Please calm down. No need to take sides. All ideas are welcome here and all posters should be valued. Everyone has their own joys and ways of doing things. This forum is about conversations. Let's have kindness and generosity.

Who isn't calm?

So pretty!! I'd be delighted to receive a gift enclosed in one of those. The box is an added gift I'd find a use for. I was at a baby shower recently and one of my nieces informed me they no longer wrap gifts - for ecological reasons I guess. Each to their own but I thought it was kind of sad. The beautiful boxes are probably a plus in this regard - so nice they'll get reused in some way rather than disposed of.

Those boxes are so pretty, Mtn. I haven't been in Home Goods in ages, but am going to look at their boxes next time I am in there.

I have the wrapping paper version of the pink/gold tree box. I loved the pattern so much! I use it in my office to go with my ridiculous pink tree. I also bought the matching box of Kleenix. I'm thankful my store didn't have those pink boxes or I'm afraid what my bill would have been!!

What an absolutely heart-felt apology and explanation lulu!!

No need to bow out. None of us are perfect. You came back with a mature/reasonable reply. Heck, we need more of that on planet earth!! :)

Lulu, that post was pure class. Thank you. (((((Hugs)))))

Apology accepted and appreciated, Lulu.

What pretty boxes! We (DD1, DD2 and I) also go out of our way to wrap or box presents nicely. DD1 selected the paper and ribbon for DGS and DGD this Christmas.

We also don't mind spending a pretty penny on the perfect card, though all cards given are not expensive. I have two boxes full of cards given to me and DH since 1981 by each other or our children. Also the last ones given to us by my parents and grandparents.

Still giggling at “bfd” and “buying bags of dirt and landscaping rocks,” lol!

shhhhhhh... don't keep saying that or I'm gonna get in trouble

What?? Boston Fire Department, right?

Our family decided years ago - no more purchased cards. Handmade or a handwritten note only. No one had missed Hallmark cards for 7 or 8 dollars each.

Bags, boxes, same diff:

To each his own, right?!! I still remember watching Martha Stewart and others wrapping--the presentation was often MOST of the gift. Consumables i.e. home baked goodies are a respectable gift but when elevated by fancy wrapping they are FABULOUS. I personally am in the camp of putting the expense of a gift in the gift not the wrapping...but I GET other's reasons. It is a family 'joke' of sorts. We have gift bags many many years old with the To/From tags on and when needing wrapping the only chore is the dig to find the bag that already matches!!

Trader Joe's and Target have great cards for .99 cents or $1.

LOL at bags of rocks and dirt.

If you are on this site, you care about the aesthetics of your living space. Most of us also care about the aesthetics of our personal style, our dining table, etc etc. When it comes to gift giving, thought and care are the most important things. For me, that means everything about the gift shows thought and care. That most definitely includes the wrapping and the bow, card etc.! That *can* be really, really expensive. It does not always have to be, though.

I too like to use a lot of brown craft paper, since my style is more country than formal and since I don't like garish colors for the most part. I think it was last year I posted a box I wrapped that was brown craft paper with tiny pompoms pasted all over in a grid polka dot pattern. That was fun! But I also love the by-the-sheet artisanal papers at the Paper Store, esp the Rifle paper patterns. I have several sheets of that I got on sale.

And don't get me started on ribbon! When I first discovered wired french ribbon I was living in NYC and had to make a trip to Kate's Paperie to get it. I just bought a black and white plaid roll of fabric wired ribbon at HG as part of my haul, for a fraction of what i paid 20 yrs ago. And as I have mentioned before, I have a whole box of holiday ribbon. Reused every year. When we were dating, I bought my DH a tuxedo at NM for Christmas. It came in a beautiful hard sided box which we still have. It was wrapped with a huge length of gorgeous olive green fabric wired ribbon. Which I still use (and sometimes iron!)

