I, and many folks I know, tend to pick up little gifts for the holidays throughout the year.  Whether it’s a special arts and crafts show or just a little trip through a local shop, I’m bound to find something fun that I know someone will like.

Then there are the super sales that practically force an item to jump right off the shelf and into my shopping basket.  Of course, I’m always playing around with crocheting, knitting, sewing, painting, and general crafty stuff, so I’ve always got a little something for someone stuck away somewhere.

No matter what the reason, I end up with small piles of gifts scattered throughout the house, hidden away from little prying eyes… and big prying eyes.

The problem, as you might have noticed, is that the gifts are scattered all over the house.  This leads to a most disturbing situation year after year.  That is the un-gifted gift.  Sure enough, come June or July I find a wonderful little trinket that I meant to give to someone special.  There it is still safely tucked away behind some summer clothes.  Ooops.

So, my chore today is to find all my secret gifts and gather them into one or two convenient locations.  Since I don’t have an empty closet just waiting for me anywhere in the house, I’m going to have to get creative.  Here’s my plan.

Since I invested in wonderful under the bed storage boxes a few months ago, I’ve decided to start there.  I currently have a few extra blankets and linens stored in them.  The truth is I have never used those extra blankets.  It appears to be a good time to donate the nice blankets to charity and put the slightly more used blankets and linens in the car just in case we ever need one while we’re traveling or going to the beach.  The under the bed storage boxes will be perfect for little gifts that I plan to give outside of my family, of course.  I need to get a little more sneaky for my own loved ones who I share a home with!

I have also decided that a supply of wrapping paper would fit nicely in these same boxes.  I will  include some ribbon, tape, and gift cards so that it becomes a quick and easy wrap and go plan.  Chances are I’ll have a few last minute gifts to give and this will help with that chaos.

For my own dear ones right here at home, I’ve actually decided to use a  “bankers box” that I have currently holding some paperwork that’s been piling up in my office.  Because a “bankers box” is so innocuous and mundane, it won’t cause anyone the slightest curiosity if they see it on the top shelf of my closet.  Label the box “tax returns”,  “insurance papers”, or something equally as boring and you’re home free.  The other upside to this is I’ll actually have to file the papers that I took out of the box.  Another task completed!

Of course, this may seem like a simple project, but as you have seen, it did produce a couple other chores along the way – going to a local charity to donate the blankets, and filing some old paperwork finally.  This particular treasure hunt for gifts I bought throughout the year may just start a flurry of cleaning!  Or not.  Either way, I won’t go through another year of buying gifts and losing them.  That’s disappointing to say the least and isn’t very frugal at all.

I hope you have a productive day today.  Even if you already have your gifts in one place, it might be a good day to get your wrapping paper and trim together.  No matter what project you have planned, enjoy your day!

p.s.  Even if it is winter, it’s never too early to find some new Spring Cleaning Tips For Mom.  A little spring cleaning might even brighten an otherwise dark and dreary day in the middle of January.

Tags: christmas gifts, frugal christmas gifts, gift wrap storage, gift wrapping, organizing Christmas gifts, organizing gifts

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 at 2:24 pm and is filed under Tidy Tuesday. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.