7 Weeks/48 Days/1152 Hours Till Christmas
That's a wrap! OK, not yet. But we need to wrap it up. Our presents that is!
Hopefully you're already shopping and gathering gifts. The biggest piece of advice I have is WRAP IT WHEN YOU GET IT! You don't have to put it under the tree or anything, just get it wrapped. You may have sneaky children or a nosy spouse, so you don't have to put the name on it yet. But make sure you have a system so you know who it belongs to!
We've used a couple of top secret techniques in the past. For a couple of years we wrapped each persons gift in a different wrapping paper. (Thanks to all the fundraisers we were forced into.) They don't know which is theirs until Christmas morning! That's kind of fun because you can put them under the tree!
There's also the tried and true colored dot system. Sharpie or garage sale dots work great for this! All you have to do it put a tag on it Christmas Eve and you're good to go!
The motto of this week is to Be Prepared. I've got two Eagle Scouts in my house, so this is something we are super familiar with! When it comes to wrapping gifts it's not rocket science, but if you don't have the right tools, it can end up being a big ole mess.
TASKS
Pull out all your Christmas wrapping, ribbon, boxes, tape, scissors, tags, tissue and bags. We're going to do a quick inventory and PURGE. Yes, purge. It's time to throw away (or donate) the stuff you've been hanging on to for years but are never actually going to use. If you've picked it up and put it back while saying, "I might use that someday" or "that's a really great box", that's your sign to let it go!
WRAPPING PAPER
If you have a mishmash of wrapping paper, try the one per person technique and clear your stash this year! If you're ready for a change, donate everything and buy the two sided Costco wrapping paper that you will use for several years to come. It's great quality and affordable.
TISSUE PAPER and GIFT BAGS
This really is a problem. As a professional organizer I saw it all! Closets, drawers and bags STUFFED with recycled tissue paper and gift bags. No one, and I mean no one, needs a gigantic stash of mismatched gift bags and recycled tissue paper. It doesn't serve a big enough purpose for the amount of room it takes up. Would you pay $2 to not have that big mess? Well that's all it's going to cost you to buy the bag and tissue paper next time you need one.
If you like to have them on hand, that's great! Generic bags and tissue is the way to go. Now you don't have to wait for a baby boy to be born amongst your family and friends to use that "Welcome Little Guy" gift bag. You can donate it and move on with your life.