Brown Paper Packages

Just in case you haven't already learned through these posts, I absolutely live for Christmas! ...the decorations ... the holiday music ... the corny movies ... the house full of family and gifts on Christmas day... - sigh - I love it all! But this year, like many Americans, we're cutting corners to make our one income stretch farther. So, this summer I sent an email out to everyone who generally receive gifts from us, and let them know that this year we'll only be giving them one gift. If they end up giving us more, that's fine. But we don't want anyone to feel like they got the short end of the stick. But I was sure there was more I could do. So, I thought some more.

Last year I used up the last of our Christmas wrapping paper. Truth be told, I also ran out of ribbon, and decided it wasn't worth it to run out to the store and buy more. So, most of the gifts didn't have any ribbon or bows on them. No one seemed to notice, or at least to care. But, anyway, I used up the last of the wrapping paper last year. That stuff is just so expensive, that I decided that this year I'll buy some, and next year buy some more, and that way I'll have a nice stash again. But for this year, all the gifts (except for the kiddos) will be wrapped in brown paper.

A couple years ago a former college roommate gave me a Christmas gift wrapped this way, and I thought it was a fabulous idea. So, I'm finally putting the idea to good use. I bought two rolls of brown paper from Staples (in the mailing section), for I think $3.50 each. They are huge! One should be enough for all the gifts this year. Then, I bought some ribbon at Michael's (where it's all half-off this time of year), and am also using up my odds and ends. I'm quite proud of my thriftiness this year!

I don't have much wrapping done yet, but here's a sampling so far:

Every year my sister and I buy each other a Christmas movie.
This is hers for this year.

I got something little for the ladies at my MOPS table.

Various other gifts.