When I was growing up I always loved it when Santa wrapped all my presents so I could open one present at a time. This seemed to make Christmas last longer rather than just having all the presents under the tree unwrapped. But it certainly takes more time as a parent, especially a procrastinating parent as I am. This is where fabric Christmas bags come to the rescue!
Santa! Take Note of these Fabric Christmas Bags.
A few Christmas Eve’s ago, late at night, I was at my Mom’s house trying to wrap presents after our two kids were in bed to be ready for Christmas morning. As I am all tangled in tape and paper I look over and see my sister-in-law (who had just hauled her presents inside not five minutes prior) just finishing all her wrapping. HOW?!? Fabric Christmas bags. GENIUS!!! She had some that were passed down to her from her childhood. Think of the memories just these bags alone held. I have been hooked ever since.
We put our bags out on Christmas Eve and by morning Santa does his magic (in 10 minutes instead of hours) and they are filled with presents! No plastic bags full of ripped wrapping paper – just fold up the fabric and you’re ready for next year! SO GREEN! The best part is we are not totally exhausted the next morning so we can actually stay awake to watch all the presents fly out!
Make your fabric Christmas bags to match your holiday decor or use themes.
My kids now get excited just seeing these bags come out of storage!
You can make them match your holiday decor and put presents out as you buy them if you want presents under the tree. Or you can use themes your kids are into just like the wrapping paper. Christmas fabric always goes on sale after Christmas so you can stock up for next year!
I shared the idea over on DISNEY to use these as a gift to that someone that seems to have everything.
They also work wonderfully for birthday wrapping!
Merry Christmas!
Michelle says
Fabulous idea and how easy!! Thanks!!
Jean says
Love this! Thanks for the post!
Amber says
I use cloth bags already! They are great.
Kimberly says
my mom wrapped our gifts in bags she made when we were younger – not all of them because with 6 kids, there were never enough bags…but she still uses them to this day! it’s such a fantastic idea because you can reuse them and not have to worry about new things getting thrown away with the wrapping paper!! haha
Gina says
do you put all the gifts in 1 big bag for each child??
Rachel says
um, genius!!!! i don’t have kids yet, but i was wondering the other day what i would do for my future kids when santa came (leave them unwrapped with a big bow, wrap them up with different wrapping paper than their other presents, etc.) this idea totally solved my problem… although again, i don’t have kids yet. ha, other people think about this early on, too, right?
Pearl says
In our house, Santa doesn’t wrap his gifts. He just attaches a cute tag to his presents. Presents from mom and dad are wrapped. Santa also leaves pretty cool, unwrapped stocking stuffers in the kidlets stockings. Regarding the fab, fabric bags, I may have to run out to Joanns to purchase holiday fabric on Monday to start working on ones for next year.
Carie says
I love the bags and is that a balloon wreath? Is there a tutorial on how to make it! I love, love, love it! Thanks for sharing your ideas!
Nicole says
great idea Missy I will stock up this year after Christmas!! thanks
Jessica Harwood says
Love this idea! I’m going fabric shopping after Christmas!
Pegg says
This year I planned to just use newspaper for the gifts. With big kids there aren’t as many as with little ones. So maybe I will stock up on fabric after Christmas. I’m getting a serger for my gift, so maybe I’ll just have to practice with that on this project. Oh what fun!!!!!
Samone says
Great idea! I was going to start wrapping this morning. ’tis now on hold while I go fabric hunting!
Jamin says
I have these that I use with my kids. I made about 10 after each child was born so that we have a nice variety of sizes. I sewed a piece of ribbon right into the side seam so that the ribbon is part of the bag. You are so right, this makes wrapping So much faster! Your bags are beautiful!
L says
When I grew up, presents from family members were wrapped and displayed under the tree, but presents from Santa were always displayed unwrapped which was fine and dandy with me. The only issue is that “Santa” has to be careful about his timing. If the presents are out, they’re fair game, which didn’t turn out well for my poor mother when my brother and I decided to wake each other up at 3am to see if Santa had come…and he had. My best friend’s family also displayed gifts (rather than wrapping them) but after putting them out, “Santa” covered the doorway with wrapping paper so that the kids got to bust through it all together on Christmas morning (and weren’t tempted to go check out the presents well before dawn).
