Wrapping holiday gifts used to be on my list of favorite things to do during the holidays. I would put on a Christmas movie, get a glass of wine and spend a few hours relaxing + slowly wrapping gifts. The last few years have kept us pretty busy and those slow evenings free to do whatever we want are few and far between. This season, with the upcoming due date of our little girl and our almost 2 year old being of an age where she will sit and watch a Christmas movie for an hour, I have some free evenings again and a pretty holiday wrapping session is back on!

I used to head to the store every season to buy pinecones, simple gift tags, large spools of ribbon, brown paper wrapping and tons of other things for pretty packages. It’s easy to spend $100+ just on the wrapping that will be ripped and thrown away! This year I got to thinking, why can’t I find these things around the house? I literally have a cabinet full of brown paper bags! With many people staying home and watching their spending, this is a great way to get those pretty packages done on a budget.

We have family who often do their wrapping in grocery bags with the top folded down and taped shut, basically a male version of gift wrapping. That same brown paper bag can be cut and used as a flat sheet of wrapping paper. Basically the same look as the brown wrapping paper rolls I purchased from the store in years past but instead I would be reusing grocery bags rather than tossing them + it would be free. A sophisticated twist on the grocery bag wrap!

What you need:

• Gift Tags: in place of store bought takes, use white/cream cardstock or basic paper. Cut into a pretty shape and punched hole to attach it to the gift.
• Gift Toppers: rather than expensive bows, use pine cones from the yard or fresh greens snipped from evergreen trees & bushes.
• Wrapping: brown paper grocery bags. Reuse, recycle!
• Left over ribbon: can be from last Christmas or from other various holidays throughout the year. Neutral colors and metallics look classiest but if you want to spice it up for the kids, add some color!

To make the paper bag wrapping, cut the bag along one seam and continue to cut until you have a flat piece of paper. Completely cut off the bottom. Place the gift flat and cut the bag to the size you need and wrap as usual!

Add the various items in the list above to adorn the package and voila, you have a gift that looks like it was wrapped by a pro without the expense!