• Liven up your gift-giving with unusual wrapping ideas.christmas gifts 4 image by Photoeyes from Fotolia.com
  
  Liven up your holiday gift-giving traditions with new, creative gift-wrapping methods. You can save money and reduce holiday waste by using household materials as wrapping paper. Or use small gifts as wrapping materials to bring part of the holiday surprise to the outside of a package. Have fun trying out some new gift-wrapping ideas.
  
  

Small Gifts as Ribbons and Bows

• You can use a variety of fun gift objects as bows and ribbons on your Christmas presents. For children's presents, try using a colorful jump rope as a ribbon. Or use pretty, decorative ponytail holders or hair scrunchies as bows on gifts for young girls or teenagers. Decorative hair ties also work well as bows around a bottle of wine or olive oil.
  
  

Recycled Wrapping Paper

• You can use old newspapers, magazine pages, maps or calendar pages to wrap gifts. Look for a colorful Sunday comics section, or a large map you no longer use. You can also photocopy or enlarge particular sections of a newspaper, map, dictionary or encyclopedia to use as wrapping paper. You can also make color copies of one of your favorite decorative fabrics.
  
  

Homemade Wrapping Paper

• Make your own wrapping paper out of your children's discarded drawings or homework assignments for a charming, whimsical look. Or decorate your own large sheets of blank or solid colored paper with markers, pencils or watercolors. Experiment with abstract designs or repeated imagery.
  
  

Candy Stripe Wrapping

• To create a festive, candy cane look, wrap gifts in solid red, pink or white paper, and then wrap contrasting, striped ribbon in a spiral pattern around each gift. Use double-sided tape to hold the ribbon in place.
  
  

Homemade Gift Tags

• You can make your own gift tags with construction paper cutouts, personal drawings or favorite photographs. Use rubber cement to attach them to heavy cardstock and string a colorful ribbon through a hole punch at the top.
  
  

Color-Coded Gifts

• You can simplify gift-wrapping for your family by assigning each family member a color. On Christmas morning, each person will be able to quickly locate her presents simply by looking for her designated color.
  
  

Creative Bottle Wrapping

• Use a decorative dish towel to wrap a bottle of wine, champagne or olive oil. This wrapping doubles as an added kitchen-related gift.