with the stores to see if they offer free gift-wrapping of any items purchased in their location. If that’s the case, go for it. Not only will this save you the hassle of buying paper yourself, it will also help to keep the gifts a secret. No more snooping to see if you can find the gifts before they are wrapped. If you are shopping at a local mall, you may find the mall itself is offering gift-wrap either free or for a small fee. Sometimes that fee gets donated to a local charity. You may find it cheaper than buying something or using one of the other ideas given here.

While you are in the store buying your gifts, you may be asked “Would you like a gift box for this?” If the gift boxes are free, then the answer to this question is always “yes.” Even if the item is for you, or not a gift, you never know when that box will come in handy.

Use the gift itself

You can use the gift itself as the wrapping paper. Let’s say you are buying gifts for someone moving to a new home. One of the gifts could be a kitchen trash can. Use the can as a gift bag. Take each of the remaining gifts and wrap them loosely in newspaper. Then place them all in the can. The can now looks like it’s full of trash, when in fact it’s holding the recipients’ remaining items. You could do the same with laundry hampers, or laundry baskets as well.

Keeping on this same theme, I have also used other items such as towels, sheets, pillowcases, shirts, and other foldable items. All of these combined with a bit of ribbon make great wrapping paper that, once unwrapped, are useful around the house instead of being tossed in the trash.

Paper not Plastic

Next time you go to the supermarket, ask them for a couple paper bags. These can be easily cut and turned inside out. I remember when I was in high school I used the shopping bag as a book cover. The same can be done for gifts, and to make it more appealing, you can let your children decorate the plain brown bag before you wrap the gift.

Newspaper

I have seen many gifts wrapped in newspaper. Some people think it looks cheap, but I prefer to use the term “Frugal.” Wrapping your gifts in newspaper (use the comic for children’s gifts) is a great way to recycle the newspaper and not spend a lot on gift-wrap. While watching a TV program set in the 1800s, I noticed the characters use twine instead of tape to secure packages. Adding twine to the newspaper helps to make it look a bit old-fashioned as well.
Left over gift-wrap

Many times at my family gift-giving get-togethers, someone receives a gift with the wrapping paper on inside out. At birthday parties, you may find they took Christmas gift-wrap and turned it around so the white side is showing, instead. It’s a great way to use the leftover gift-wrap and save money.

Brown Shipping Paper

Office supply stores sell a plain brown paper wrap that can be used to cover boxes for shipping. This paper can also be used as a more cost-effective wrapping paper. Just like using the grocery store paper bags, you can let the kids color and create pictures on this stuff to make it even more personal.

Decorative Tins

Do you have any left over cookie tins, or decorated coffee cans? These make great gift boxes. Since they are already decorated, there is no need to wrap them. Just add a little tape to hold the lid on and you are good to go. If you don’t have any left over now, make sure you ask friends and family to save them for you.

Shopping bags

Next time you are in a nice store and they ask “Would you like this in a bag?” tell them yes, even if you don’t need one. Some stores give out some really nice bags that can double as a gift bag at Christmas time.

I don’t know about you, but this holiday season, my family has another reason to be frugal. My wife gave birth to our third child, a baby girl on Wednesday. Nov. 1. Cheyenne Autumn made her entrance into the world via emergency C-Section at 8:23 a.m. Cheyenne was the largest of our three children, weighing 9 lbs., 1.5 oz, and measuring 22 inches long. Cheyenne, along with her big sister, Mikayla, and big brother, Jayce, are the reason I am “The Frugal Father.”

I hope the information in this month’s column is helpful. What I have mentioned here is just a very small sampling of the many alternatives to costly gift-wrap. If you search the Internet, you can find a couple hundred more ways to frugally wrap just about any gift you want. Remember, if you have any tips of your own for doing everyday things in a frugal way; please send them along to me, “The Frugal Father” care of this newspaper. Also include your name if you wish to be credited with the idea. We would love to hear from our readers, so if you have any ideas for future columns, write to us and let us know.