Make Your Own Gift Wrapping Station

My mother always told me that being organised is half the battle.

She hates wrapping Christmas presents but I love it and being organised helps me to make the wrapping really exciting and I think that that is half the fun!

I find that getting all the stuff out every time that you want to wrap a pressie is so time consuming and I don’t really have room to set up a permanent space in my house so I have come up with a solution (thanks Pinterest!) that is portable, inexpensive and will solve all my gift wrapping and card giving solutions for the whole year and, best of all, fits nicely into my broom cupboard when not in use.

So where do I go for organising ideas and solutions? Yup! Cheap as Chips!

A quick stroll down their storage section then a sideways step into Christmas ware and I am all set for the 20,000 or so pressies that I have to wrap!

I picked up this really cool trolley first, that will work to hold most of the gear and its wheels are great so that I can move the whole lot into any where I might want to wrap in secret.

I cable tied a file holder with cable ties on to the side to hold the wrapping paper and cellophane so we can keep it all together.

An ‘over the door’ storage basket becomes a fantastic ribbon dispenser with just a piece of string threaded through the reels then tied on to the sides.

Hang that in the other side of the trolley to help make choosing your ribbon easier.

A sticky tape dispenser that is large and heavy is ideal for gift wrapping as it stays where you want it to and makes taping a one handed job. At only $5 is it so much easier than messing around with those disposable small ones that take both hands and a lot of swearing to get the tape from!

You need scissors of course, marker pens, (gold and silver pens are lovely) for gift tag writin) but I love the chalk paint marker! There are so many really cool chalk boards these days and real chalk rubs off too fast!

See those chalk board baubles? So cool to use as gift tags on a pressie or tying around a napkin for a place setting!

Then I added some really beautiful, classy cards, a hand clip folder for Christmas lists, some twine and thin ribbon. That is the top shelf taken care of.

The second level is all of my decorations like candy canes, snow flakes, gift tags and such.

Third level is for the gift bags, tissue paper, boxes, gist card holders and small baskets.

A good tip when buying all of your gift wrapping goodies it to stick to a limited colour pallet.

I have chosen to only buy red, white, green and brown.

This makes it easier to mix and match and keeps the costs down. It also looks really smart when arranged under the Christmas tree if the colours all match. Don’t worry about all your gift looking the same, you can mix up the decorations and gift cards.

Brown paper and string is essential for a ‘rustic or natural look” and feels classy while being really cheap and makes a big, lush ribbon look very luxurious.

Cellophane is great for wrapping gift baskets or things you want to be on show but it also makes your normal wrapping paper look expensive and glossy as well as adding strength for items such as wine bottles.

Another great tip is to buy paper that you can use any time of the year! If you stick to plain colours or patterns that don’t contain Christmas motifs, then you can use it as wrapping for birthday presents or any other gift you might like to give.