Gift Bags

Gift bags are one of those things that I never really had a lot of time for and therefore never really used. I was always one for using wrapping paper and sticky tape as I always felt that this took more effort and therefore should be used as the method for presenting a gift rather than what I thought was taking the easy option and using a gift bag. Even when I received a gift that had been presented in a gift bag, and was quite happy about that, I felt that I should continue to wrap presents in wrapping paper and sticky tape. Then eventually, after a great deal of exposure to many different types of gift bags being used to contain many different forms of gifts, it suddenly dawned on me that this was a more than acceptable way of giving gifts. I had actually been surprised by the huge range of gift bags available to buy and that they went far beyond the standard plain paper gift bags that I had often seen used.

Christmas Gift Bags

My conversion began one year, when I received three gifts in Christmas gift bags from a combination of relatives, friends and neighbors. The first gift was a soft woolen jumper and although it came in a paper gift bag, the bag had my name on it with a beautiful accompanying message. I had never realized that personalized gift bags like this were available at an affordable price unless they were bought in bulk. I knew that wholesale gift bags bought in bulk could have names, personal messages and photos added to them at very little extra cost but not when bought as a single item. The next two gifts both came in relatively small gift bags. The first was round and long and of course contained a very expensive bottle of Pinot Noir. I just love my reds and usually have a glass at dinner to accompany my meal particularly when I am having steak or pasta. I had seen wine gift bags like this before except that this one had a drawstring at the opening to tie the opening closed. The drawstring was braided the same way that lanyards are. The second small gift came in two cellophane gift bags, one inside the other that gave a particularly unique effect. The red colored bag was on the outside and was folded down to show the green coloured bag inside. When looking from the side at the two cellophane bags together, a delightful combined effect was produced whilst the green above the red gave a very Christmas feel. This gift was chocolates, which is always a winner.

Birthday Gift Bags

The next step in my conversion to using gift bags came at my birthday when I received a birthday present in a gift bag made of plastic. Now I would have always thought of plastic gift bags as being the large, flat, fairly daggy department store plastic bag, but this was an entirely different matter. This was a huge bag made of heavy duty white opaque plastic with areas that were clear and could be seen through and other areas of swirling silver. The overall effect was quite stunning and as far as large gift bags are concerned, this was the grand daddy of them all. It housed a cross country bicycle and the shape of it could almost allow you to mistake it for being one of those  packing boxes.

The final step in my conversion occurred when I attended a wedding. It was one of the more memorable weddings. Many weddings seem to be memorable because of something not being quite right with the wedding like there not being enough food or the food not being that tasty. It’s amazing how many people I have heard say that a wedding they attended had less than satisfactory catering. This particular wedding that I went to was memorable because everything was fantastic. The food was good, there was plenty of it, the ceremony went without a hitch, the music was great and the telegrams were in good taste. One of the moments I remember most though was when I passed the table that had all of the wedding presents. There were the usual white and silver paper wrapped presents but then I saw two wedding gift bags containing gifts that were clearly given by the same person. What really took my attention with them was that they were handmade, embroidered fabric gift bags with the most amazing wedding scenery on each of them. Sitting apart they both had one half of a complete scene. The one on the left had a bride sitting on one half of a park bench surrounded by a beautiful park with trees, birds and small furry creatures. The other wedding gift bag had a groom sitting on the other half of the park bench surrounded by the other half of the park. When sat side by side the two cloth gift bags created a beautiful scene of a bride and groom sitting on a park bench together in nature. In addition, the embroidery created a three dimensional effect that just topped them off and made the gifts bags a gift within themselves.

So my conversion was complete. I then began to realize just how many different types of gift bags there are. I now have two plastic storage boxes full of gift bags. These include mini gift bags that I can use for tiny presents or small quirky presents like retractable badge holders or magnetic name badges, party gift bags and birthday gift bags in all sorts of colours from white to red to gold to black to silver. Not only do gift bags make attractive wrapping for presents, they are also much quicker than using wrapping paper and sticky tape.