Storing Your Gifts Year-Round

How many times have you went out and purchased that "special" Christmas gift for someone during the year but when it came time to wrap and give gifts it was Missing In Action?  In the past, I was very guilty of buying gifts for people all throughout the year and forgetting about them until after Christmas. So many times, I got discouraged looking for the gift and ended up spending MORE money and purchasing another gift because I just could not find the present that was until I created a gifting area.  A gifting area can be a small box, a shelf in the closet, a whole closet, or even a whole room!  It does not matter where your gifting area is located just that you create one.  Once you have your area selected, you will need to organize the area.

The first thing you must do is to create a system of knowing what is in your gifting area.  One-way is to keep a piece of paper with everything listed or to use Gift Box Inventory Cards (sold through the C.O. Products link on ChristmasOrganizing.com).  Every time you bring a new gift into your home, you should immediately put it in your gifting area AND make a note of the gift, including whom it is for, if known.  You may even want to use sticky notes and place on the item with the person it is for written.  Remember to also mark it on your gift list inside your guidebook.

You might want to have two boxes - one for assigned gifts and one for unassigned gifts. It is very important though to go through your unassigned box once a month or so and see what you might be able to use out of it. Do not let things linger in there for years until it is out of style or that baby is a teenager!!! That does not save money at all!

Some people wrap as they go and that is great too. Just be sure to put a sticky note on it so you remember what is inside (in addition to putting it on your gift list in your guidebook). Do what ever works best for you. I just have one big day to wrap all my gifts at once. Maybe even invite a friend over to help you and you return the favor helping her wrap gifts at her house another day.

REMEMBER: Put the gift box in an accessible place so that you put the gifts into when you come home from shopping!