Counting the Cost

Creatively Frugal Ways to
Embellish Gifts
What are some of your most creative ways to embellish wrapped gifts? How do you make ‘ordinary’ gifts look extraordinary?

"After my husband was unemployed for 2 years, I had to come up with inexpensive ways to wrap gifts for a family Christmas party. I simply couldn't afford to go out and buy wrapping paper, so I used what I had in the house:

"Here are other ideas I have used, but I don't have any pictures of them

* Decorate boxes with colored macaroni, colored or pearlized beads, or sequins glued in a design.

* For a Western theme, decorate the package with a little straw hat or wrap gift in a bandanna.

* Make a miniature wreath by stringing cranberries or beads on wire.

* Paint a tin pail or can with acrylic paint for the container. Spray with matte clear acrylic spray to protect the paint.

* Place an awkwardly shaped gift in a new trash can and top with a Santa's or elf's hat

* Place the gift in a useful container such as a toolbox, sewing basket, closet storage container, or cookie jar and tie with ribbon.

* Spray paint a six-pack bottle carrier and fill each slot. Possibilities include jars of honey or picante sauce, pencils, snacks, or toys.

* Decorate six graham crackers or petit-beurre biscuits with icing, sprinkles, or candies. Glue together with icing for an edible box. Insert a toy.

* Tie packages with useful items such as measuring tape, shoelaces, a jump rope, or a scarf.

* Make a drawstring bag out of country prints or rich tapestry and use year after year for gifts.

* Insert a hobby tool, kitchen utensil, lollipop, or pencil in the bow or ribbon on the package.

* Decorate packages with natural materials such as little pine cones, flowers, sweet gum balls, etc.

* Reuse the pictures on greeting cards for decorating a package.

* Make a face on a package with buttons or candies, or draw a scene and glue on appropriate miniatures (e.g., small car on a highway).

* Make a basket out of bread dough. Spray with clear acrylic spray. Line with a colorful towel or napkins." ~ Rita

"I use material to gift wrap packages, especially for people who do crafts. To make a special bow. I took several flat bottomed coffee filters and folded them into eighths, Unfold it and on every crease I cut down to almost to the tip. I left a 1 inch section at the tip. Helps to glue layers together. Then each eighth I took and wrapped around a pencil or chop stick and glued it to itself and then slid it off the pencil. I continued in the fashion till I had four layers of coffee filters. Then I glued each of the filters to each other using the one inch section in the middle. I also turned each filter to make a pattern. What resulted was a flower. You can use anything to make these. I have also used newspaper, magazines, coloring book pages (you'll have to find a circle the size you need, saucers work good to trace around)

I have also covered the entire box with colored duct tape, it is very unique, and tough to open, so use it only for people that like gags." ~ Laura

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"A simple roll of inexpensive tulle ribbon is great for making gifts look lavish and beautiful. Tulle can be tied into pretty bows, and it fluffs up nicely. It doesn't even have to be tied in a bow to look nice. A few strands of it tied together look great. Best of all, it travels well if you have to ship your gifts somewhere. It doesn't crinkle or bend, and a little fluffing will have it looking perfect again." ~ Anne Marie

"I think presentation is almost as good as the gift. I love wrapping a gift in beautiful paper and then wrapping gorgeous ribbon around it to make a big bow. We always play the dice game at Christmas and showers...I get my sister-in-law every time. She always makes sure she gets the prettiest package and the joke is usually on her when she opens it to find a roll of toilet paper, a box of straws, or a package of cheap paper plates. The look on her face is priceless since she expects something wonderful. I buy my paper and ribbons at the $1 store or at the after Christmas sales so I never spend much on them." ~ Sandy

"One of the cutest gift wrap ideas I have used is to save up foil chip packages (from those little bags you pack for your kids school lunches) and carefully turn them inside out and wash and let dry standing up. They are just the right size to wrap up a shirt or small to medium size gift. Tie the bag with a piece of curling ribbon at the top and use a permanent marker to write your greeting directly on the bag –- no need for a separate gift tag either! The pretty silver bags with ribbon at the top were the talk of my family when I used them one year and my sister still uses this idea for small gifts. " ~ April

"Every year, I trace my three boys' hand- and footprints onto a piece of cardstock or colored paper. Then I put their name, age and the year on the cutout print, along with who the package is for. That is used as the tag for the gift. These are especially nice for family members who are receiving gifts long-distance (grandparents, etc.). If I have a good family picture that year, at least one gift will include a photo as part of the 'tag.'" ~ Melissa in MD

"I have three or four ideas that I have used in the past to make my packages stand out under the tree. One is to use the comic section of the Sunday paper to wrap a child's gift. Two is to add a usable Christmas decoration to the bow on the package. This way they can hang the decoration on their tree this year and use it for years to come. Three is to always use gold ribbon, wire ribbon, but always gold with wrapping paper that has some shade of red or emerald green in it. Four is to use plain wrapping paper and add decorations of puffy paint, glitter, or stamps (rubber type of stamp) on the outside and decorate with a pretty bow. Ooops...here's a fifth. Attach a small amount gift card to the bow (envelope) on the outside of the wrapped package. The last idea will draw their attention to the package immediately. Who doesn't like gift cards? You could attach a gift card to Starbucks and then wrap up a coffee mug or cup.

Hope some of these ideas are worth trying. They have worked for me in the past." ~ Terri

"For Christmas gifts, I cut up my old Christmas cards to make to/from labels. Just write on the front. They are great, free, and creative!

I also use real ribbons, wide or skinny ones for wrapping around gifts." ~ Tina

"A number of years ago, I saw another mom in our child's class wrap a gift in brown paper, then cut thin strips of the same brown paper and curl it just like curling ribbon! It was so neat and looked very cute. I've done the same thing since that time and love it. You can use whatever paper for wrapping and always have 'ribbon' to match. I add curling ribbon to the 'wrapping paper ribbon' for some contrast, or just some added 'zing.' The curling-type ribbon is still fairly inexpensive, and seems to last for a long time; I always get the cone with some white and gold--those go with SO many different papers. To cut the 'strips' to curl, just cut them off while the paper is wound up--leftover pieces roll up and cut easily." ~ Susan

Editor's Note: Thanks to these readers for taking time to share their ideas!