After all that work goes into shopping, picking, and ordering holiday gifts, the last thing we want to do is spend a bunch of time wrapping. But we love those special little touches—especially for our special someone or the kids—so we pulled together some super simple ideas to make holiday wrapping full of cheer and less skull drudgery. Our ideas are also easy enough for little kids to join in on, and fun enough for tweens/teens to put down their phones for. Let’s wrap!
Everybody knows a good party requires a bit of prep. Not much, just enough to gather whatever supplies, tools, kraft paper, and delicious snacks are necessary for a successful wrapping party. Want to know what our favorite supplies are for holiday gift wrapping?
Our favorite gift wrap add-ons
• Mini Prints
• Mini Stickers
• Stickers
• Metal Photo Ornament
• Magnet
• Photo Strips
• Crayons, colored pencils, metallic pens
• Kraft paper
• Twine
• Satin ribbon
• Washi Tape
• Holly berries
• Sprigs of evergreen
• Hot Chocolate & Christmas music #mood
If you want the holiday mood, you’ve got to set the stage for the holiday mood. Whip up some hot chocolate and whipping cream, turn on their favorite Christmas music, turn on some lamps for a hygge-level coziness, and put out of bowl of crackers and dip. Invite everyone in the family to join in on the wrapping party, whatever their ability or interest. Help the littlest kids tie their own bows and write their names on gift tags, and and give big kids freedom to decorate the presents they’re giving however they like. Turn on a Christmas movie and spread out on the floor, kitchen table, or bed so there’s plenty of room for everyone to get creative.
1. Skip the store-bought Christmas wrapping paper
Unless you have some leftover paper that you want to finish up, you don’t need to spend more money on paper that will ultimately be torn off the outside of the gift and thrown in the trash. We love kraft paper (only $3/roll), leftover fabric, and the comics page from the newspaper. We’ve also used old Wall Calendar pages, Patagonia catalogs, and our Stendig calendar.
For gifts of a similar size or style, like a set of children’s books, you can also skip wrapping entirely and instead, stack gifts according to color and size, and tie together with twine. Top it off with a sprig of evergreen and a set of postcards and you’ve got a super thoughtful gift bundle.
2. Skip store-bought bows and ribbon
Same as above, unless you have leftover bows, ribbon or wrapping supplies you want to use, there’s no need to buy new. Think out of the box and decorate holiday presents with baker’s twine, old shoelaces, embroidery thread, or string.
3. Personal touches
Instead of putting more of your holiday budget towards generic wrapping, use it to add thoughtful flourishes and products that the person receiving the gift can keep using. Tuck a Photo Strip (or 3) under the twine surrounding a gift, cover a brown box with funny Mini Stickers of the recipient’s face, or slip Mini Prints, Postcards, or Mini Squares inside a gift bag. Or bundle several prints in an envelope or rucksack gift bag, hole punch, and tie to a gift.
4. Use what you have
It sounds too simple but by using only what you already have, you’re already a step ahead in saving money. And when you limit what you can use, you’re forced to be creative to come up with solutions to the scarcity. You might end up reusing old ribbon from the back of a drawer, or substituting natural materials like holly and evergreen instead of bows. Or using your never-been-used acrylic paints to decorate kraft paper or using painter’s tape when you run out of Scotch tape. If your kids are wrapping presents with you, they’ll love the challenge. We promise it’ll be more fun. :)
Ah, the obvious. But seriously, the hardest to remember if you’re the one initiating, organizing, and following through on family holiday traditions. Everyone has more fun when they can see/sense the adult is relaxed and having fun, too. So, put aside all your distractions (turn off your phone and hide on a top shelf so it’s out of sight), get your favorite drink, focus on that family time, and have fun wrapping gifts for the holidays.
We hope these easy holiday gift wrapping ideas help you de-stress and focus on what’s most important—making memories with the people you love. They won’t remember how their gifts were wrapped but they will remember the fun you had together sticking pictures of their brother’s face all over his new box of Pokemon cards, slipping surprise photo booth style photos inside mom’s present, and wrapping Dad’s gift with baker’s twine and muti-colored pom poms. We hope you have the happiest of holidays! And please share your SPS Holiday Gifts by tagging us on social with @socialps. We love seeing what you make.
Photo credit from our very own Rachyel Magana
