I developed a plan to keep the gifts contained and still looking good on arrival. I simply put the gifts in an open bin. I preferred the festive red and green ones that our Christmas decor came out of, but any bin or large box would do.
And while I say simply above, it does take a bit of maneuvering to get the boxes and gifts inside the bin in just the right way. The effort is worth it though! I also do not recommend putting bows on the packages before arrival. They just get crushed. You might pack the bows in a gift bag or gallon zip lock bag, along with tape if you desired to put bows on when you arrive at your destination. I always just skipped the bows entirely, and it seemed the gifts were still very well received.
The cool thing about this method that you might not realize initially, is that it is a great place to pack up the gifts YOU receive in return. And if you save your gift bags they can be tucked into your travel bin for protected transport also.
We often would have a cooler with food with us on our trips since we were willing to contribute to the holiday meals. The cooler would be set out the evening before in preparation for filling just before we packed our car. Once full it would go in first. And usually the gift bin would rest on top of the cooler. The other side of our trunk was then open for our suitcases.
I expect some day we may travel with gifts by air. If that happens, I will likely try to pick small gifts that can easily fit in our suitcases. And I think I would simply wrap them upon arrival at the destination. Maybe in gift bags I've brought along. Or I would arrange to use wrapping paper at our destination. The other alternative is to mail the gifts ahead to the destination to ensure their safe arrival.
Do you travel with gifts in tow? Do you have a method for getting your packages to your holiday destination in presentable condition?
I do similar to you, but I use a laundry basket to hold the gifts. I actually do this for most of my car trips. I just pack my clothes and such in a laundry basket, and use them out of there while I'm gone.
ReplyDeleteA laundry basket is a great idea too! I can see how that would be helpful for regular trips too. Anything that contains our stuff while traveling helps!!
DeleteI normally don't ever have much to take, but will normally use a tote bag or a Target plastic bag (the sturdiest of plastic bags, lol). Used a tote this past weekend to take gifts to my moms, and will use the same tote to take gifts to the Mister's mom's. And, was able to use said tote to bring things back from my mom's!
ReplyDeleteAlso, you know, a good excuse to use my most favorite tote bag!