Creative Wrapping Ideas

Place the bottle along one side of the fabric so that the bottle's top meets the top of the fabric. Fold the excess material at the bottom over the bottle, forming a pocket of sorts. Then roll the dish towel evenly and secure at the neck with ribbon.

Jump-start a trend in the next round of kids' parties. A fun, colorful decoration and an extra gift.

Present your presents well without needing to master the fine art of bow tying. Plus, this "bow" can be recycled to keep Heidi's braids from unraveling.

Leftover paper of all kinds―wallpaper, old maps, last week's Sunday comics―begs to be recycled as gift wrap. Use a copy machine's enlarger function to make much of small things. Choose a dictionary definition to suit the occasion: love for Valentine's Day, shamrock for Saint Patrick's Day, ageless for an anxious friend's birthday. Photocopy the page onto an 11-by-17-inch sheet of paper (if possible) at the highest magnification, repeat as needed to increase the word size, and squeeze in the choice part of the definition.

Last year's holiday and birthday cards may be too pretty to throw away, but they're probably not meaningful enough to keep. Cut out hearts, flowers, or any other whimsical illustration from the card's cover, avoiding handwritten notes on the opposite side, and stash them with your ribbons and wrapping paper.

Personalize a birthday present by taking a page from that month and circling the special day.