For me, wrapping gifts is a get-to, not a have-to. Love love love it.
At the risk of sounding anal, I will admit I like to use different wrapping papers to organize our gifts. I wrap gifts for my side of the family in one paper and the gifts for Dan’s side in another. This way, it’s easy to grab the right gifts for the right occasion without examining every teeny tag. Plus if you write “mom” or “grandma” on the tag, you don’t have to guess which mom or grandma that might be; the wrapping paper will tell you.
I also like to wrap my handmade gifts in a different paper than any store-bought gifts, just to set them apart. This year I ended up having just about equal parts store bought and handmade, so the effect was lost a little, maybe.
For small gifts and gift cards, I like to disguise them a little by packaging them in jars or larger boxes. For the jars, you can slip a little scrap of wrapping paper inside the walls of the jar (or use tissue paper, or shred some scraps).
I am vehemently opposed to buying gift tags. Waste of money. If nothing else, I just cut up a sheet of cardstock into little strips. This year, I punched some shiny foil paper circles with a 2 inch paper punch; the silvery paper was upcycled from some packaging. I also used some leftover paint chips in neutral colors.
I used some oversized white paint chips I had from painting the playroom to make some pop-up Christmas tree tags. You could also do this with plain cardstock.
It’s so super easy and you can be as simple or intricate as you like. Just (carefully) cut the sides with a razor blade and fold downward toward the base. Write your to/from info wherever you like and stand the tree upright. (You can fold them back down so they don’t get smooshed during transport.)
I was kind of sad to separate my little white paint chip forest, but I guess I’ll share.
