Wrap It Up

So I've been on an organizational kick lately.  First it was the filing system.  Then it was the fridge.  Next I decided to tackle the always Pinterest popular gift wrap organization (see the posts found on Pinterest here, here, here, and many more- search "organize gift wrap" and be lost in the possibilities for hours).

When we were first married, organizing gift wrap was a cinch.  Mostly because we didn't have any.  After our first Christmas together, we had one upright storage container for wrapping paper.  Rolls on the bottom, ribbon on top.

And for reasons no one understands, we bought more wrapping paper the following Christmas.  And then when we lived under one roof with Steve's parents, we consolidated all of our wrapping paper.  The wrapping paper was like bunnies.  Every time we left it unattended, we would find more wrapping paper we didn't know we had.  Finally our collection of wrapping paper was so large that we had to store it in two giant tupperware tubs in our garage.  And to add insult to injury, one day as Steve was leaving for work, we heard a loud pop.  Upon investigating, we found that Steve's tire had rubbed against one of the tubs, shattering a corner of it and leaving some pretty manly looking tire tread marks on the lid.  The wrapping paper was still fine, the tub was a total loss (not to mention a safety hazard).  That happened over a year ago.

We were past due for some downsizing and organizing.  And since we had just made it past another Christmas and my birthday, the time seemed ripe.  So I drug all of our wrapping materials from their nooks and crannies in the garage and dumped them all in the middle of our hallway.

We could gift wrap presents for a small army.

And just so I could get a better picture of what I was dealing with, I took off all the lids and spread everything out.

Note the jagged corner on the tub in the middle.

I was daunted.  So I decided to tackle one thing at a time.  I started with the rolls of wrap.  Anything that was still in its shrink wrap, I kept.  I also kept wrapping paper that are perennial favorites of ours, either because of how they look, or the quality... you know, the really heavy glossy stuff that cuts like a breeze.  Rolls that hadn't been used in at least a couple of years or rolls whose paper was visibly dented, crunched, or otherwise mangled got the boot.

That made dealing with the ribbon so much easier!  If it didn't coordinate with any of the wrapping paper I was saving, it got the boot too.  I will tell you, I found some mauve grosgrain ribbon in there.  The 80s called.  It wants its ribbon back.

For the gift boxes and bags, I used the same rules.  If they looked at all beat up, they didn't make the cut.  And the tissue paper!  It needed to look nearly new and coordinate with one of the gift bags I saved to stay.

By the time I was done, I had a few paper products in my recycle bin and a giant bag of boxes and ribbons and bags and wrap to donate.

Not quite as festive as Santa's bag, but it'll do.

The best part was storing everything that we were keeping.  The broken tub went out to the recycle bin.  I wanted to fit everything in our guest bedroom closet.  Fortunately, we have a half-empty dresser in the closet and it turned out to be the perfect storage solution.  One drawer is filled with gift bags, gift boxes, and tissue paper.

Peek a boo!

Another holds all of our ribbon and bows.

Shiny!

Which means now we have 8 rolls of wrapping paper hanging out in the back of our closet.  Steve has promised to rig me a system to keep them all corralled together in the closet at some point, but for now they're fine as is.

We've gained a couple of storage containers.  Our garage is less cluttered.  And it feels good to purge some of the unnecessary stuff around our home and our life.  Woo!

How do you store your wrapping paper?