My obsession

My old neighbor had this weird obsession with buying toilet paper in bulk when it was on sale and stockpiling it in their bathroom cabinet...I mean literally like a hundred rolls, it was crazy. It's been a running joke for years, about "D and her toilet paper"...if you ran out have no fear, D would save the day. I guess we all have our quirks.

I confess...I may have a tiny obsession with
GIFT BOXES

Every year as Christmas gets nearer I start getting really antsy. Many people look forward to the after Christmas sales for things like half priced clothing, electronics or toys. Not me. I rush to the stores and comb the holiday isles for displays of 50% off gift boxes. I stockpile them in my closet like crazy. White ones are great, but I esp. love finding good bargains on sets with cute designs. One year I found gift boxes at Target on sale after Christmas for 75% off...I got huge packs of really cute boxes for next to nothing, it was awesome! Last night we went to the Dollar Tree (because that is the ONLY place in town that has Shrek wrapping paper--I got a red and green roll of Shrek and a roll of Spongebob, Hailey's going to love it!) and I was in HEAVEN. Gift boxes galore, in CUTE designs, all for only $1 a package. I am a HUGE bargain shopper...there's nothing like getting a good deal! So that totally made my night...not only did I find cute gift boxes but I found an awesome deal on them! Later that night I called my mom and told her of my find. Of course she replied "Did you really need them?" My reply..."Are you serious? Of course I needed them! I ALWAYS need boxes!!" I think I may have a tiny problem...

In my defense, I do use gift boxes a lot. I wrap CD's in them, books, clothing, pictures...everything. Unless it comes in it's own big generic sized box, I wrap it in a gift box. I hate it when people can look at a gift and guess what it is by the size of the packaging. This year we actually had money for gifts. I need boxes for the clothes I got for my mom, the cd's I got for Dan (I found the PERFECT sized boxes for those, SO excited about that) and the framed pictures of Hailey we're giving the family.

Some people cheat and use the cute boxes as wrapping and just put a bow on the top. This is totally cheating. I know it seems pointless to have such a cute box and then wrap it too...I guess it's my own little satisfaction knowing there's a cute box underneath all that paper.

I'm totally one of those people that gives a gift and then asks if they're going to keep the gift box. If they aren't, I ask for it back...I collapse it and re-store it to be used again. As they're opening the box I sit there hoping they don't just rip it open.

I'm also a bit of a freak about gift bags. I'm always on the lookout for cheap, cute bags. Walmart is a great place to find these. They always have cute sets on the end of an isle...with matching tissue paper. I also found 2 really cute gift bags at Dollar Tree last night. Anybody that knows me well enough to be receiving a gift from me knows I'd really like the bag back to reuse. I share this quirk with my mother in law...I love that we have this in common. She is also slightly obsessed with cute bags and boxes, although her obsession also includes bows(mine does not, I hate wasting money on fancy bows)...we've bonded over this obsession we have, and really enjoy finding new special bags to give each other gifts in(which we then take back to reuse of course).

I may not be an organized person...my house is chaos, my life is chaos, even my gift wrapping paper is just thrown in the closet (I really want one of those organizers but I won't spend the money on one)...but anytime I need to wrap a gift I have just the right bag or box. That's one thing I never have to worry about.

I never, however, have any tape...