Well, it’s officially that time of year when
you have to start thinking about what you’re going to bring to your family’s
gift exchange. Sometimes people do it around Thanksgiving. Other times,
families wait until the winter holidays. No matter when they’re held, one thing
is for certain: they can cause a lot of strife between family members if not
set up correctly (or agreed upon in advance).
We all know that these sorts of exchanges can
get heated depending upon the parameters set up prior to the event. Sometimes
family members shirk the idea of a decent gift and provide something secondhand
(which is okay if everyone knows that’s the rule of the gift you bring). Other
times, people end up fighting over something that’s far too overpriced when the
rich uncle shells out a hundred bucks on a gift card or something similar. Even
still, presentation plays a big part in showing that you tried to put effort
into your gift. If you didn’t put a lot of money into it, the presentation can
actually mask the dollar amount (this works especially well if your family has
a wide dollar range). Check out these tips for sprucing up the package!
Handmade
tags.
Just putting a little more effort towards even
the tag can completely change the look of your gift, and nicer labels on the
tag can really do the trick. Even if
your bag or box came with a tag, we suggest creating your own. Try cutting your
own little piece of cardboard off a box that’s tag sized with a pair of
scissors. Then, write “To: The lucky holder” or something silly related to
white elephant gift exchanges. All that’s left is piercing a hole in the tag
and tying it to your gift.
Tissue
paper.
Using bags for gifts is often seen as “cheap”
or time saving. If you’re gonna do this, at least include some relevantly colored
tissue paper. Alternatively, you can give brown kraft packing paper a go. This
type of paper serves to keep the gift hidden while also upping the presentation
of the gift.
Twine.
If you’re putting your gifts in cheap moving boxes, the wrapping paper will often look good enough to make the box look
nice. However, simple brown cheap moving boxes can look far better (if there’s
no wording on it) so long as you use some rustic looking twine. This also
happens to come in handy for attaching those tags you made yourself.
