Jan 4, 2023 3 min read

Happy New Year! The holidays flew past too quickly as always and it is once again time to start taking down the Christmas lights, tree, and decorations. I always marvel at how empty the house looks once I take down the holiday décor, but then it also makes me feel as if my house is less cluttered (that’s a bonus!)

We finally got all of our wonderful gifts put away and sorted. Some of them were really fun, like the chef’s apron I got my husband with his name on it since he loves to cook. He gave me golf shoes, which I needed and love. We both got yummy Sarris chocolate pretzels from relatives. It was a great Christmas!

In packing away all of the holiday paraphernalia, I always wind up with a stack of gift bags and fold them all up to reuse again next year. Some of these gift bags have been used so many times that we’ve passed them back and forth amongst family members for years and it’s become sort of a running joke. The tags or stickers with names on them have been carefully peeled off, colored over, or scratched out and replaced with new ones each holiday season.

I started thinking about these gift bags a few weeks ago when a few of my work colleagues remarked they were all ready for the holidays except for wrapping presents. It dawned on me that I haven’t wrapped a present (Christmas, birthday or otherwise) in years … possibly decades. Gift bags have become my go-to method of gift wrapping, and it’s so easy that there’s no going back now. Sure, don’t get me wrong – I love wrapping presents. There’s something fun about making sure the paper fits and folding the corners and taping them just right. Then you have to have a bag of those stick-on bows or make a pretty one yourself out of ribbon. It’s fun! But it’s also a lot of work. It’s so much easier to grab one of my handy holiday gift bags, stuff it with pretty tissue paper (also often reused) and place the presents beneath the tree.

I did see a video about wrapping presents recently that piqued my interest and nearly had me running out to buy some wrapping paper just to try it. It was a shortcut you supposedly can use if your paper doesn’t quite cover the entire box and involves turning the paper diagonally and sort of rolling it around the box. Of course, it worked perfectly in the online video, but I’m curious to see if it really works. Maybe I’ll try it on a Valentine’s Day present, but I’m convinced that I’ll absolutely be sticking with my new holiday tradition of gift bags for all!

Kristin Emery can be reached at kristinemery1@yahoo.com/.