The burning question this Christmas

We give presents to the children and then a donation to a charity with money we would have spent on everyone else. So only one lot of wrapping.

Especially the mulled wine....

Last year we used sturdy brown wrapping paper and cheerful red ribbon to tie it up with (didn't need sellotape). My friend's little granddaughter stamped hers all over with little Christmas stamps - holly leaves or reindeers, in red and geen ink. (No glitter, tinsel, plasticised paper) Looked lovely and all of it re-usable and/or recyclable.

Whilst choosing Spring bulbs in the garden centre at lunchtime today, I noticed a large stand of boxes of Christmas cards: my first thought was tut! Too early!and my second thought, ooh, shall I just take a peek? ?

I'm using tissue paper which can be recycled.

Information on the Council's web site: we can recycle gift wrapping paper as long as it has no glitter on it. The same goes for cards. I have so many part-used rolls of paper that I don't need to think about what to use!

Simple wrapping paper can be recycled so I'll probably be using that. But I have seen gifts wrapped in brown paper with a reusable ribbon that look really good and, of course, gift bags do tend to get used over and over again by most people.

I have three sisters who live in different parts of the country and until recently we exchanged gifts at Christmas time, including partners and offspring but last year we donated the amount we would have spent on presents to a charity of our choice. We then sent messages to say where the donation had gone although not the amounts. No need for wrapping paper except for my granddaughter who was the the only one under 16.

No problem here. A generous donation to Guide Dogs.

I’ll go for number 1. I vowed to do brown paper after Christmas last year, and I think it’ll be very jolly!

One year I bought everyone a cow - or parts of - see
www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/oxfam-unwrapped

I would like to adopt 4, but I know my daughter would not be best pleased. My son, on the other hand, couldn’t care less.

Well the supporters of the extinction rebellion lot won't be wanting any presents this year. Buying new stuff, especially any plastic tat, things which use energy and new clothes, will be harmful to the planet as they are probably made abroad so not carbon neutral. So that's a lot of money people will save .... and a lot of disappointed faces on Christmas morning when they are told it's what they believe in, so suck it up!!!!

Message deleted by Gransnet. The facts stated in this post can not be verified and as they are given as fact, and are damaging towards a particular organisation we have decided to remove it.

I use brown paper and narrow gold ribbon....really cheap buying a roll of paper and ribbon on eBay. I use a gold pen and write the person's name all over the paper.

Quizqueen

Like your reasoning!

We use present bags and re-use them every year - I buy maybe one every couple of years where one has torn.

quizqueen Sat 28-Sep-19 18:49:06
Well the supporters of the extinction rebellion lot won't be wanting any presents this year. Buying new stuff, especially any plastic tat, things which use energy and new clothes, will be harmful to the planet as they are probably made abroad so not carbon neutral. So that's a lot of money people will save .... and a lot of disappointed faces on Christmas morning when they are told it's what they believe in, so suck it up

Well not really, it is quite possible to have a lovely time without plastic tat.? No need to go overboard. Keep it simple and everybody is happy.

I’m a supporter of ER , and I won’t be disappointed by not receiving any plastic tat. I will receive 1 secret Santa present chosen from my wish list which will be something like RHS membership and I will be very happy with that thanks. quizqueen.

Some years ago I bought a large roll of brown paper and decorated it by spray painting round ivy and holly leaves leaving an artistic gold outline. I obviously had too much time on my hands! This year, as we will be so many, we are doing Secret Santa. £50 and a helpful ‘wanted’ list from each recipient. Calculating? Yes! but at least, hopefully, there won’t be a stream of £50 presents wending their way to a charity shop/bin by NY.

Joplin
Where do you get your information from that guide dogs are treated badly during their training.
They are working dogs, yes, so can't be treated as a pet, but from first hand experience I know that everyone in that organisation care very deeply about the dogs.
They are expensive to train, so that alone , means that they are well looked after. The job has a very important job to do , and most of them enjoy doing it. Should they be found unsuitable, and at the point when they retire, they are rehoused with loving people.

Joplin, I used to work at the RNIB in the 80's and heard some horror stories about guide dog owners. What have you heard about puppy training?

As usual, I will be wrapping mine in nice Christmassy (non-glitter) paper.
I often buy reels of proper ribbon to tie them, it's then re used though may need ironing first!
A sister who lives abroad recently brought back to me a lot of the ribbon she'd saved from previous Christmas presents.

When I was a child and my folks were far from flush, we opened presents very carefully and saved the paper for next year. I still remember the excitement when that box of paper came out again - there was a faint Christmassy smell to it. We would iron the paper if necessary - did anyone else do this?

Witzend. My Mum kept every scrap of Christmas wrapping paper and ironed it ready for the next time. Also every inch of ribbon. She was from the Make-do and Mend era. Some of it rubbed off on me as I keep lots of things ‘just in case’!

Due to estrangement, no kids or grandkids. Best friend and I but stuff all year, so no Christmas presents. Presents for 2 friends, one in shiny paper, one in brown. Job done.