Allison, I save my cards, too. I collect greeting cards. I buy them when I travel, I buy them at craft shows and the like. I have two file boxes designed just for cards. I pretty much have a card for any event, so I don't have to go look for one. My kids just come to me when they need one; I have a zillion thank you cards that come in handy. Some cards I have had 10-20 years and can't part with. Some I have kept too long; my taste has changed and I don't like them so much anymore. My latest favorite card line is actually sold at a local market. They are letter press printed and really little works of art. My sister framed one that I sent her. From elementary school thru high school, my kids always made cards for all of their teachers. Just plain white stock, a bunch of inkpads and really cute stamps. Their teachers always appreciated that.

If I have time today I will post some of my fave cards and maybe some of my fave wrapping jobs. I'd love if people posted theirs, too!

I enjoy making a pretty package just like I enjoy setting a pretty table. BUT, the price of gift wrap, ribbon, etc. is CRAZY!! I agree that I would much rather the money go into the gift rather than the wrapping. Cards are my jam, I love pretty cards and will not give the shiny, cheap looking cards. Obviously I am picky about my cards both in looks and the meaning. I try to match a card to the person if that makes sense. HOWEVER, you can find great cards, paper, ribbon, etc. at so many places at big discounts. Tuesday Morning, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, etc. carry some very expensive Christmas cards at a big discount. I usually buy mine in early fall at one of these. You can get beautiful gift bags, paper, etc. there too. This year, however, I was a bit late and had to venture into one of my not-so-favorite places (Hobby Lobby) because they have wonderful nativity coloring books, activity books, etc. I was pleased to find some beautiful, meaningful Christmas cards. For gift this year they are either in brown craft paper gift bags with pastel green tissue and some vintage looking handmade gift tags I ordered off Etsy. I have ordered my gift tags the last few years from Etsy. Boxes are white paper with same gift tags and a linen look wired ribbon with gold edges.

I'd love to see your vintage gift tags.I have some nice gift tags I reuse, LOL. Jut have to match the person to the tag, since they are pretty much all from "Santa" or "the Clauses" etc. Usually i cut out some of the paper to make a tag.

In recent years, I have had to go full CIA with the kids. If they know whose gift is whose, then it is easier to start guessing what it is days in advance (I try to wrap as I go). So I stopped putting their names on them. Instead, each year I make up an alphanumeric code for each of them and put small stickers on the bottom under the ribbon. It has gotten so "cracking the code" is part of the fun. DH was helping me come up with this year's code. So he says, "well so and so's school starts with an H, which is the eighth letter of the alphabet. And the 8th president was Martin Van Buren, so... It was at this point I realized I'd been had and punched him in the arm.

tina - I would also love to see your Etsy tags. I enjoy a nice gift presentation and am a notorious ribbon hoarder. Here are a few of this years gifts. I had a problem with cutting my ribbon too short (perhaps a symptom of my ribbon hoarding issue) so some of my bows are a bit skimpy. I hope others will jump in and share your wrappings - inspiration for next year!

Love your palette, Ruby. And gingham wrap! i love gingham

Thanks mtn - big gingham fan here, too!

I've been using kraft paper for years and love the many printed options available today. An element that I've been adding to the rather austere wrapping is gorgeous tissue paper, including some with vintage prints and patterns. I have some gingham tissue and even buffalo plaid!

So pretty, RubyClaire.

Mtn, I'd love to know your favorite (at the moment) card line. Today is DH's birthday, and he received 5 cards from immediate family. He loves them all. DGS's contains a knock knock joke. He is 8yo, after all.

Here are DGS (Christmas pattern) and our new DGD's (stripes) presents. Our other DGD already opened hers since she's going to be out of state for the holidays.

Because she has to ship many gifts, DMIL will wrap in pretty or plain paper, but recycle the front of a Christmas card, adhering it to the front of the gift and putting her “to, from”on it. It’s really pretty!

We have reused gift bags, gift boxes, and tags and cards for decades. I came across some old Christmas cards at my folks’, from the 50s and 60s, I think I will use those next year. Or sell them on Etsy!

I will obsess about the arrangement of items on my coffee table, the colors of my walls, finding the right pair of earrings....finding the right gift for each person on my list...but I hate, hate, hate wrapping presents! Mine always look, well, like I hated wrapping them. I have rolls of paper and some sticky tags (the kind that come, like, 20 on a sheet at CVS). Each gift gets wrapped, a tag slapped on, and done. No bows or ribbons. DH is even worse. Sometimes he will actually give me a gift in its (unopened) shipping box, no wrap, no nothing. I think I have "cured" him of that habit since I got really kind of mad one year and let him know what I thought.

