Gift Taggs

Following on from last weeks article, I thought I would add a few notes on what to store in your gift closet, again from my research I found several themes that I think can be adapted to suit your needs.
Think about how you need to buy presents for.The majority of our friends are in their Thirties who are getting married, newly weds or have young children, we don’t have children so I don’t need to worry about buying gifts for their friends. Family are a lot more varied, from young children to grand parents –  but we don’t have any teenagers to buy gifts for.

As I have just started setting up my gift closet,  I am opting to look for decent items to store – ideally I should have started this before Christmas so I could buy all the gifts in the 3-2 promotions the stores have around then, so instead I am looking to buy items in bulk or take advantage of discount shopping centres and sales.

Bicester Village in Oxfordshire is a great place to start, we tend to do two major trips here one before Christmas and over of the summer. With so many shops to choose from it is easy to get gifts from here.

So far my gift closet, contains some wash bags (brought at the Cath Kidston discount store), Philosophy and L’Occitane bath products (brought in bulk at QVCUK.com), some photo frames (perfect for all occasions), bottle stoppers, (to be given with a bottle of wine for hostess gifts), and some candles.

Further Reading for present ideas

Home Organization Suite 101
Pier 1
Creative Homemaking

Tags: gift closet, organisation

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I am always impressed with people who are organised with gifts – those that do their Christmas shopping in September, buy the Christmas cards in the January sale and remember where they have stored them or always seem to have the perfect present at hand. My mother in law is one of these people, she manages to buy gifts in bulk or when she sees them, stores them away and the pulls them out just before the person’s birthday or Christmas all ready to be given.

I have been toying for a while with setting up a gift closet, I don’t really have a closet spare but I have an empty shelf in a dresser that I think would be perfect. So I have been researching what makes a perfect gift closet.

All the guides suggest starting with a gift journal to record all the birthdays and special occasions through the year – you can download pages to create on of these at Organised Home. I would also suggest adding some additional information like ages to the name to make sure you don’t miss any landmark occasions. I have taped mine to the door of the dresser.

Ideally I would love a proper wrapping station but failing that I have set up a box with gift bags (especially the ones for bottles of wine – this are so useful), rolls of paper and different colours of tissue paper for more delicate gifts. Then some rolls of ribbon (I use the realms of John Lewis), and a selection of gift tags. Another useful things to include are embellishments – badges and brooches, paper flowers and mini toys can all be used for that finished touch to your gift. Obvioulsy you want to include some scissors, sellotape and different coloured pens to this box.

Next greeting cards, think about all the occasions the happen in a year, birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, new babies or home, I like to send a card for all of these. As a crafter, I always make the cards but am so unorganised that I end up having to rush out to Hobbycraft for supplies or ordering online – and I can never find what I am looking for, so the idea of having a box with cards I have already made would be ideal.

The other key thing to include I discovered from my research is some post it notes, to leave notes on gifts or as reminders to yourself – this is a good idea if you plan on re-gifting a present – you can make a note of who sent it to avoid any embarrassment.

Finally, I am including some jiffy envelope and stamps already for posting – so the only time I will have to leave the house to go to the post office to mail the gift.

Next Week, the actual gift inventory.

Tags: gift closet, gift wrapping, organisation

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