Easy Christmas Present Wrapping System – Save Time and Money With Less Waste

Tired of spending hours on your gift wrapping during the busy holiday season? Say goodbye to that struggle with this easy Christmas present wrapping idea that’s eco-friendly and budget-friendly. This quick gift wrapping system not only saves you money, but also makes your gifts look amazing – especially with the free printable tags. You’ll wonder how you ever wrapped any other way!

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Do you stay up to 2 am Christmas Eve wrapping presents? Or spend hours wrapping all.the.gifts.?

Do you buy loads of paper, ribbon, tags and bows at the after-Christmas sales only to see them end up in a recycling bin or trash can the next year?

Well, that was my life during the holidays for a number of years. Until I stumbled on a Christmas present wrapping idea that saved a ton of time, stress, and money – and results in beautifully wrapped gifts under the tree Christmas morning.

It happened as I was given sturdy, decorated boxes that were reusable and then bought some of the wrapping paper that kids were always selling. The paper was expensive (but a good cause, right?) and thicker than normal, which made me want to save it. So I started wrapping boxes with lids separately that we could reuse year after year.

After a few years I realized I didn’t need to buy paper and ribbons – or even tags – because I’d saved and used them all again. And my “system” was born.

Are you sensing a theme here? Time, money, and more time – all saved if you adopt this system.

How much time can you REALLY save wrapping?

All the gifts for our family of four (10 to 12 gifts) were wrapped in about 30 minutes. Really.

Note: We have a tradition of just three gifts for our kids (like the Wise Men’s three gifts), and they were usually a book, clothes, and then a ‘big’ gift they asked for. Keeping gifts under control like this also saves time and money!

There were still gifts like stocking stuffers and family exchange gifts to wrap traditionally, but the main wrapping was done and out of the way with this system in record time.

Obviously, if your family is bigger, it will take longer, but still save you time and all the other things.

Curious how to make this amazingness work for you? Read on! 

Note: I first wrote about this system n 2016 and you’ll notice some of the boxes are covered differently in the video and more recent photos than the earlier photos. This shows that even though it’s a system doesn’t mean you have to keep something the same way forever! When you get tired of a color or paper, simply phase it out as you find other papers or boxes you like better.

Christmas Gift Wrapping System Video

3 Steps to Easy Christmas Present Wrapping

1) Gather sturdy boxes with lids and nice gift bags.

• Collect boxes with lids of any size you would find useful and cover them with wrapping paper using this simple tutorial to wrap a box with a lid.
• Collect sturdy decorated gift boxes that you don’t have to wrap, like a set of nesting gift boxes, or 6 gold boxes. I also often see them in stores like Joann’s and Hobby Lobby at half off before Christmas, so you don’t have to wait for after Christmas to buy them.
• Find gift bags in multiple sizes for items that would be hard to put in a box. Coordinate with the boxes in colors and patterns you like.

2) Use high-quality, heavy weight wrapping paper.

When wrapping boxes to reuse, choose patterns in colors you love because you will be seeing them for years!

I like to use paper that will stand the test of time like this gold selection to cover boxes that have a logo or don’t coordinate with the decor. It’s easy to do with this short tutorial on how to permanently cover boxes and lids.

3) Store all the boxes in a large plastic bin.

Nest the boxes and include all the coordinating ribbons and bows along with any quality gift bags and tissue you want to reuse from year-to-year in 1 or 2 plastic bins (more on this below).

How to Start Your Christmas Present Wrapping System

TIP: You don’t have to have all your boxes ready at once (unless that’s your goal), just start accumulating boxes and paper you love over a number of years, and permanently cover them as you get them, storing from year to year.

Year One: (This will take the longest time – it’s investing in the future!)