Maybe I'd do better if I wrapped little by little over time, but I buy everything first, then wrap all at once.

I did wrap a few kitchen-related gifts (for friends, who I do tend to make a little more effort for) in green and white kitchen towels tied with wide polka-dot ribbon this year, and that was cute.

I use cards that I receive in the mail as gift tags and I always save the boxes, bags, ribbons, and tissue paper from gifts that I get if they are still usable. I think I am turning into my grandmother.

I save tissue, boxes and bags, too! Sometimes I re-use the same gift bag with tag for the same kid for a few years in a row.

I always coveted (yes, sinfully wanted) a wrapping room. The closest I was able to get was the one year that I set up a long table in a guest bedroom and kept all the wrapping supplies out and ready for a couple weeks. It was handy to have, but the clutter still bothered me even though I didn’t see it all the time. I knew it was there.

This would be nice..

Candy Spelling had 3 in her previous mansion-----

Now that the kids are gone I use one of the empty bedrooms as a staging area.

https://people.com/celebrity/go-inside-candy-spellings-150-million-mega-mansion/?slide=2077281#2077281

Here is the routine at my in-laws: my MIL has always believed in opening wrapping paper carefully so she can reuse it. Fine, makes sense.* Probably 99% of the exchanged gifts are now just in gift bags. My SIL uses gift bags for everyone else but still wraps her mother’s gifts (in brand new paper!) for some reason. Then she just about yells at her to hurry up and just rip the paper off. What? I’ve only been in this family 20 years and I know my MIL will slowly and carefully unwrap and fold the paper for reuse. Why doesn’t my SIL understand this? Why do we do this little routine every gift giving occasion? I guess like Tevye sang, it’s “Tradition!”

*One year, I could tell the paper on my gift was new but the box was very small, and seemed unlikely to be reusable, so I just tore it off. His uncle tattled on me! ”She just tore the paper off and didn’t save it.” Don’t be such a narc, Fred.

They also hand you back the boxes and bags, right then, after they remove their gifts. I guess I’m suppose to return their boxes and bags? Why don’t we just bring our gifts home in them and reuse them next year? Even after 20 years, there are things I just go along with even if I don’t get it.

I fully expect that I will be get the candle package ^^ back. I will stick it back in the closet for a future use.

Allison your packages are so pretty, what a delicate and feminine palette. Brava!

Thank you, Mtn!

My grandfather was plant manager of a ribbon factory in the 50s and I still have many spools of that gorgeous ribbon and I use it to wrap Christmas mainly but when everyone wants to throw it away I gather it up and save it and have ironed ribbon before.

I also bought a roll of French wired ribbon recently at Home Goods that is absolutely beautiful and I think it was $8. It's rustic and wide and plaid Buffalo checked sort of I'm very grateful to be able to have access to that type of stuff cheaply

And then I found these cream colored ceramic "tins" with old-fashioned trucks on the front just lovely again maybe $8 and I bought those as casual gifts to fill with all kinds of good chocolates.

I suppose that's not dirt cheap Dollar Tree stuff and it would have horrified my mother-in-law but in the big picture it wasn't that much and it really elevates the gifts.

On another note some people never notice. I recently gave a birthday present to a friend and went to a lot of effort to wrap it in his school colors and went to three stores to find the right color wrapping paper and he never noticed they were his school colors.

Those are fantastic, Bumble, what a great idea. Wish I were a ribbon heiress too!

I hear you about not everyone appreciating. One of my favorite presents I wrapped to match a bridal invite. She had did not notice.

I also bought a roll of French wired ribbon recently at Home Goods that is absolutely beautiful and I think it was $8. It's rustic and wide and plaid Buffalo checked

This sounds exactly like what I hit up 3 HG for to get 7 10-yard spools of for the tree! Love it.

Btw Michael's holiday stuff was 70% off when I was there Friday. By now it must be free!

Mtn, I have found your next challenge!

Check this out....think you can pull it off?

