Budget Wrapping Paper Organization

As Christmas fades into 2013, I decided to take advantage of a Saturday morning to start putting away decorations and supplies. The first problem that arose was the generous supply of wrapping paper my mom had given me back in November that had gotten stuffed into a storage closet and was lying in a tangled mess in the floor. (I'm not naturally organized, obviously.) I wish I had thought to take a before pic to show you the chaos. I needed to get that wrap out of the floor to make room for the Christmas tree and other goodies, as well as saving the valuable paper from certain destruction.

Waste Not, Want Not

My vow of frugality would not let me make a run to Wal-Mart for one of those nifty wrapping paper storage containers made just for this purpose. Instead, I had to make do.

I remembered we had some unused rolling storage baskets in the garage. Once upon a time, they housed the kids' basketballs and sporting equipment, but for whatever reason, now they sat empty. They were cracked and dirty and the kids had lost the handles, but they were still completely usable. With my trusty Magic Eraser I scrubbed one down and brought it inside.

At this point, it was pretty dull. It would have served its purpose as is, but since I have the ability to make it fabulous, why not?

Creating a Masterpiece

I grabbed my roll of vinyl and my Silhouette Cameo. I know neither of these would be considered frugal, but I already had them on hand, so if I don't use them, they're just a giant waste of money, right? At least I purchased both on sale back before I took my vow.

After a few failed attempts (I'm still learning the machine), I came away with a nifty label and a couple of embellishments. I'll ask you to overlook the crookedness of my label. I didn't get it aligned perfectly on the first try, so I pulled it up and tried again, which resulted in tearing it and warping it in some places, so perfection was lost.

And here's the finished project, all filled with wrapping goodness!

Yes, that's a Pampers box peeking out through the holes. I needed something to hold the paper rolls upright since there weren't enough to fill the container completely, and my gift bags and ribbon fit perfectly inside. If I don't find an adequate divider, eventually I'll wrap the Pampers box to make it look a little more elegant, but for now, it works.

So, there you have it. My embellished wrapping paper container sits waiting to be shoved back into that closet behind it, only to be admired on holidays and special occasions. But on those dates, it will shine! And no one in the household can claim they can't find it when I direct them to the wrapping paper.

When is a time you repurposed something you already had lying around? I love to see other people's inspiring ideas!