All That Glitters

Look at the picture below...

Looks tempting, doesn't it? All that delicious, colourful, brightly patterned paper concealing all the things you have been dreaming about all year long. If you live with a frugal person, they will no doubt be carefully undoing the sellotape on each gift, folding the paper and later ironing it for use next year... And I don't blame them!! How expensive is this stuff?!? I agree - it's beautiful and looks 100% Christmassy, but when you start to spend more on the stuff that ultimately gets thrown in the bin than the things wrapped up inside, then you need to seriously look at your financial priorities!! It's crazy!
I am nearly done with my Christmas shopping, and intend to wrap each gift up lovingly enough that it looks like a lot of thought has gone into it, but I won't cringe when all that expensive paper gets tossed into the bin.
I had a sneaky look around the charity shops today. It's been a while. And I found some proper goodies!!

In Hobbycraft, these stamps are sold individually for around £2 per stamp, but there came in a pack and were sold to me for a bargain 75p!! I was also pleasantly surprised to be invited to leave my details for Cancer Research shop so they can contact me if similar items even get donated. I also stated I look out for fabrics, rags and craft materials too. This is genius! It'll encourage regular custom, have stock earmarked to be sold before it gets to the shop floor, and invites people to commit to buying things they request to be called about.
Oxfam had some bargains too: this pair of mugs are perfect for my granddad, who does in fact look like an old wise owl...

And Poundland gave me these bits: the brown paper is perfect present gift wrap, and this whole roll will go beyond Christmas this year. The little photoframe is a silly gift for someone! And the incense because we get through tonnes of it here at home...

Don't trust me that brown paper can be exciting?? Look at this:

Now I will feel happy when I give these to my family, and guilt-free when they throw the paper in the bin... Job done! Try it yourself; brown paper against pretty ribbon scraps, tinsel or bows also looks really effective. You can even glue things on to it like sequins, stickers, cheap tree decorations or glitter.

BB xx