We don't buy gift wrap in my house anymore. When we grocery shop we get paper sacks whenever possible. We take the sacks and cut them open flat and turn them where the plain brown wrap is on the outside when we wrap the package. Then the kids color, marker, paint, stamp "DESIGN" the wrapping of their choice. They enjoy giving the gift so much more because THEY are proud of what they made. We do this for birthdays & christmas. We bought some foam stamps at hobby lobby for like 10 cents each and have all sorts of stars, trees, balloons, wreaths, turkeys, hearts etc. (You can use cookie cutters too!) Add a little washable paint and you have an activity and a cheap way out!

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Standard of Living and Quality of life are NOT the same thing.

That's a great idea! My daughter would love doing that--especially the stamping part!

Another way to not use gift wrap (we no longer use it either) is to reuse gift bags (I don't buy them, but I save all the ones we get at holidays and birthdays) or to make gift bags from fabric that can be reused. For quite some time this year I've been using fabric scraps to make different sized drawstring bags that should be able to accomodate *most* of our holiday/birthday/Christmas presents. We'll reuse the ones for our immediate family and the ones that go to our friends and family with their gifts will come with a tag attached encouraging them to reuse the bag to help cut down on gift wrap trash.

what a cool idea! my kids will love this

That's a great money saving idea and a great activity. Thanks for sharing.

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Laronda

that is fun!!! i wish i was asked paper or plastic...but all the stores we shop at are all plastic these days...but those bags get used and reused too!

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Danielle