I’m getting really excited about the holidays. Last week was Collin’s birthday…so now I can officially turn my attention to the holidays. Hooray!
Last night I went through my gift-wrapping supplies, took inventory (not literally) and tidied things up a bit. This is a good thing to do before heading to the store for gift wrap…as I discovered. I have lots of stuff left over from prior years. So this year my goal is to use up some of what I have. I will have to purchase one special-never-before-seen-Santa-wrap, per Collin’s request. (We’re trying to keep the magic of Santa going…despite knowing. First year for this…it will be different.)
Back to the gift wrap.
Last year I shared this post which shows my five gallon paint bucket that I use to store rolls of gift wrap. Of course, if I can find a way to use a bucket…I’ll do it. I’m happy to say the gift wrap bucket is still going strong…and it seems to look about the same as last year. Although I did discover today that what I thought was red lint in last year’s picture is in fact a red scuff mark on my bucket. (I haven’t a clue why I thought you needed to know that, but if you’ve been worried about the red lint, worry no more. Note to self…don’t blog when tired.)
Anyway, the bucket usually lives in the closet off my scrapbook room / office. This closet used to be my scrapbook room, before I kicked the kids out of the playroom and the guests out of the guest room and claimed that space as my very own. The closet formerly known as my scrapbook room is now home to a host of things…organizing supplies, file cabinets, shelves of magazines archives, business projects, creative projects, and holiday decor. It contains an eclectic mix of storage solutions, such as the wooden shelf shown below from my college dorm days and Collin’s old red dresser. (Hence the loose, truck-shaped knobs.)
Anyway, sandwiched between the dresser and the file cabinets sits my gift wrap supplies. The wraps are in the bucket which is easy to carry into my scrapbook room for wrapping sessions. The basket holds tissue paper and packing paper. And the box on top holds flat boxes, gift bags and small packs of tissue paper.
Here’s a close up of the gift wrap box. Notice that the bags and boxes are in the storage container vertically…makes it super easy to sift through the storage box and find an appropriate bag or box to use. Easy, cheap solution.
Here’s another doozie of an idea. Last night while tidying up I had this idea…use a paper clip to keep the loose ends of your rolls neat and tidy. You’ve probably been doing this for years…but I just figured it out last night. Makes the rolls look so neat in my bucket…and that of course makes me happy.
What about my ribbon you ask? Well, on top of the red dresser is a three-tiered wire basket thingy, and this contraption holds my ribbon. Here are two of the tiers, the ones which happen to contain the non-Christmas ribbon.
Last but not least, the essential gift wrapping tools such as tape, scissors, pens and recycled tags from prior holidays, are stowed in this little basket.
Alright, that’s a wrap (ha ha.) Unless of course you want to share how you store and organize your gift wrapping supplies. Yes, that would be fun. I’d love to hear from you…
Christmas wrap is packed away with Christmas stuff and isn’t with ‘everyday’ wrap stuff. Like you, I take inventory of what I have leftover from last year and what I need to buy for this year. Was so happy to read about the paperclip trick on the end of the wrap rolls b/c I’ve done that for awhile now and was excited that I knew something a professional organizer didn’t! 😉
Oh, BTW, Santa doesn’t wrap gifts. He’s too busy reading wish lists, making, buying and delivering toys that he doesn’t have time to wrap them. He leaves them opened and all ready to go (meaning put together and batteries installed) under the tree.
In my house, this setup would have to be locked up in a safe! Waaay too tempting for the 6yr-old daughter. So I keep everything stashed in an under-the-bed plastic box.
BTW, if anyone is looking for Christmas paper — Marshall’s had a bunch of the nice, heavy kind for $3 per roll.
Beautiful, Aby
If you click on my name, I linked right to the correct post on my blog where I show you how I organise gift wrap and ribbons
After I finally used up my Christmas wrap 2 years ago, I invested in 3 solid color rolls. They can be used all year long and decorated with stickers, stamps and ribbons, all of which I have plenty of in my scrap stash.
There’s nothing better than a peek at other people’s storage solutions, particularly yours, Aby! Loved it. Your gift-bag basket is a sight to behold. And the ribbon holder! I blogged about gift wrap in October (click on my name), but it’s not as interesting. I use boring storage solutions from the Container Store that hang on the rod in a closet.
I use a small garbage can (never used, of course) to store my rolls of paper and my gift bags. It sits all neat, and I can see everything. My tissue paper is in a hat box, and tape, scissors, tags and pen are in a basket. I keep this all next to a tub I store gifts that I buy throughout the year, and then I restash those gifts in there after I wrap them. The system works for me.
I keep my gift wrap in a Rubbermaid upright container. Ihe container came with a lid, which was supposed to hold small items (not sure what), but it never fit over the longer rolls of giftwrap. Just this year I realized I could throw it away (it “lived” on the floor next to the container)! I’ve been storing my ribbon in a glass jar for several years, but have come to the conclusion that although the solution is attractive, it just isn’t practical. I’m inspired to go do some sorting and reorganzing of my gift wrap right now. I particularly like the container you use for bags and boxes.
I use the bucket idea, but since sometimes I wrap on my bed and sometimes I wrap in the dining room and sometimes I wrap in front of the TV, I went one better – I bought one of those bucket buddies in Home Depot that you put your tools in. I keep my scissors, tape, and tags in it. The only thing that doesn’t fit are ribbons & bows!
I have almost the same things – and of course, I stand the bags upright. Still, when it is wrapping time, it always gets a little hectic and crazy – fun, but crazy.
