Generic Upgrade

I am a classic holiday-wrapping procrastinator, meaning that it is not uncommon to find me buried under a pile of tape and ribbon on the night before Christmas while listening to carols and quietly cursing at myself for waiting so long...

But in spite of my egregious character flaw, I will say that I'm making strides toward perfecting my holiday-wrapping technique. It involves generic (aka cheap) basics and a few flourishes. For instance...
As you can see from the pic above, last year I was in a bit of a folksy mood. I found this brown paper for $2.00 at Wal-Mart (yes--believe it or not, they usually do have a few non-kitschy holiday paper options...) amidst stacks of snowmen and Santas. I loved it because it was festive...and yet I could use it for other winter gift-giving occasions as well.

And this year I'm applying the same principle.
First I start with recycled gift boxes since paying for new, empty boxes just seems ridiculous. Used cereal cartons are my favorite. I start collecting them in the Fall, and by Christmas I usually have plenty for gift giving.

And just in case you're curious where I store them...I stash them behind the books on my bookshelf until I'm ready to wrap. I knew you were wondering...
The next step is to wrap the boxes in plain-jane craft paper. I always stick to white and brown, and keep a roll of each in my house all year.
And I also keep a stash of plain brown gift bags on hand as well. Due to my teensy procrastination problem, I sometimes only have time to dump a gift into the bag with some tissue paper and head out the door!
Of course I don't just leave things with white and brown. That would be boring, and I don't want people judging me by my lack of wrapping pizazz.

Because they would, you know. They'd judge me harshly.
So the final step is the embellishing. This year I'm all about the shimmer. I searched about 5 different craft stores until I found this particular shade of ribbon. Kind of over-the-top, I know, but once I get something in my head, I obsess. And pink champagne is on my mind, people. I'm officially obsessed.

Decidedly less challenging was finding this gold paper with berries and butterflies and snowflakes. Nevermind that butterflies and snowflakes do not go together in nature... Pretty overrides ecological accuracy here.

And yes...again I found the paper at Wal-Mart. And again it was hiding amidst rows of red-and-green candy canes and gingerbread houses.
And here's the final product. Just the ribbon alone gives these generic boxes a major upgrade.
And adding a sleeve of gold paper just elevates it up a notch.
Even my boring brown bags look presentable with some cut-out snowflakes, ribbon and a simple holiday stamp.

Now, if only I had some gifts to put into these lovely bags and boxes....

The procrastination never ends.