I am always looking for ways to watch my pennies.  Gift wrap and suppplies can be really expensive if you don't purchase them on sale.  Here are a few suggestions on how to cut costs in this area.

Reusing Wrapping Paper - (Did you just read that and think NO WAY), well people have been doing it for years.  Be creative and put a bow where old tape left a hole in the middle of an otherwise great piece of paper.  Or plan your ribbon placement to hide the old fold.  Consider taping matching pieces together to make a larger sheet. 

Thinking outside the Gift Box - This includes using comics from the Sunday paper, shelf paper, the paper from a bouquet of cut flowers, a piece of paper tablecloth, wall paper, old maps, or heavy duty tissue paper (JoAnn's wraps a lot of glass items in great paper).

Gift Bags - I cringe whenever I got to a party and someone throws away a gift bag.  These can be used for years!  Dollar stores are a great place to buy them.

Permament Wrapping - Make drawstring sacks that can be used from year to year.  When wrapping a box use a larger square of fabric or a scarf from a thrift store.  If you have the time and space you can make present boxes with removable lids that are permanently decorated with paper or fabric.  Never turn down free fabric from someone.  A present wrapped in fabric really stands out and will get you great comments from the gift recipient.  You can use permanent methods for ribbon alternatives too.  Look for rickrack, gold braid, strips of fabric cut with pinking shears. 

Make Your Own  - Brown paper is most commonly used.  You can look for cheap rolls of brown paper on sale, or save those grocery bags.  You can create designs with stencils or just your own artistic talent!  You can also leave the paper plain and decorate it with cut paper like snowflakes, or you can decorate the paper by adding fake flowers.  Marbled paper can be made by ironing crayon shavings between a piece of paper and a piece of wax paper.  Instead of using tape seal the wrap with a warm iron.

Now I leave the rest up to you!  Get to wrapping!