I love the idea of using the bucket to hold rolls of giftwrap. Last year I bought a big package of bows and to keep them from getting crushed and smashed, I put them all in a pretty hat box. I also use a shoe organizer that hangs in the closet to store tissue paper, tags, and other miscellaneous wrapping items.
Since I usually wrap gifts in my bedroom behind a locked door, I have two under-the-bed storage boxes that reside under my bed. One holds all of the occasion-neutral rolls of paper and the second box holds boxes and bags organized biggest to smallest and lying flat, tissue paper on the top, and ribbons, scissors and tape to the side. I keep my cards nearby–blank, again the occasion-neutral thing–in a clear box with a hinged lid.
I too keep my paper in 2 Rubbermaid units, one with Christmas paper and Christmas themed gift bags & tissue, the other one with all occasion paper–I use the small area on top of each to hold some ribbon and tags or labels, but not much else fits. But I also have 2 older cardboard units that I had purchased eons ago. One from Current that holds about 5 rolls of paper and has space in the front to hold rolls of ribbon & tags and small to medium gift bags–I keep it to store just the all occasion gift bags now. My other cardboard unit has 3 drawers, one is for bows w/a small tray inside to keep tags, tape and scissors; the second rolls holds rolls of ribbon-it has 2 dowels built in; the third drawer has my folded tissue, and the open area in the back holds all of the extra long rolls of paper that do not fit in the RM containers. And still with all of this to contain my stuff I use a “coat” sized box that you get at larger dept stores to store all of the random boxes (by size) that we have left after wrapping gifts or when we receive them. We are big believers in reusing gift bags-for Christmas we reuse the same gift bags for my immediate family, the ones that will remain in the house, sometimes in the same exact bag, since the tag is already written out to one of us. =)
Now all of these items are kept in the basement and when it’s time to wrap, especially for Christmas, the container along with the ribbon & bow drawers come upstairs where we set up the kitchen island as wrapping central. Oh and in our home Santa also has never wrapped my kids’ presents–he’s too busy! My kids have always seen me wrap all of the gifts “we bought” so the illusion worked very well for years–my kids are now 24, 21 & 14–and my yougest just really confirmed that we were behind the illusion just this past year. This will be the first Christmas where the whole family “knows”. 🙁 Oh, well….
I typically buy my holiday wrapping paper after Xmas each year–way cheaper if you plan a year ahead! I change the color of my decor and tree each year (grew up not celebrating Xmas, so I have years to make up!), and my wrapping paper correspends. This year’s palette is blue, silver, and white (silver and white was last year’s palette, so I can use leftovers, too!). I have one of those fabric wrapping thingies, but I am constantly frustrated when using it…I think I may copy Aby’s system using buckets, bins and shelving. 🙂
I do organize my Xmas and regular wrapping items together–I typically stick with colors and patterns instead of Santas and such so I can use it year round- I found this great blue argyle print for Xmas this year, but it doesn’t look too holidayish, so I’ll use it afterward (if I have any left…).
I keep my gift wrap rolls in an underbed storage box with the large ribbon rolls next to them. Unfortunately some of the rolls are longer than the box so they are loose under the bed with a rubber-band around them. Love the paper clip idea:) I think my Mom use to do that!
I keep gift bags inside of the largest gift bag which are also stashed under the bed.
My mom had a great idea! In her dining room there was room to put an antique dresser. She kept bows in the top right drawer, tags and tape ribbon in the top left, gift bags and tissue in the next drawer and in the deep drawer in the bottom she had the rolls of gift wrap. Smart I wished I had the room for that! Not sure if the long rolls of wrap would fit.
Yes I use the paper clip trick. I keep my wrapping supplies and all holiday decorations in my “holiday closet” (this includes easter, b-day etc etc). Since it truly is a closet I have 2 hangers on the rod which I put my rolls of wrapping paper through. I too keep gift bags in a box. Another box has a paper bag full of tissue paper and another paper bag full of ribbons and bows.
Hi Aby,
Krys touched on this in a comment above, but I have seen the bucket idea expanded to hold tags, tape and scissors right “on board” using an attachable caddy and a dowel ribbon dispenser. Better Homes and Gardens did a great little how-to video on it:
http://www.bhg.com/bettertv/?lid=626874890&tid=572065531&cid=713321296
I love how tidy your bags, boxes and tissue look!
Jewels
I have one of those rubbermaid wrap organizers with everything in it but Christmas paper. I have one of the soft side zip up organizers that holds, wrap, tags and tissue paper. And it’s red and green. :o)
Then I have Christmas bags all folded up inside a giant Christmas bag.
And I do the same with birthday bags and baby bags. They all sit on a shelf inside my closet.
I host Christmas at my house so I seem to get a lot of bags left at my house each year. So usually I split them up between my mother in law and my step mother in law, so they don’t have to buy more. There’s lots of people in the family and I can’t imagine what they spend on gift wrap etc.
When you empty a roll of paper, keep the cardboard tube. It’s perfect for wrapping Christmas lights on: cut a slit at each end for the plug ends, and just wrap the lights around. Each year you can plug in the tube to check the bulbs!
I’ve also found that the curling ribbon sold at big box craft stores for the balloons goes on a great sale a couple of times a year, and the spools are large. I pick up basic colors to have on hand all year round.
You’ve inspired me to organize my gift wrap better. I think you should get new “adult” pulls on the red dresser though 🙂 It would look nice.
Brilliant idea Aby!
I use a “retired” garment bag.
Here is how I do it: http://tinyurl.com/674beh