How to present 'pre-loved' gifts

[Battenburg1978]

Following all the fab advice on my frugal Christmas thread, I'm wondering how those of you who give second hand presents to their kids over Christmas actually present those gifts. do you find a suitable size box then wrap? Just wrap the item as well as you can as if it never came in a box, or something else?

I'm planning to dig out our old Polaroid camera for DD1 and I'm thinking that a nice festive box with shredded coloured paper inside will look really nice. Hopefully!

I have a second hand rather large sylvanian families tree house to contend with. I probably won’t wrap it to be honest. I feel all set up and ready to go is probably better. If I wrap it it will get tipped up whilst she’s opening it!

For something that would normally need to be put together such as Playmobil we would have left it under a sheet or tablecloth but for something like a camera or a large soft toy we would have used a big bag or a large box. I still use bin bags to wrap stuff now. I usually stick a pretty bow on as well though!

Thanks! I'm collecting a Happyland cottage this evening which, if in good enough condition, will be either my DD's birthday or Christmas present. Think I'll see how big it is and whether I could cover a big enough box with Christmas paper 😃

Waitingforsunday .... had the same dilemma with the same sylvanian family tree house last christmas. Ended up just tying a ribbon around it to make it look festive! No way was I wrapping that monster!

Something big I just cover it in ribbon. DS had a second hand jumperoo last year and I just put that curling ribbon all over it, looked really pretty!

If it’s a Happyland cottage OP, I would just leave it sitting out and set up. Maybe with a bow on the roof

Oooh I LOVE Happyland! We bought loads second hand, I think I loved it more than the kids!!

Given the age of your DC I’d get any old box and gift wrap it. They’ll not know nor care what the box was from.

Gift boxes are lovely but the £ adds up.

AdamBarlowsQuiff
I'm planning to dig out our old Polaroid camera for DD1 and I'm thinking that a nice festive box with shredded coloured paper inside will look really nice. Hopefully!

I’d suggest tissue paper instead (you can layer & scrunch). I wouldn’t ot shredded paper anywhere near a camera.

Oh and prepare yourself for bankruptcy 😖 the film is bloody expensive and growing up in the age of digital media we struggled to make them understand/have the self control required not to go through loads of it. Thankfully we hadn’t given it as a gift so we just kept ‘forgetting’ to buy more film until they forgot about it, then we put it away! It gets a ‘hmmm yes we must try to get some film’ on the odd occasion it’s mentioned!

When the dc were small we would set up gifts ready to be played with, so they didn’t have to watch us stabbing sealed plastic capsules or risking our fingers trying to wedge a scissors under a cable tie.

It was a useful precedent for giving pre-loved toys. Anyway Santa isn’t going to bother putting all that plastic packaging on stuff, is he?

Ha ha yes @annianonimousse I think the cost of the film is why the camera needs digging out! I think we'll give one film and then she will have to save pocket money after that. I totally agree she will be really snap happy and I will probably take all the joy out of it by saying "don't take too many!!"
Brilliant tip re the tissue paper. Thank you!

Last year I bought a job lot of lots of sylvanian bits; I bought a set of 3 pretty little suitcases from the works to put them all in. Or the Workd also to those pop up card storage boxes in lots of different colours and patterns they would be ideal for reparcelling gifts

When my DS was little, his ‘main’ presents were never wrapped. I’d set them out in an ‘invitation to play’ type setting, and then put a few wrapped gifts around it.

If I was gifting playmobil or anything that needed to be put together to any child under the age of about 6; I would recommend the same. Children see the box, and they instantly want to play with it. They don’t understand that it may take many (many) hours to put together, they want to play NOW! The one time I’ve gifted DS playmobil in a box that needed to be put together, he lost interest in the several hours it took DH to put together and it was pretty much neglected.

So even if you’re gifting from new; put it together BEFORE the day! Also, the amount of toys that need batteries with the tiniest notice informing you of this that you’ll miss is unbelievable! You can have it out, check it works and check it’s sturdy before the big day.

I have a wooden dolls house complete with lots of furniture, Facebook bargain for £15. I will spend Christmas eve drinking sherry and setting it up for my son's to find in the morning.

Depending on size I will wrap in a box. The works do some lovely ones, and it comes in handy for storage after Christmas too, plus bits don't get lost as they already have a home. I got a lovely panda set from the works that I'm putting dolls in for dd1.

One year I wrapped the door to the front room when santa left a tent in there. They then had to burst through which was great fun 😁

Dd2 had a massive house on her birthday - I just wrapped around the top and stuck a bow on. I think Halfords do bike wrap which is like a big bag nearer Christmas which might work for big items. Or the novelty bin liners.

Big stuff like a toy kitchen or a bike we have draped a sheet or blanket over to hide them and maybe stuck a bow on it. Whipping off a sheet is pretty similar to ripping off wrapping paper.