How to Wrap Your Child’s Gifts Without Wrapping Paper

Sometimes you need to get creative, and QUICKLY.

Friday was Alexander’s 7th birthday. He had been BEGGING us for a Nintendo 3DS XL for weeks (William, too!). Since their birthdays are 3 days apart, we always make sure they’re even when it comes to gifts, which usually means we buy the them the same thing. 🙂

Since we were heading to L.A. this past mid-September, Matt and I thought it would be cool to surprise them before we left with a Nintendo 3DS XL. We got each of them the device with a new game and surprised them the day before we left for our trip. We figured they’d get a TON of playing time on our 6-hour flight west. They did and they LOVED them. Alex even cried a little when we gave it to him because he never thought in a million years that we’d get it for him.

There was just one little stipulation, which we knew would be tough for a 7 and 8 year old to understand, but we had to tell them. On their birthdays, we let them know that they would only get something small because their BIG gift was the 3DS.

Fast forward to Alex’s birthday… the day was a busy one!

He woke up, we did a special birthday breakfast and we decorated his room with balloons and streamers.

I gave him his special birthday video (which I do every year).

He went to school and then after school right to ice cream with my parents and grandmother, then to Hotel Transylvania with all of us and then to 5 Guys for burgers. Then we came home and had some cake! I’d say he had an AWESOME 7th birthday, right?

Then the little guy said to us right around 8PM… “Did my brothers forget to get me a gift?”

OH, CRAP.

I had them, just hadn’t wrapped them because we didn’t have any wrapping paper. Slippers and 2 handsome shirts.

So I did what any mother would do… I got creative, quickly.

I told Alex that we decided to do a fun scavenger hunt around the house for his presents. So I had each brother hide something.

Alex thought it was the COOLEST thing in the world!

We spent 45 minutes waiting for him to find everything with his brothers following him around the house saying “Hot” or “Cold.” It was a blast!

I think we’re going to start doing this for everyone’s birthday now!

It’s amazing what us moms can pull out of our bags of tricks when we need to… all without the kids knowing! 🙂