Picture Curtosey of: kaskus
There are a number of reasons that people wrap present and stick them under the Christmas tree. Tradition, decoration, etc. Whatever those reason may be there are a number of reasons to NOT wrap those present this year also, from trying to live "green" to not wanting to spend the time, effort and money to help fill a landfill. This year I am just not in the old holiday spirit - I fall into the latter category above. I don't want miss the light in my children's eyes on Christmas morning so I have been trying to come up with a creative ways to make that happen without ribbons, bows, and cursing. While I was brainstorming I came across some creative ideas to make wrapping Christmas presents, “Greener”.
My children are young enough to believe in Santa and I don't want to take that kind of magic from their worlds just yet so I had to set a new story. I got in a car accident the other day and had to empty out everything from the back of the SUV to take it in for an estimate. I was hiding all my packages from Amazon in the trunk because I have no room for them anywhere else. This is where my daughter got a little suspicious. I told her that Santa left the North Pole because it was too cold and he is now the boss at Amazon. His elf’s made a career change, they now work on packaging the toys for all the good boys and girls and boys at Amazon because it had a better benefits’ package. The reindeer also moved from the North Pole because Santa left and now run the post office and help Santa deliver the toys. My children sent emails to Santa this year. I told them because this world’s population doubles approximately every 40 years and the economy is in a recession (which meant that the United States is broke like the way we get sometimes before Mommy gets paid), and that Santa is getting really old, older than Grandma, so he might not be able to do some of things he normally does like visit every single kid’s house in person or wrap each and every present this year. So I set the stage. You don’t have to lie to your children like I do if they already don’t believe in Santa.
Here are some of the ideas that I am playing with for presenting them their presents without the hassle of wrapping them or paying someone else to wrap them:
1. Stash the presents in easily to find places for the younger ones and impossible to find places for the older ones and let them hunt the presents down though out your household areas. They get a candy cane every time they find a present without help. For older children you can make it money instead of candy canes or some new songs from iTunes. Just get creative and have fun.
2. Buy a Santa sack or two and separate the children’s presents into different sacs. Place the sacks behind the couch. Have them pick numbers out of a hat and call them up in numerical order. Have them close their eyes and reach into the sack that contains their gifts. Then open their eyes. Ask them if that is what they wanted from Santa.
3. This one depends on your neighborhood and the story you tell your children about Santa. You have to ensure that you wake up before your children wake up. Get a Santa sack and make or get a generic Christmas card and write a small note on it that says something like this, “Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I apologize; I was running a little late because there was a blizzard in Russia. Love, Santa.” Fill it with the gifts and place it outside the front door, in the fireplace or outside on your balcony. When the kids wake up; pretend and act disappointed that Santa may not have come. Have your whole family look for the presents until they are found.
4. This one depends on your neighborhood and the story you tell your children about Santa also. This one is specifically for the Amazon story I told my children. Distract the children by breakfast or looking for presents. Set all the unopened amazon.com boxes outside the front door. Recruit a neighbor or have Dad sneak out of the chaos to ring the doorbell and return undetected. Open the door and find the boxes. Let them open the boxes and figure out whose present is whose.
5. This one depends on how deep of a sleeper your children are. Mine sleep like the dead around 4AM. Set the unwrapped presents in and around their beds and rooms. Let them wake up and find them. This one might actually allow you to sleep in.
I hope this inspires you to come up with your own family tradition. If not and you still want to wrap the presents, here are some “green” alternatives to wrapping paper:
1. Get different sized cardboard boxes. Preferably ones that have lids like a shoe box; if they don’t have lids you can make one from other cardboard boxes. Buy fabric and decorative ribbons. Cover the boxes with the fabric and ribbons, matching your Christmas color scheme and you have reusable Christmas wrap for years to come.
2. Sew or buy those reusable grocery bags or pillow cases. Decorate them how you please. Some of my suggestions are to iron on a picture of the person the present is for or a generic Christmas design. If it is a pillow case just fold it around the present (you can stuff it with the new socks, candy or clothes that you bought for the person if it is a toy) and you can sew or tape up the opening. If it is the bags, tuck the straps into it; stuff it with whatever you want and you can sew or tape up the opening.
3. Buy or make different sized baskets, home organizers and/or toy boxes. Buy or make gift ribbons that are large enough decorate the present in question. Cover your reusable items with fabric or wrap them with baby blankets. Add the bow and stick it under the tree.
4. Collect free and old newspapers, magazines, paper bags and book covers. You can paint them or have the kids color them or make a collage or “pretty” them up anyway you see fit. Recycle them afterwards.
5. Build or buy something you can reuse later around the house or could be donated to charity later like a trunk, chest, wardrobe, suitcase or a bookshelf. Place all the presents for that one individual in there. You can decorate it anyway you want. Add a ribbon and handmade or store bought card to use as a name tag. Or get a picture of that person and blow it up and tape it to the item concealing the presents. Wrap it with fabric or the newspapers. Paint it. Just be creative.
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