1. Gather sturdy boxes with lids and nice gift bags (if you sew, you can create fabric gift bags for larger items, too).
2. Wrap lids and boxes separately, if needed (some holiday pre-printed boxes can be used as is).
3. Add coordinating tissue or even a gold lame fabric like the photo above, tulle, or other pretty fabric to make the gift even more special.
4. Buy sturdy gift tags you like or make some yourself. Since you’ll be reusing them, it’s worth the time if you enjoy crafting!
5. Put the gifts under your tree as usual, but when it’s time to open them, tell your family to keep the bows, ribbons, and tags with the boxes – and that the lids come off. Otherwise they may just start tearing the paper before you know it!
6. When Christmas is over, gather up the boxes, bows, bags and any tags you can reuse to store together.

Years Two, Three and On

1. Add boxes and bags as needed to create a system that works for your family so you don’t have to shop anymore.
2. Wrap your new gifts each year in the appropriate-sized boxes and bags, re-tying the bows and even reusing the tags – this is the 30 minute part!
3. Continue to save and store your boxes, bows and bags from year-to-year and reap the savings!

Storage Tips

NOTE: I go into more details about this in the video, so watch it if you can!

TIP 1: Make it super easy to store and re-wrap each year by keeping the coordinating bow and tissue INSIDE the box from year to year.

• Wired ribbon works best since they can easily be fluffed up again and again – some of my ribbons are more than 15 years old! This set holiday-ish wired ribbons will get you started.
• Keep the tags! You can try to put the gift for the same person in the same box the next year, but always reuse the tag on any gift in the system – this saves even more time. We made some beautiful tags one year and we get to use them over and over instead of just tossing them (I’ve been using these homemade tags for 15 years, too!).

TIP 2: Place whatever small boxes will fit inside larger ones.

This reduces the bulk for storing, allowing you to fit everything into one bin (which should be your goal). You can see how a couple of smaller boxes fit into the larger box pictured above. These simply sit on top of any tissue and ribbon that goes with the bigger box.

TIP 3: Nest the boxes in any larger boxes that can hold them.

Basically, try to fit all the boxes you need in the smallest space possible. It’s like a puzzle fitting everything in!

TIP 4: Place the boxes, along with any tissue, tags, and bags in a large plastic bin with lid.

Plastic will keep the papers and boxes stored the best without letting moisture inside, whether you store in an attic or garage. You’ll want to look for large bins, like this 30 gallon size bin with a lockable lid. (I wish I could find the exact bin we have to link to – it’s perfect for the wrapping because the lid is curved, so you can fit just a bit more in – but I’ve not found one like it.)

Note on photo above: When this picture was taken, I kept our gift bags in a metal box in our wrapping closet since we had room. Since we moved to the farmhouse everything needs to be stored in the attic so I fit all our tissue and bags in the one bin (which is what you will see in the video).

TIP 5: Lastly, keep all the tools you need for wrapping (scissors and tape) and labeling in a small container that fits in your bin (see this in action in the video).

How to Save on Gift Tags

Here’s how to save on tags – both money and the time needed to write them every year:

1. Buy different sizes of shipping tags and a few stamps with ink pads (shipping tags are usually cheaper than craft store tags). For example, I have a Christmas pack of wood stamps like these with some individual letter stamps to make “to” and “from” along with a set of ink pads. You can also print free tags (like I’m offering below!) onto sturdy cardstock.
2. Make up a batch of simple tags, adding glitter and embellishments if you’d like. Or not – do what you like!
3. Reuse the tags from year to year for your immediate family and quickly stamp any new ones needed each year (it takes only about a minute to do 10 tags).  
5. Keep all the tools you need for wrapping (scissors and tape) and labeling in a small container that fits in your bin (see this in action in the video).

Since I started doing this for our tags, I haven’t needed to buy tags in years!

Free Printable Tags

Before you know it you, too, will be taking only a few minutes to wrap beautiful presents for your family that look fabulous under the tree, saving money and keeping stuff out of the landfill!

Let me know if you adopt this system – it’s really changed my holiday stress level and I hope it does for you, too!

This article has been updated – it was originally published in 2016.

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