My dad used to always complain about the amount of Scotch tape we used to wrap parcels. One year my sister for a gag coveered his entire present in Scotch tape.

Our older son always liked grilled cheese sandwiches, so one year I wrapped up a big box of Velveeta in the comics, I think he was thrilled, not sure!

One unusual way to "wrap" a bottle of wine is to buy some tube socks or knee-his with Christmas designs on them and slip the bottle in it and tie a bow at the top. This works great if you have to transport it as the bottle is cushioned against breakage and insulated in the car. It actually looks cute too.

We bought Emi a laptop for Christmas this year, and to throw her off track, we also wrapped up a case of Ramon Noodles and put both under the tree. For some reason,though, I think she suspects.

I've always liked wrapping a small gift then wrapping it again in larger boxes. I did that to my Mom once and she was so embarrassed to see the "Victoria's Secret" box.. but then there was another box inide that one.. and finally she got down to box holding the gift card (which wasn't for VS lol).

This year for DD's money portion of her gift we're laying the bills and some pieces of paper that say "Merry Christmas", etc. on the blades of the ceiling fan... then when she thinks she's got all her gifts we'll turn the fan on.

I like to put gift cards in unusual containers too. For a friend that detests sugary cereal I used a box of Lucky Charms! lol!! I like cereal boxes because of the inner bag. (Her grands love Lucky Charms.) But I have used macaroni, rice, cocoa, instant coffee.....

Or beautiful ornaments with a card attached, a calendar that is chosen for their interests.

The only thing we could think of to get DS's girlfriend is a gift certificate for a specialty store she goes to. It's in a beautiful envelope, but I put it in a shirt box and wrapped it. DS couldn't figure out what we got her.

I have used left over tubes wrapping paper comes on to hold items like socks and bottles.

My daughter had hinted and hinted one year she wished a certain shampoo hadn't been discontinued. I found three bottles of it on eBay and bought them. They were perfect size for a wrapping paper tube, so I slid all three down a tube, trimmed it off to the required length, and wrapped with a twist on each end, like a piece of candy. She was thrilled beyond belief.

Jodi-

I put the smaller gifts for our daughter and grandkids in lunchbags that I made with a reindeer theme and each bag was personalized.

My teenage grandson is impossible to buy for, so we just give him that much appreciated gift of cash. This year, I found a book on the history of money and I put money (mostly ones and a few fives) within the pages of the book. I think he likes the gift "containers" almost as much as he likes the money! LOL One year I made a money tree for him and another year I taped the bills in a long roll and put it in a money machine.

Linda, those are cute gift bags!!

Forgot to add a pic.

Make sure you get the *tube sock* style and not the ones with the knit in heels.

When I give cash as a gift, I cut a slot in a toilet paper tube, gift wrap it and glue it to the bottom of a gift box. Inside is where I put the money, that has been taped together and rolled up. I leave a bit of a bill sticking out. When they pull the first bill...it just keeps coming. I usually use small denominations, so it goes for awhile. I did this for my son's girlfriend...she was shocked and she loved it. Great ideas here!

I went to a lot of trouble last year. We gave the kids a Wii. We also bought extra controllers (enough for 4 players) and a few games. I took every piece out of the box and wrapped it all separately. I hid them all over the house with clues inside the wrapping paper about where to look for the next piece. That was about the only thing from DH and me, and I didn't want them to open it in 5 minutes and be done. I wanted it to still take a long time and let the excitement build.

I love the money on the fan idea. I'm saving that for next year.

This year we took a really nice matted frame, put the bills on the background, pinned the stack of 20's in the lower right hand corner from the back and fanned the bills out into a half circle, like a dealer would do with a deck of cards. When he opened it, it looked like a nice picture of money and it took him a minute to get it.

I liked the bills on the fan idea too, please remind me next December because I will probably forget by then. lol.

I always try and make it hard to figure out what the gifts are. This Christmas I put a gift card inside a huge box. Apparently, I also put my name on the tag of one gift that was actually for Lauren. I must've been tired when I wrapped that one.

Thanks for all the great ideas...I used the can trick and after about 5 minutes of our boys trying to figure out how to open it (and thinking their mom had totally lost it wrapping up a can of green beans) they gave up and went to the can opener...I have an opener that cuts the top off at the rim so it was easy to superglue it back on...

I also used the fan trick too...The look on my son's face was priceless as that cash started flowing down...I hope my DH got a picture of it!

My DS gave his GF an I-Touch and I wrapped it in about 10 boxes before she got to it...I took her picture everytime she opened a new box!! She was soo thrilled and had a great time opening it!

Ya'll are the bestest...thanks for some great ideas!

One year I gave my son "cold hard cash". Froze the $$ into a big block of ice! lol

A couple of years ago at the Candle Shop,this guy brought in a huge,clear glass container, and a big bag of change (quarters/dimes/nickles)and had us drop the money in when we were pouring the candle. It was really neat, because you could see the coins ($75.00) all through it. Of course, the person that received it had to burn the candle to get to the actual "gift"....a little at a time!! LOL

I'm glad so many of you like the ceiling fan idea. I looked on line for ideas, but couldn't find any that I liked or that I hadn't already done. I tried it first to be sure it would work and it did. On Xmas day DD was so surprised when the bills came falling from the ceiling. lol

I might use that idea on my Dad's birthday too.. I wonder if scratch-off lotto tickets are too heavy? That would be fun with confetti too (in somebody else's house though :-).

I love the ceiling fan idea too! I am going to have to remember that one. Great ideas in this thread. :)

Well - just remember this poor guy when you leave a spare key with someone --- the friend got people to come over and wrap EVERYTHING in the apartment... EVERYTHING!

Here is a link that might be useful: Gift wrapped apartment