For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for December 25, 2016

Joyeux Noël, touts vous fanatiques de “Pour le Meilleur et Pour le Pire.”

She’s good about saving,, just not using.

When I was a kid, my mother wouldn’t let me rip the paper because she wanted to reuse it!

John should go down there next November, grab every box more than two years old, and donate them to a thrift shop.

one more reason to not get married

For worse it is… Joyeux Noël!

So throw out the ones from last year.

87??

87??

Wishing all a very Merry and Blessed Christmas!!

Like so many things advertised commercially as “recyclable” but which never actually get “recycled”.

Yes Ellie. And we’re going to put the perfume gift in the box that held the Star Wars toy.

Hoarder

Lynn’sNotes

This is what I do and have always done: I carefully remove wrapping paper from a gift and fold it gently for reuse. I then try to use it as packing material, if possible. I also keep the bows. Good ones I do reuse, especially the ones I make myself. Both my daughter, Katie, and I have a wrapping space in our homes–complete with paper, tape, ribbon and cards. It drives me crazy to see someone scrunching up and discarding a perfectly good bow. I have launched myself across a room to grab a bow before the gift recipient casually crushed it into a ball!

I love gift-wrapping and I prefer to make my own bows. I learned how to do this when I was about 8. Before the introduction of commercially-crafted gift toppers, the making of an attractive bow was an art. At the back of our jewelry store on Lonsdale, we had a gift-wrapping table. My mom did gift wrapping as a courtesy to our customers and she taught me how to make her famous bows. If you’d like to learn how, you can watch my quick video tutorial here.

Lynn’sBowTutorialVideohttp://www.fborfw.com/news/making-gift-bows-lynns-video-tutorial/

Lots of “saving” & making do with paper & boxes that could be reused in after depression 30s, & early 40’s when WW2made paper & everything else scarce. Different sense of values today.

I actually do recycle my bows and boxes. The bows are large fancy ones I make with wired ribbon, all you have to do is fluff them up and you’d never guess they were several years old.

Just wait until Eli is not near and then throw away before trash day.We do not safe gift wrap gets tore and then thrown away.Merry Christmas everyone.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HANUKKAH AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL.

Then she buys new one next year, anyway! Just like every year!

Throw ’em out anyway.

Okay, I will admit to straightening out and folding up some tissue paper and storing it in a gift back for later use, but I used it for gifts this year. Merry Christmas everyone!!

We always put the bows and ribbons (fancy or not) back in the wrapping box and reused year after year. I thought everyone did! It was a rare Christmas when we used 2 or 3 new bows, and usually a cat was involved in that process, having shredded one of the old ones :-)

Gift wrap and name tags always seemed extreme to me, but everything else (boxes, bows, ribbon, bags) lasts forever, cats permitting.

That’s my wife for ya.

Being a WWII baby, born to depression parents, I treasured every good container as much as the contents. An empty cigar box was the ultimate prize! Later, my own kids gleefully tore up wrappings and smashed boxes, just to see me wince. I wouldn’t trade their “electronic Christmases” for my paper and cardboard ones, ththough.

They almost got away with it. Merry Christmas!

Way back in the day my Grandmother and my great Aunt, both widows, saved Christmas paper for years, they reused it every year

Last spring I gave away two boxes of gift paper, still in its wrappers, and two gift bags full of smaller bags because I thought that I was done with gifts. I intended to give money only. However, seeing all those really pretty toys, I bought some for the grand kids and had to go out and buy new paper and bags as well…

Wish I HAD a basement.

What makes you think they don’t?

Oh, my gosh – it’s MY family!!