Cost of Gift wrap

[OkiMom]

I was at the store yesterday picking up a birthday present for a friends DS who is having a party today. When I first went to grab the gift wrap I didn't bother to look at the price (figured it wouldn't be bad), just grabed a gift bag, tissue paper and a card. Before checking out I always go through whats in my cart to make sure 1) there isn't anything that shouldnt be there and 2) that I didn't add anything on impulse that I don't need/should wait on. While going through my cart the price of the bag caught my eye. It was going to be 3.99 for the bag, 2.99 for the gift wrap and another 3.99 for the card. The gift wrap was going to cost me as much as the gift!
I ended up getting a plain bag and clear wrapping paper in the dollar section and a gift bag card so it cost 3.00 for it all. When I got home my girls added some car stickers that I already had in the house. Is this pretty typical cost wise? I try to buy my gift wrap from the dollar store in town but it was going to be an extra drive and the girls were fussy.

Anyone else think its nuts that the gift wrap costs as much as the gift??

[UberMama]

Yep, completely typical. Gift bags are especially pricey, but even gift wrap is getting up there in price.

I like what you ended up doing. Not only cheaper but I am sure there wasn't a bag like it at the party. We do similar whenever we can vs. buying the expensive stuff that'll just be tossed out by most people anyway.

[CarrieMF]

I don't use tissue paper/wrapping paper with a gift bag. I tape the bag closed.

My kids make cards.

I rarely buy bags as my kids receive them from their own parties & having 3 girsl I have way too many bags. I actually threw out 2 big bags of bags because I couldn't get rid of them fast enough.

Around here people seem to all do the same things that I do.

[Drummer's Wife]

I go to the Dollar Tree for gift wrap.

I know I can get what I need for $3.

A gift bag (they have some cute ones, and several different sizes); plenty of colorful tissue paper (30 sheets of various colors for $1); and a nice enough card.

[zebra15]

I keep an eye out for clearance paper and tend to have quite an inventory of neutral paper. I will not wrap a present then put it in a bag. Either wrapping OR a bag. I also get paper after the Christmas holiday's. IMO red paper is good all year long, same with ribbon and bows. I got a huge box of fancy cards with blank inside at Costco a couple years ago and I just put my own happy bday or whatever on as needed. I think they worked out to be 75c each.

[GuildJenn]

Gift wrap is often where our real hippie tendencies come out because for family I use newsprint that my son has painted on (he goes through rolls of it from Ikea). Mostly I re-gift gift bags for friends and acquaintances.

When we splurge we go to the dollar store.

[rere]

Originally Posted by GuildJenn

Gift wrap is often where our real hippie tendencies come out because for family I use newsprint that my son has painted on (he goes through rolls of it from Ikea). Mostly I re-gift gift bags for friends and acquaintances.

When we splurge we go to the dollar store.

Me too!

[nadia105]

When I have time, I sew fabric I have lying around into bags that we can use for presents. You can tie it shut with a ribbon and it looks nice.

That said, I haven't had time to do that for a while and I hate how much the wrapping supplies cost!

[ChristyMarie]

The cost of gift wrap irritates me SO much.

I tend to buy on sale and I keep a pretty good stock of it so I rarely run out. I also buy ribbon in those really big rolls that last forever. And I save bows for YEARS.

But every once in a while I need a special type of wrapping and man, the price is jut crazy on that stuff. I need to wrap a wedding shower gift today - which is not something I really have in my stash so I will be going out to buy something and I want it to be really cute so... *sigh*

[caiesmommy]

-I reuse bags that are given from other people.
-Use reusable bags from the grocery store for adult gifts
-Buy plain brown bags in bulk whe on sale(they look really nice closed with some pretty ribbon for adults and ds decorates with stickers for kids
-Sew gift bags w spare fabric around the house
-Wrap one gift inside of another gift-ie a pair of mittins inside a scarf kind of thing

[dizzysmom]

I was just complaining to DH about gift wrap this morning! I went to three different dollar stores this week looking for some wrap for a baby shower, and they had almost nothing (they had very girly-type paper, which would have been fine but it is a baby boy). So I bought a roll from Target for $3.50... but I didn't even have enough to wrap my gift - I had to use some plain green paper that was leftover from DSS's birthdays the last couple years. If I would have bought a gift bag big enough to fit the stuff, it would have cost me $7.00.

[Nicole730]

I don't have time to read all the responese, but if I dont have any gift bags to regift, then I but a reusable bag from whatever store I am at. They are usually $1 or $2 and then the bag is part of the gift!

[Norasmomma]

Dollar store and Christmas clearance, makes it cheap.

I bought Christmas gift wrap and some that is generic-non Christmas for b-day gifts etc a few years ago.

I have a box that is set up with bows, boxes, tape, scissors, etc....I also have a little box with generic kids gifts like crayons, coloring books, paper, just in case.

[mumkimum]

Yeah - gift wrap is surprisingly expensive. We've been running out lately & I haven't found stuff on clearance like I usually (and I refuse to buy rolls of it that are really skimpy, even if they're cheap). I'm a hardore giftwrap reuser too (guess I was trained to be, our family always saved wrapping paper ).

Plain brown paper or just using tissue paper is what I've been doing lately (with beautiful ribbon - they look really nice). Comics are nice for wrapping gifts too.

[rightkindofme]

I wouldn't even know. I got suckered into buying a bunch through a school fundraiser when my nephew was in middle school (he's now 21) and I still have enough for years and years. I hope I finish before he has kids and they get to middle school.

[2cutiekitties]

Originally Posted by ChristyMarie

The cost of gift wrap irritates me SO much.

I tend to buy on sale and I keep a pretty good stock of it so I rarely run out. I also buy ribbon in those really big rolls that last forever. And I save bows for YEARS.

But every once in a while I need a special type of wrapping and man, the price is jut crazy on that stuff. I need to wrap a wedding shower gift today - which is not something I really have in my stash so I will be going out to buy something and I want it to be really cute so... *sigh*

totally agree.
God forbid you want character giftwrap (dora, spongebob, star wars), you have to take a second mortgage on your house, totally ridiculous.

[number572]

I think its great that wrap paper is so expensive. Not b'c we can't afford it... but b'c it forces us to use something less destructive and wasteful. I love some of the wrap alternative ideas here! So creative!

[wholewheatchick]

Originally Posted by nadia105

When I have time, I sew fabric I have lying around into bags that we can use for presents. You can tie it shut with a ribbon and it looks nice.

That said, I haven't had time to do that for a while and I hate how much the wrapping supplies cost!

I made a bunch of bags last year for Christmas, and even made little laminated name tags so that I could use a dry erase marker on them. I was able to collect them all back again from my family, so that worked well. For baby showers and birthdays and thigns for other people, I tend to use either tissue paper on its own that someone has given us via another gift, or cut up extra brown paper bag; like how you would for shipping something. Or use nothing; for an adult this is acceptable. I am giiving my friend homemade pumpkin bread and pumpkin butter for her birthday, and I'll just decorate those with ribbon.

[sunflower.mama]

Originally Posted by Nicole730

I don't have time to read all the responese, but if I dont have any gift bags to regift, then I but a reusable bag from whatever store I am at. They are usually $1 or $2 and then the bag is part of the gift!

I did this recently and was really happy with it. It was a small reusable bag, with flowers, and it was only 89 cents. And it felt like a pay it forward sort of message too.

[cristeen]

I hit CVS after new years. I dig through their xmas paper to find the 2or 3 rolls that could pass year round, buy tissue paper at 75% off and im good for a few years.

But im thinking of sewing up some of my fabric stash into cloth bags rather than using paper.