Do you hate walking into your local department or convenience store and seeing the collection of Christmas trees and holiday lights set up, even before the Halloween decorations have been taken down? Can’t we just enjoy one holiday at a time?

Deep down, there is excitement that the holiday season is less than two months away. Soon the streets and stores will be decorated. Holiday music will be in full blast and homes will be lined with garland and lights. Our favorite part of the season are the holiday gifts and the season of gift giving!

Many of our Junior League members work so hard to make sure they’ve perfected their holiday shopping list–don’t forget to check it twice! Part of what makes gift giving so special is the gift wrapping. Thick wrapping paper with large decorative bows and beautiful hand crafted box decorations add a special touch to any present.

Whether you’re busy volunteering or simply stuck at work, we’ve put together a collection of some of our favorite holiday-themed gift wrapping ideas to help ease your creative burden this season. Still stumped? Stop by Westfield Annapolis Mall on December 7th through the 24th from 9 am to 9 pm, and Christmas Eve from 8 am to 6 pm for our annual gift-wrapping services. The JLA gift-wrapping station will be located in the space previously occupied by Lush Handmade Cosmetics, across from Crabtree & Evelyn.

All proceeds benefit the Junior League of Annapolis, Inc. and the programs we support. Are you a member of JLA? Be sure to sign-up for your gift-wrapping service shift, online through the member portal.

Wrap several loops of yarn around your fingers and knot it in the middle. Then trim into a pom pom shape!

Save some money and create your own gift tag! With so many sites offering free printable tags, you can assign a different gift tag to each person. It will make giving gifts out so much quicker.

 

Instead of wrapping the shirt IN the box, use it to actually wrap the box. You can use the actual gift or purchase a shirt from a thrift shop to use. It will be one less ball of paper thrown into recycling after the gift is opened.

 

Instead of using traditional paper, mix it up a little. Store bought sheet paper is whimsical and fun. For an extra creative touch, tie a large ribbon around the gift and attach a few bells. You’ll be singing Jingle Bells all day!

Instead of using bows and ribbon, look around and find natural accents to tape under a line of ribbon. You can use pieces of evergreen, pinecones, flowers and more!