Andrea says
Thanks so much for the inspiration! I made 4 new bags today because you inspired me so much:) I love the colors of your gift bags. Can’t wait for the after Christmas fabric sales!
Andrea says
Thanks so much for the inspiration! I made 4 new bags today because you inspired me so much:) I love the colors of your gift bags. Can’t wait for the after Christmas fabric sales!
Monica says
This is such a great idea! Took my three children to the fabric store with me and let them pick out fabric for their own bags. We are traveling for Christmas, so I already “wrapped” their gifts and packed them in a suitcase. Should be fun on Christmas morning watching them open their gift bags. Guessing that pulling out the gift bags will be something looked forward to each Christmas.
Amy says
Hey even if you are not travelling…I love the idea of hiding gifts in the suitcase! The closet is usually my spot but I may try to remember this next time 🙂
Pam says
What a great idea! I love it… just a few more gifts to wrap, so may have to save this one for next year!
Mindy says
LOVE these bags! I’ve now made them as gifts twice & I’m yet to own any. This year I’m making some for myself! 🙂
Debby says
When my nieces and nephews were smaller, I wrapped their gifts in bags each year. It was fun to pick out fabric for them, and I tried to use ones for things they enjoyed like sports, barbie, etc. Flannel was my favorite because it was so soft.
I made my bags all one size – Pillowcase size! When they were done with their gifts they had a new holiday pillowcase to lay their heads on!
Maile says
A-MAZING!!!!!!!! I love this, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!
carole says
just read your idea and HOW GREAT!!!!! Every year we have a big garbage bag full of used wrapping paper……..NOT THIS YEAR..I”m doing the bags
Thanks
Carole
Leigh says
My mom started doing these years ago and it is great. She also started making super fancy ones to sell.
Missy says
LOVE this idea!!
I am totally hitting the fabric stores after Christmas and going to do this as my project for next year.
Thank you!!
Jeanne says
Been doing this for years. You can either wrap a gift –especially flat ones–in a piece of fabric as if it were paper, with a piece of yarn to hold all in place or make simple bags. You can also use furoshiki which is really fun–google it and you’ll see what I mean. For ties, yarn works great, as does ribbon, long pieces of fabric, old neck ties, an empty red mesh produce bag…you’re only limited by your imagination. A piece of advice for the most frugal of you: don’t hit the fabric stores after Christmas. I find that if I keep my eyes open during the year that I find fabric at the town swap shed or other places for free; for this particular project, just keep your eyes out for Christmas colors in the fabrics. Red or green doesn’t seem Christmassy in July, but come Dec. they sure do, whether there are reindeer in the pattern or not. People often give me fabric scraps, too, knowing I’m always glad for such things.
Morgan says
We love these and have used them for a few years.
One tip–zip ties work great as a tie under the ribbon. That way the kids can play with them till their hearts are content, but nothing gets seen until we cut the ties on Christmas morning. Kind of mean but it works!!!
Missy says
nice thinking, I like it!
Lisa says
Love this. Will adopt it next year when the stores get their holiday fabrics in so I can have my pic o’ the lot. Thanks so much for sharing.
Kandi says
what does the banner on your christmas tree say? I love it !!!
Missy says
thank you! it says, jingle.
Kandi says
do you have instructions on how to make it?
Missy says
Here is a post for a valentine one that I made the same way
https://howdoesshe.com/be-mine-valentine-banner
really easy!
Danielle says
So cute! I really can’t wait to try this at Christmas time! One question though, did your sister-in-law only use these for gifts from the parents? I know my kid would quickly notice the next year when Santa just happened to bring the same bags as the year before…so I am trying to come up with a good story 🙂
Missy says
We put the empty bags out on Christmas Eve so Santa can fill the bags! It has worked so far! Good Luck!
Camille Elkington says
My little sister made over 200 Santa bags this year—new tradition started for all our families!
Missy says
That is so nice! I need to make more for my sisters – they keep asking for them. 🙂
Monica says
Made these a couple of years ago and love them. The kids know which ones are there bags thus their gifts. And as I buy their presents I just slip them into the bags. Everything is wrapped and ready to go for Christmas morning!
Angel Shaver says
LOVE this idea. I’m always looking for gift wrapping ideas that are easy yet gorgeous at the same time.