Economical Gift Wrapping for the Holidays

At this very expensive time of year, most of us welcome any means by which we can save a few dollars. Here are some gift wrapping tips to leave you saying "Ho, ho, ho!" instead of "Broke, broke, broke!":

Purchase curling ribbon to embellish your Christmas gifts ($2.99 for 500 yards at Target stores). It's pretty, festive, and practically uncrushable. With a little practice, it's simple to create beautiful curls by drawing the ribbon across the blade of a scissors (not as dangerous as it sounds).

Make your own small holiday gift bags from white lunch bags. Decorate the bags using holiday rubber stamps, cancelled Christmas postage stamps, craft paints and stencils, or designs cut from last year's Christmas cards. Fold the top of the bag over an inch and punch two holes in the folded portion of the bag. Thread curling ribbon through the holes, tie a knot, curl the ends of the ribbon, and you've made an attractive, reusable gift bag for pennies.

Colored lunch bags are available at Target. I purchased a pack of forty dark blue lunch bags for $1.99 and a roll of white curling ribbon. I plan to paint white snowflakes on the bags using a stencil and craft paint I already have and close the bags using the white curling ribbon. The total cost for each gift bag is less than ten cents.

Recycle gift bags and boxes from previous years. Tie curling ribbon around the boxes rather than taping them closed and you or the recipient may be able to use them for yet another year.

Create free gift tags by cutting pretty designs from old holiday cards, write "To" and "From" on the blank back side and punch a hole near the top of the design. Thread curling ribbon through the hole and tie the ribbon to secure the tag to the package.

Get in the habit of buying your bows and wrapping paper at after-Christmas sales and store it until the following holiday season. You may be able to purchase wrapping paper at up to 90% off the original price.

When shopping the post-holiday sales, search for bows and wrapping paper you can use all year long. Bold colored plaid patterns are ideal for men's gifts, plain red, green or blue paper can be used for almost any gift all year long, and silver and gold papers and bows can be used for wedding and anniversary gifts.

Ask for a free gift box with each purchase you make. During the holiday season, you may be given a gift box that is already decorated so there is no need for further embellishment. If you are given a white box, you may still be able to forego the wrapping paper. Cover the store logo with a bow, tie the box shut with colored curling ribbon and scatter Christmas stamps or stickers on the box top.

If you're planning to present an over-sized gift, there's no need to use yards and yards of paper to wrap it. You can place the item in a large garbage bag and tie it shut with several colorful lengths of curling ribbon. You may want to hide the item away and draw or download a picture of the object. Wrap the picture in a small box for the recipient to open. Another option would be to hide the item, write out clues regarding where the item has been hidden, wrap the clues in a small box or bag and let the recipient go on a treasure hunt.

With some pre-planning and a little imagination, you can make your holiday budget go farther.