As my children were growing up, it always bothered me to buy wrapping paper only to see it ripped open and thrown in fireplace or trash after Christmas gifts were opened. I tried using comics but soon discovered I didn't like black newsprint it left on my hands and everyone else's. For me, gift wrap was right up there with fireworks - we spent good money only to see it go up in smoke. I began to look for a solution.

I bought craft paper and stenciled things on it, but still, I felt paper was going to waste. Then one year after Christmas I saw holiday fabric on sale and had an idea! I bought yard after yard of it on clearance and brought it home to make gift bags.

I cut fabric in various sizes. Sometimes I only got 2-3 bags out of a yard, but I knew that they would be able to hold bigger items, and better yet - I would be able to reuse them next year. I basically cut and sewed them like a pillowcase. I sewed a seam up three sides and left top open. Then I turned that edge in slightly and stitched it on machine to finish it off. Then I folded it in about 3 inches (or more on bigger bags) and hemmed it. I then put another row of stitching about a half inch above that one to create a casing for ribbon. I slipped a piece of ribbon through casing and tied it shut. If you have nosey kids, you may want to tie a knot!

"We spend first part of our human experience avidly accumulating things and other half wondering what in world we're going to do with all stuff." Margret E. Keats

I've never really thought of myself as a person who cares about material things, but after years of marriage and raising three children, I had accumulated more than I needed. I made kids take what was theirs as they left home and began building their own nests, but there was still too much. I started to think about what my kids would do with all of it when I'm dead and gone, and decided most of it would probably be dumped or sold in a garage sale. I decided maybe I should start getting rid of it before they did!

About that time I discovered a wonderful little book, "How to Simplify Your Life," by Elaine St.James. I asked for book as a Christmas gift, and it has been well worth what my daughter spent on it (I believe it was only about $10 at time). I've read it on many different occasions. It's great for just flipping through and reading whatever catches your interest that day.

One of my favorite sections in book is about getting rid of things you no longer need. She suggests setting up a closet or at least a shelf for those items. I'm not talking about worn out junk, but items which are in good shape that may be a treasure to someone else! She calls them "mathoms." My grandson calls process of giving away your stuff, "regifting." It works for me, no matter what you call it. For instance, I had a beautiful bottle that my daughter had filled with oil and flowers at one time. It was dark pink with a wide square base that became more slender toward top. Years later, color in flowers had all run into oil and it looked like a bottle of sludge! I popped cork, dumped stuff out of inside, and put bottle in dishwasher. The next day a friend came over and saw it sitting on my counter. "Oh, what a beautiful bottle," she said. "Like it? It's yours!" I said. I handed it to her before she had chance to say no. She was thrilled to latch on to it because she said her mother collected pink glassware. Who would have ever known! My castaway was passed on to her before it ever made it to my regifting shelf. She immediately gave it to her mother, who was just thrilled to add it to her collection. Nice thing is, that once it's out of my house, I don't care how many times it is regifted.