[mom-from-missouri]

I iron and reuse my gift paper,.-also reuse gift bags. But for a longer lasting idea for Christmas, I have dyed garage sale pillowcases, or made my own out of rements, then wrapped the top with a pretty cord. One year I found some red and green velvet and these bags have been going back and forth in my family for years now. Depending on what items you place in the cloth gift bags, you may want to place a shoe box in the bottom for some support. You can also buy newspaper end rolls at the newspaper for about 12 cents a pound. That is great for your children to decorate to make their own wrapping paper. (It also works well for table coverings for large dinners, and if you place crayons around, kids can color on it while waiting for dinner to be served)