Wrapping Paper Roundup

When I set out to organize our coat/game closet, it ended up [practically] forcing me into another organization project. In the coat closet, I found a couple roles of wrapping paper, leaning in the corner against my poor attempt at organizing my shoes...

I set them aside as I went through the rest of the stuff in the closet. I went upstairs to find a few various items in closets up there, and I found more roles of wrapping paper in two different closets. I also found a Rubbermaid gift wrap organizer, still in the package (I meant to get it out during the holidays, but obviously that never happened.). I thought, "Might as well!" so I grabbed all of my gift bags from another closet, and I was on my way to a detour: organizing my wrapping and gift supplies.  

Previously, my gift bags were housed in bigger bags with handles. I did have quite a lot of gift bags, but they were all mixed up. I had a variety of wrapping paper: christmas, happy birthday, baby, generic...and I managed to find a handful of bows leftover from the holidays as well.

I know our product of the gift wrap organizer is hard to find these days. When looking online for similar products, I found this one from the Container Store and this one on another site, which are both portable with handles. Another blog post I found had some other good ideas and links too. There were various options for bins and boxes that helped organize gift wrapping supplies from Walmart and Target, but they were not as customized. 

All of my wrapping paper (probably 8 rolls or so) fit just fine, and all of the compartments worked great. I put markers, tape and scissors in one pocket, scrap pieces of paper in another, bows in another, and all of gift bags fit in the pockets. Everything fit with room to spare! I even folded up my extra tissue paper and gift boxes (not bags, flattened boxes) and put them above the rolls of wrapping paper. After rounding up all of my gift wrap supplies that were strewn all over the house (unbeknown-st to me before starting my coat/game closet org project), I now have them in one, organized place!

 

 
 
 
 
 

Store Your Wedding Treasures Safely, Smartly and Stylishly

We recently received some suggestions from Sharon Naylor of how our Rubbermaid products help keep newlyweds organized and thought we would share:

            Throughout your wedding planning, you kept all of your notes organized in a binder or on a spreadsheet, knowing that the organized bride is a happier bride. You know where everything is, can find a contract or a receipt at a moment’s notice and have all of your bridal party members’ and vendors’ phone numbers programmed into your cell phone. Being organized makes wedding planning a breeze.

            After the wedding, organization is even more important! You have so many beautiful keepsakes that you’ll surely want to store safely and securely so that they’re in perfect condition when you take them out in the future to reminisce and perhaps even show your kids someday.

            Safely and securely are the key words here, and that’s where Rubbermaid becomes your saving grace. When items, particularly paper items, are stored in your home, they’re in danger of getting ruined by moisture, less-than-perfect air quality indoors, even bugs who like to munch on paper. As scary as it is to think about, some bugs are known for being attracted to the glue on envelopes. Besides critters, you would surely want to protect your priceless keepsakes from any water damage due to floods, pipe leaks, and any kinds of spills in your home. Wedding couples who have stored their wedding day keepsakes in cardboard shoe boxes almost always experience damage to their invitations and other items, so I highly recommend Rubbermaid storage boxes for all of your wedding keepsakes. With these inexpensive, sealed-lid storage boxes, your keepsake items are safe, secure, protected from the elements, and bug-free. Your treasures will be safe.

And organized. Imagine the top shelf of your closet highly organized with stacks of these clear or fashion-lidded storage boxes, rather than mismatched shoe boxes or even the paper bags that some brides and grooms use. Their result? A mess. Your result? An organized collection of your keepsakes, easily arranged and immediately identifiable.

Here are some of the wedding keepsakes that will be happy to spend their Happily Ever After in your collection of Rubbermaid storage boxes:

• Invitations & Save the Date Cards
• Maps and inserts
• Greeting cards from guests, for wedding, shower and engagement gifts
• Souvenirs from showers and engagement parties
• Your bow bouquet
• Honeymoon keepsakes such as shells, postcards, shell anklets
• Copies of your registry and personal wedding website – printed out for storage because many aren’t kept online forever!

Sharon Naylor, www.sharonnaylor.net, is the author of over 35 wedding books, a resident wedding expert at iVillage Weddings, and a frequent guest expert on the top bridal and news shows. She is a recent newlywed, living in Morristown, NJ with her husband Joe.  Read Sharon's full bio at http://www.sharonnaylor.net/about.htm.