Out of Gift-Wrap? Try These Clever Substitutes!

From Christmas to birthdays, to anniversaries and weddings, there are all kinds of occasions where it's appropriate to give gifts. While shopping for gifts is always fun and giving them is very fulfilling, wrapping gifts can sometimes be an expensive hassle, especially for December birthdays and other awkwardly-timed events, when you want to wrap a gift in a way that isn't holiday-specific, but that still feels elegant.

If you run out of gift-wrap, or simply don't have the money to go buy a whole new slew of gift-wrapping ingredients, here are some easy ways to wrap a respectable gift without settling for the newspaper comics!

Use last year's calendar
Especially for December holidays, using last year's calendar pages to wrap gifts is an exceptional way to recycle that old calendar! Simply cut your calendar apart and wrap gifts with the pages! It can be fun to look on the inside of the page once a gift has been unwrapped and look at important events and holidays you wrote down from the previous year!

Ask at the store
It may seem like a no-brainer, but don't forget that when you buy a gift most stores will be willing to wrap it for you or give you some gift wrapping supplies for free! While this is a service that is most common during the holiday season, many stores will wrap your presents year-round, so it won't hurt to ask!

Use fabric!
Handkerchiefs, bandannas, tablecloths, and even bed sheets all make excellent, re-usable wrappings, especially for gifts within your own family where you can simply save the wrappings and use them next year, or go back to wearing them or putting them on your table. Why waste tons of paper wrapping gifts for your family each year when unfolding a gift from within a familiar old bandanna is just as exciting, and much more economical? Try this environmentally and pocket-book friendly solution this year, and it may just become a family tradition!

Use magazine pages!
You know all those magazines and catalogs sitting around your house? They often contain several pages that are ideal for wrapping! Search for pages that are largely one color, contain a regular pattern, or have a favorite animal, sports player, or celebrity on them. If a page is almost perfect, but has a logo on it or some wording you'd like to hide, adding a bow, sticker, or ribbon to cover the wording can make your package picture-perfect, without the cost of wrapping paper!

Use maps!
Especially useful for men's and boys' gifts, the large maps that come with publications like National Geographic make excellent, educational wrapping paper, and are often printed on sturdy paper, ideal for wrapping presents! This is a great solution for larger gifts and theme-specific gifts, and can be a fun wrapping idea even if you've got plenty of wrapping paper in the house!