Installing Indoor Cat Tree

[Cinnamon]

I am going all natural & rustic this year,as I am really uninspired by the gift wrap selection in the shops.

So,I am doing plain brown paper,tied with raffia & a bundle of cinnamon sticks on top,plus a sprig of holly.

For tags I am using parcel tags cut with zig zag scissors.

For the childrens ones,just to pretty it up a bit I am sticking on little gold self adhesive stars

 

I am packing 4 hampers for relatives in small jute bags, like the BHWT ones.

 

I think it will look really pretty, & the brown papaer will be recyclable where shiney christmas paper is not

[Laura & CTB]

Oooh I love the idea of cinnamon and raffia

 

I know what you mean about the wrapping paper in the shops - it's all very samey and so boring and such a waste when Christmas is all over

 

think I might join you on this idea if you dont mind ?

[Guest]

I've potato stamped stars with gold paint onto brown paper for wrapping paper this year - I unashamedly stole the idea from someone on this forum - Kate, I think - after they talked about doing it a couple of years ago. It looks fantastic, far nicer than anything in the shops! I might steal the idea of rafia and cinnammon sticks this year as well...

[Guest]

I use brown paper too - or sometimes newspaper which is so brilliant to work with. We stamp Christmassy pictures onto the parcels or stick glittery things on.

 

I haven't bought wrapping paper for years now. At most I wrap gifts in tissue paper, but usually use the above method.

[Lesley]

Slightly off topic.........

 

If you use newspaper for wrapping, wait until the day and wrap it in the paper with their birthdate on - the recipient could keep it if they wished.....

[kazaddress]

I can recomend 2 other ideas too (if i may).

 

1. get a pillow case (their fav colour), and stitch their name on it. decorate with ribbons etc, place prezzie inside and tie up with a bow (pillow case can be used again next year). people start to learn which colour pillow cases are theirs (I do it with old cushion covers too).

 

2. you can get pretty christmas gift boxes which fit inside each other when not in use. I have a set which i use for simon, that come out every year

 

[The Dogmother]

I do the same Sarah!!!! I uaually spray gold stars on through a stencil. Last year I changed my mind and used the FT (pink) and raffia. This year, I have the recycled newspaper bags

 

 

http://www.theindiashop.co.uk/acatalog/Newspaper_Bags.html

 

Rosie will get her presents in a couple, the family are getting homemade edibles in theirs.

[theherd123]

I am going all natural & rustic this year,as I am really uninspired by the gift wrap selection in the shops.

So,I am doing plain brown paper,tied with raffia & a bundle of cinnamon sticks on top,plus a sprig of holly.

 

OMG can you read minds?

Have you been in my head?

 

I have the exact same idea!

 

I bought the brown paper ages ago and its in the kitchen cupboard, the holly is growing nicely on the tree outside and i was going to go to the Chinese superstore for a job lot of cinammon sticks!

 

Great minds Sarah, great minds!

 

Kaz i love the idea of the pillow case - my parents used to put all our Christmas gifts in a pillow case at the end of our beds when we were young

[Charlottechicken]

Ooh lovely ideas!

 

If I can find some really cheap Christmassy fabric I may make some little tote bags to put gifts in. Red hessian or jute makes good Christmas stocking shaped bags too, with a bit of white fur round the top.

 

This is an are where I really need to do more, green wise, but my pressies are so cheap they need good packaging to make them look half decent

[Olly]

Well, this isn't really wrapping paper so it's cheating! I have a group of friends from choir, and we've got in the habit of all exchanging fairly small presents at Christmas.

 

Last year, for example, my friend found some big paper carrier bags on E-bay, wrote our names on with glitter pen and then filled them with wrapped chocolates, tiny soaps, and so on.

 

This year, I am going to get everyone a BHWT jute bag, and it will contain:

a jar of Mary Berry's Christmas Chutney (made last week and now lurking in a dark place!),

a jar of home-made marmalade (not done yet, I use Marmade (sp?) and jazz it up with whisky and ginger),

a bag of Christmas biscuits,

and a bag of tiny squares of Nigella's Chocolate Brownies (made and in the freezer.)

