Color code gift tags to streamline distribution from under the tree

Mel's gift tag hack (for those of you madly wrapping gifts tonight):

I had the kids make tags for Christmas gifts out of plain cardstock. We store all the gifts under the tree until they're ready to leave the house (it looks so pretty!). To minimize time spent scrutinizing names on tags to make sure the staying/going gifts aren't mixed up, all the gifts that stay at our home have green tags and the rest are red.

Comments

[Nutmeg]

This seems like a good way to also let kids not able to read their name (or the names of others) be christmas helpers.

[Jackie]

You could also make each person in their family their own colour tag.

Or you could wrap each persons presents in their own paper, or similarly the "stay at home gifts" in one paper and the "to go to someones house gifts" in another paper.

We just give everyone in the immediate family a different wrapping paper. Then tbe extended family gets tags on all the same wrapping paper..

Fun times..

[MRL]

If you're just trying to make it efficient, it seems like wrapping paper is going to be your bottleneck. All that time it takes to unwrap is just a waste. And don't forget the wasted time spent if you get the wrong gift, or the wrong size; it's far more businesslike just to distribute cash.

My point is this: is the point of unwrapping gifts to be efficient and streamlined? Isn't the chaos and the passing and re-passing part of the fun of discovery?

[cabbey]

I think the point wasn't the Christmass morning passing and unwrapping, but the couple days before as you're running out to various parties and seeing friends and such, to be able to quickly grab the ones that are theirs to take with you. If it saves 5 minutes in the 20 minute rush to get the kids ready to leave and get everyone in the car etc, then is seems worth it. :)