LOLOLOLOL

@runninginplace--- thank you for sharing that. It's a great time travel as well as the matchy matchy theme.

Those are great, @runninginplace. Thanks for sharing.

Bumblebeez, Men! A woman surely would have noticed your effort.

Running, that entire site is wonderful! I've started another thread sharing a link to 1950s kitchens. Love the ladies with their trees as well! Such fun!

Love the mid-century Christmas photos. Had to laugh, we have the gold blender the one lady was holding. Think it was my in-laws, my husband uses it as an “extra” bar blender for parties. Still works great.

I agree that beautifully presented gifts do not have to cost much. My favorite DIY touches come from my garden... a sprig of rosemary or clipping of boxwood tied with twine on plain craft paper. I also have a hearty lavender bush, and I love to clip from it because the leaves still have a light scent even in winter.

My favorite paper is an ivory craft paper. (It's not all paper-bag brown anymore). Some green garden twine... cheap. And various dried florals. I work with dried florals so always have extras, but you can go outside and snip anything from your garden.

Greeting cards have become ridiculously expensive for what they are, IMO. Instead, I use a lot of dried florals for greeting cards, too. Plain white or ivory stock cards from the craft store work just fine.

I know an amateur photographer who prints his favorite landscape shots and flower close-ups, attaches them to the front of plain card stock, and uses them for thank-you's, birthdays, invites, etc. The handwritten message on the inside is what makes it so special.

I'm wrapping a few special gifts today... I'll try to remember to take a photo.

Reminds me of the time a young gal was on the floor in grand central station, clearly late with a gift and trying to tie a bow around it. I asked if she'd like me to help, and she said yes, so I had her tie a knot and I put my finger on it to hold it and then she was able to tie the bow. She was delighted. She looked at me as if I'd just done something miraculous...something I'd been doing since I was knee high to a coke bottle. You just never know who knows what and how you can help.

I'll share a pic from Longwood Gardens which had mtnrd in delight. So many beautifully wrapped boxes under so many gorgeous trees everywhere we went.

Back in the day there was a Gordon Fraser store nearby and when they had their warehouse clearance sale, we'd go and go nuts for all the bargains. Unfortunately, they're long gone.

Too funny, running!

I am absolutely tickled pink with my tree! Believe it or not, it's the first time I used ribbon! In my old house, the front entry hall had a very big staircase with railing, and I used to swag it with greenery and big bows. I still have all of those bows and that was what I used to put on my tree here in CT. But I didn't have enough for my 14-footer so I decided to try ribbon. The only ribbon I could find in sufficient quantity was b/w plaid taffeta and I love, love it. So yes I can probably match my outfit to it!

I am holding off on posting photos of the tree just yet because I haven't put all the presents under (my kids told me they like me to do that while they are asleep so they get the full impact christmas morning). I'll be taking more photos then. Will also have to work on tina's idea LOL.

I love to use real greenery or dried flowers on presents, but I can't do it with xmas, there are too many and they can't be as fragile as one off. Where do you find ivory kraft paper? Sounds wonderful!

I've been using white kraft paper for 2 years now and I love the clean, simple look - no patterns and it is the perfect background for ribbons, bows, florals etc. This is the one I bought from Amazon and it works well for most boxes. But if there is bold writing on the box it might show through - so I go around it once more with the paper. It's available in different widths and lengths too.

https://smile.amazon.com/RUSPEPA-White-Kraft-Paper-Roll/dp/B071D3RBRP/ref=sr_1_10?crid=25LM2DK0ST54M&keywords=ivory+kraft+paper+roll&qid=1577199615&sprefix=ivory+kraft+paper%2Caps%2C195&sr=8-10

I am the fortunate benefactor of about 1000 sheets of white embossed heavy paper from a local very high-end store that went out of business.

They are are about 30 by 40 in in size but I have no idea what I'm going to do with all of it maybe paper mache with my kids at school

I had bought 4-5 rolls of a beautiful thick ivory paper at one of the craft stores a few years ago. ikea now carries one but it leans white. A review says it’s thick and at the price, worth a try. Here is the link...

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/mala-drawing-paper-roll-70461088/