I always wait until the last minute to wrap presents. Since I rely on re-gifting my gift bags, and I usually only buy wrapping paper every zillion years or so, I sometimes have to get creative. Today, I found a gift bag in the cupboard from my baby shower 2 years ago. It’s an Amy Coe bag from Target and it has a cute little frame around a ducky, much to babyish for Sophia who turned two yesterday. Sophia’s mom, Amy (of Shooting the Kids) took a great picture from her day care birthday party, so I jumped onto Flickr, downloaded it, and printed it out on regular paper. Snip snip with the scissors, a little gluestick action, and voila, nifty personalized gift bag for the low low price of free.

You could use this same technique for grown up birthday presents. A printed photograph glued to a plain brown bag or solid color wrapping paper would look great. If the edges look messy, make a frame around the picture with some ribbon scraps and some white glue.