I am feeling very smug about this idea, as it combines chickens, recycling, garden produce and my favourite hobby of cooking!

If only my girls were laying, they would all get four eggs as well

[Egluntyne]

Some lovely ideas there...am going to pinch them all.

[The Dogmother]

Wow Olly!

Your bags sound brilliant!

 

Mine will contain a jar each of hedgerow jelly, homemade lemon curd and crab apple and clove jelly. A parcel containing some caramel shortbread and a twist of foil containing some butter biscuits.

 

The FT giftwrap looked very jolly last year and cost me next to nothing.

 

Shall we see how thrifty we can be?

[Cinnamon]

For home mades I am doing Sloe Gin, Limoncello/Raspberry Vodka, Picallili, Lemon Curd & some sort of sweetie or biscuit which I haven't decided on yet

 

Clare, hedgerow jelly sounds wonderful

[The Dogmother]

Phil seems to have bagged all the alcoholic stuff

 

Hedgerow jellly is made from elderberries and blackberries - it's a beautiful deep purply red.

[Olly]

ooh - they sound even better! I've seen a recipe for the flavoured vodka, I think it was on Dilly's blogsite. What sort of bottles do you put it in?

 

To be honest, it's not just about saving money, I could afford to go and buy a box of chocs for each of my friends - but I really want to get away from the mad consumer-frenzy that Christmas has become.

 

I was really tempted by the Good Gifts catalogue - did you know you can give a chicken coop for only £20? (cheaper than an Eglu!) You can even buy a goat, camel, or a bull if you're feeling rich enough!

 

The animals go to a farmer in Africa, your friends just get a card!

[Lesley]

We 'Buy a Bog' - and no wrapping!

[The Dogmother]

Olly, I get the stoppered bottles from IKEA - they're cheap as chips and very good. You can get smaller, more decorative ones from Lakeland or most cookshops.

 

I'm motived by the cost element, although I probably don't save that much if I'm honest. Like you said, it's to divert away from the mad consumer frenzy at Christmas, which makes me feel quite sick; I am also hoping that the contents will inspire more people to make their own and buy freerange. I'll run off some BHWT leaflets too and put them in

[Jules.]

Where can I get raffia-I don't get out much!

Cinnamon sticks cost a bomb in Aldi for 2 where else can I get them cheaper?

I am going to go with the brown paper theme as well... now where's the cheapest place to buy that?!

[The Dogmother]

Brown paper is really cheap from the post office or WHS. Try googling to see if you can find any that's definitely recycled.

[Cinnamon]

Cinnamon sticks cost a bomb in Aldi for 2 where else can I get them cheaper?

 

eBay

I think I paid 99p for around 30 sticks

[JaneG]

I love this idea..I'm getting both nannans, my mum and my sister some homemade soap off someone on another forum (her soap is great by the way, anyone want a link? ) and gunna get them a little something else too and think I'm going to put them in a brown paper bag or wrap them with brown paper.

[Lesley]

You may need to wrap them in some cling film if they aren't already wrapped Jane - the oils from the soap will soak into paper.

[Christian]

Hobbycraft is also a good place to get cinnamon sticks and dried orange slices! I dried my own last year but they took HOURS in the oven!

[Mrs Frugal]

I've potato stamped stars with gold paint onto brown paper for wrapping paper this year - I unashamedly stole the idea from someone on this forum - Kate, I think - after they talked about doing it a couple of years ago. It looks fantastic, far nicer than anything in the shops! I might steal the idea of rafia and cinnammon sticks this year as well...

 

Can't remember if it was me or not, Shona but it's something I do every year and it does look really nice. I've got some foam stamps that came free with various magazines for stamping designs on brown paper and it looks really festive with gold or silver paint against the brown.

[Mrs Frugal]

Hobbycraft is also a good place to get cinnamon sticks and dried orange slices! I dried my own last year but they took HOURS in the oven!

 

Have you tried drying them in the airing cupboard, Christian? My oven's usually busy baking biscuits so I dry the orange slices on cooling racks in the airing cupboard instead. Makes it smell fab in there and they're dried for free in a day or two. Great for pomanders too which take about a week to dry out.