The first year we were married, we bought a roll of wrapping paper and wrapped everything in it. The pile of presents made me sad. It was all so homogenous. So boring. So plain. My grandma would buy several rolls of Christmas paper every time one of the grandkids was selling wrapping paper for school. She liked to use them all, so her presents were always in tons of different papers. My mom likes to use gift bags for all presents and since every gift bag is different the presents under our tree were never homogenous. It’s just not Christmas until there are tons of colors under the tree.
I’ve been saving wrapping paper for years. I hate waste. How can you just throw away a piece of wrapping paper that obviously can be used again? Especially big pieces. But, to get them home, I folded the paper and I always ended up with creased pieces that weren’t very usable. I couldn’t bear to throw them away, but I never used them. One day this January, I think, I was watching Friends and they made a joke about Monica ironing wrapping paper. They were obviously trying to say only a neurotic crazy-person would iron wrapping paper, but I watched it and thought “I could IRON it!! That’s how I’ll use all my wrapping paper!!” The next day I got out the ironing board and went to town. I discovered if you iron the backside of the paper, you can get the stickiness of a gift tag on the other side to loosen so the tag can be removed. I took an empty wrapping paper roll (I have a hard time throwing those away, too) and wrapped all the used paper around it. The sheets were almost like new!
This year we used the paper I’ve saved over many years to wrap many of our presents and as the presents piled up under the tree I kept getting happier. I’ve often sat next to the tree and counted how many different wrapping papers we’ve got under it. I believe the last count was 13. We only have rolls of three of those papers. Plus, there are several gift bags and a few Christmas-patterned boxes. It’s just so PRETTY and HAPPY with all the different wrapping papers!!
I know by now you probably think I’m insane, but please don’t hold it against me. I promise you I don’t need to be signed up for Hoarders just because I save wrapping paper.
P.S. Those are temporary stockings. We’re planning on buying some sort of fancy matching stockings for all four of us next year, when we know the new baby’s name. For now, we use cheapo ones.
This is hilarious. I love that you ironed wrapping paper.
ReplyDeleteHaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. You make me laugh, lady.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother used to wrap presents WITHOUT TAPE so that she could use the paper over and over again, but I have never mastered her technique for that one. It was a family marvel, though, for sure.
My mom saves her paper (including tissue) but half the time she forgets about it and doesn't end up using it - she loves to buy new paper for Christmas.
ReplyDeleteI like to have a color theme under my tree. This year there was red and silver papers with red, gold, and blue ribbons. It looks fantastic. The first couple of years we were married, I made my wrappings coordinate with the colors I chose for the tree and I was kinda mad (not really angry, but frustrated that the aesthetics were thrown off) when someone else would give us a present that didn't work with the look I was going for. :)
Oh, and the day after Christmas we went out and bought 4 matching stockings for our current and future kids. I wanted them to all look alike, but I didn't want to wait 5 years or more until we were sure we were done having kids... I wanted my current children to have "their" stockings now.
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