Mad Wrap

The first Christmas that Sweet Husband and I were married, I got a little...um, control freaky, about wrapping our Christmas presents.  They each matched perfectly.  I hand-stamped the labels.  I might even remember something about snapping at Sweet Husband for folding his ends sloppily.

Which makes my current present wrapping style all the more funny.  Because these days, I collect old shopping bags, odd bits of ribbon, yarn, any pretty box I can get my hands on, fabric scraps, and the occasional recycled Christmas bag or tag from the year prior.  Then I slap it all together and seal it up with packing tape.  (I can never find the regular tape.  It's a problem.)

But, as slap-shod as it is, I actually like it much better.  Not because it's less work--although it is--but because I like the look of it more.  All stacked together under the tree, my little packages look like something out of Charles Dickens.  And, of course, it's more environmentally friendly, too.  (Well, minus the packing tape, I suppose.)

I mention this now because, if you're anything like me, the thought of going to the store to get wrapping paper this week is making you feel downright grinch-y.  So, just in case you're waiting for permission, here it is.  Raid your stash--heck, raid your trash if it's not smelly--and have fun wrapping presents in all the mad, creative bits sitting around your house.