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Eat, Shop & Be Merry Photo by Staci Lehman

If you need inspiration for creative gift wrapping, look around the house for paper and supplies. A map or sheet music can be used to dress up gifts for your favorite traveler or music lover.

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Eat, Shop & Be Merry: Wrap up your shopping — creatively
11/23/2015 3:14:59 PM



Eat, Shop & Be Merry Photo by Sarah Burk
Wire, craft accents, floral items and stamps all can be used to add flair to typical gift wrapping. For children, use coloring pages along with a handful to crayons to keep them busy prior to opening time. Mismatch those small scraps of leftover wrapping paper in coordinating colors or patterns to cover boxes.

By Staci Lehman
For Eat, Shop & Be Merry

It's the thought that counts when giving a gift, as the saying goes. But how you present the gift can be almost as nice as the thought behind it. While store-bought wrapping paper is classic, if you want to wow that loved one, score some points with a client or mollify the neighbor after a particularly loud holiday party that went way too late, try something a little more creative this year.

From maps and sheet music to photos and fabric, if you've got it in your house, you can find a way to make it look good on a gift. And you don't have to be Martha Stewart or own stock in Pinterest to achieve the looks below. In fact, most are so easy, a child could do it.  

The best part: While you can spend almost as much money on wrapping as you did on shopping, it's definitely not a requirement, as we demonstrate here. 

Wrap jobs on a budget
If you spent a little too much on gifts this year, you can take some pressure off your budget by not buying wrapping paper and bows. For a colorful package for your favorite traveler, wrap a travel-themed gift in free road maps from rest stops or those old maps from your glove box. You're not using them anyway since the smart phone came along.

Dress them up with a bow, ribbon or any other kind of thread or cord you have around. 

Have a musician in the family? Along the same lines as maps, you can repurpose sheet music as wrapping paper. If available, use a seasonal tune, such as "Jingle Bells" or "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer," to add that extra holiday touch.

If you have a rag bag or old clothes or shirts destined to be used to wash the car or change the oil, use a piece of the (clean) fabric to wrap your gifts. You can also use a holiday dishtowel. 

To literally "dress up" your package wrapped in fabric, clean out old costume jewelry from your jewelry box and stick a brooch or two on top for flair instead of a bow. This not only results in a creatively and attractively wrapped gift, it also tastefully re-gifts items you're not using. If you don't have a brooch you're willing to give away, hit the thrift shop; they're cheap and readily available.

Most people have tons of wrapping paper scraps that aren't quite big enough to wrap an entire present and are headed for the trash can. Don't throw them away and buy more - mix and match them! If women can do it with their clothes this season, you can do it with your gift-giving. Use two or more different, but color- or pattern-coordinating, papers. The key here is to overlap or fold seams under for a neat effect. Another option is to use a mix of pages from magazines, maps or other printed materials that appeal to you.

Personalized gift wrapping
We all have favorite pictures of friends and family members that bring back great memories. Personalize their gifts by making that photo into wrapping paper. If you want it to look professional quality, you can send your photos to  Walmart or another photo printing store online to pick up later, but keep in mind that the paper is probably going to get ripped, so you may not want to spend a lot of money on this.

Your other, less expensive option is to print photos yourself. All you need is a printer hooked to your computer, and it's no big deal if it's not a color printer. Black and white photos make a strong impact, especially when tied up with a colored ribbon or bow.

First there were chalk boards, then there was chalk board paint and now there's chalkboard paper. Chalk board paper lets you dress up a gift any way you like, and, if you mess it up, you can erase your picture or message and do it again. Chalk board paper can be found on Etsy, Zazzle, Amazon and other websites for anywhere from $4 for three 8 ½" by 11" sheets to $12 for a 30-foot roll. If you want an all-chalkboard theme, there are also chalkboard gift tags available. 

Recruit the kids
The holiday break is known for shopping, family time and kids home from school driving you crazy. Keep them busy with a roll of brown shipping or butcher paper from pretty much any all-purpose or craft store and a metallic paint pen. Have them draw pictures or designs on the paper (with a pencil first then trace over it with the paint pen), then wrap your gifts in it. Now grandma and grandpa don't just get a gift, but one wrapped in a work of art!

Alternatively, you can set the kids free with paper and glitter glue and use what they come up with as wrapping paper. 

Recycled (or up-cycled)
If you don't have the time or motivation to make alternative gift wrap, we get it. You're busy and your creativity is often limited by everything else you have to accomplish every day. Wrap your gifts in good old wrapping paper then slap a bow on it. Done. 

Wait, no bows? No big deal. Most households have a container of lost/mismatched buttons that will never grace the front of a blouse or the cuff of a shirt again. Stack different sized buttons and glue them together to make a tiered "bow" for the top of your package.

You can also use dried or paper flowers, ornaments, wine bottle corks glued together and a plethora of other household items to dress up the tops of your presents. And don't stop there. You probably have a house full of other items that can be used to make your gift wrapping incredible this year. Don't hold back, go with your imagination and the spirit of the season for gifts that will wow even the biggest Grinch.


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