Day #23 of 30 Days to a Simpler Life --- Give Vanishing Gifts

Today, tackle your wrapping paper, ribbons, gift bags, and gift tags/cards.  Save a few of your favorite rolls of paper, some matching ribbon, and some gift enclosure cards. Give away your extraneous wrapping supplies (give a few rolls to the kids).  If you cannot bear to give away beautiful wrapping paper, store the excess out of sight.  Simplicity is about using up what you have --- and keeping things flowing through your life.  (30 Days to a Simpler Life, p. 147)

OR for serious simplifiers only...

Give far fewer gifts and far more hugs.  Gifts are symbols of love.  (30 Days to a Simpler Life, p. 151)

I really enjoyed this chapter.  I find it so hard to pick gifts for people.  I want to give something that shows I put thought into it and still have it be within my financial means.  Some of the suggestions the authors include in the chapter are gourmet foods, local wines, fresh flowers, toiletries, experiences (love this idea!), gift certificates for services or events, photos, stationery, and services by you (like babysitting or dog walking).  Another suggestion that I thought was great was to create a signature gift wrap look for all your gift giving---one look that works everyone and all occasions.  Love that!

Here is where I keep my wrap.  It's in my "craft closet" and the Cobbler set up an ingenious organization system for me.  He put the gift bags by genre (baby shower, birthday, etc.) all in the biggest bag in their category and then hung them on hangers.  He also crafted me that hanger for the bubble wrap made from old wire hangers.

Then I keep all my ribbon and tissue paper inside an old plastic file bin that I used to carry my files to and from my car at my last job before kids.

My gift wrap tubes (I don't have too many---maybe 6?) are all standing up inside a small basket.  For once, I feel like I have a daily assignment under control.  I'm going to be working on the valuables binder of last week for quite a while.  Don't even mention the 3rd and 4th shelves inside my pantry that I'm still working on.  What I've liked about this whole 30 day process is just doing a little bit and that still being a success because I did SOMETHING.  I'm proud of me and everyone else who I know who is doing this too.  All those little somethings add up to a BIG something.  Yay!

On a totally different note, it was like wild kingdom around here this weekend.  We took a hike as a family on Saturday and found a ton of snails!  It made me wish my R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey Life curriculum (we're using that to do science camp at home this summer) was already ordered because I know they have a unit about snails and snail keeping.  It was really cool though.  They were absolutely everywhere!

Then, yesterday afternoon the Cobbler kept seeing a rabbit (a fairly common sight in our neighborhood) running back and forth across our backyard with different natural materials in its mouth--- grass, leaves, sticks.  This morning after church we came home to baby bunnies in a nest on the side of our house.  Here they are!

The kids couldn't stay away from them (it was too cool!) but we didn't want to scare away the mom so the Cobbler erected "The Bunny Cam".  We have some small security cameras that we used at our last house.  The Cobbler mounted one on a stick and aimed it at the bunny nest.  We now have a TV channel totally devoted to all bunnies all the time.  I'm just hoping the neighborhood cats can resist the temptation and stay away!

And in other big news---Red finally swam this week in the lap pool without a flotation device for the first time ever!  It has been a LONG time coming since she's been taking private lessons on and off for the last eight months.  Last summer she was afraid to put her face in the water.  Now she's a swimmer!  I am just bursting with happiness for her.  Here's a photo of Red with her instructor Colleen after her big triumph.

Happy Monday to all!