and search around the house for something you think could work as a gift. Clean the

chip bag and turn it inside out, then carefully place your gift inside and twist the bag at

the top. All you need to do now is grab a ribbon, tie a bow, and your instant gift is

ready to go. Now, if you don't have a ribbon handy, it's no problem. Just cut the top inch

off chip bag and tie that on instead. It should be just enough, to get you by in

your time of need.

If you've got rolls of wrapping paper that you want preserved, head to the kitchen and

finish up some left overs, so you can salvage the aluminum foil. Now cut the foil into a

square, that's a couple inches longer than a toilet paper tube. Next you'll need to make

a cut down the side of the toilet tube, so you can wrap the foil around the outside,

and fold the edges inward to hold it in place. Push the foil in at the ends, and now you've

got a decorative clasp that will clamp around your tube, and hold your wrapping paper in

place. Your decorative wrap is preserved, for another year.

With internet and email becoming so common, you may not have any envelopes to send out

Christmas letters. Rather than going out and buying some, just take your letter, and crease

it in the center, then fold opposite corners into the center line. Fold the 2 edges next,

then with a slight turn, the tips are folded in to complete a rectangle. When you tuck

these two corners into the flaps underneath them, your letter has just transformed, into

its own envelope. All you need to do now is address it, add a stamp, and your letter is

ready for posting.

To make a fun and festive breakfast, start by pouring your pancake mix into a cleaned

out condiment bottle. Now dip some large metal cookie cutters, into a small tray of cooking

oil, and set it on a pre-greased and pre-heated cooking pan. Now just pour in some pancake

batter and give it a minute to cook. When the batter is firm, go ahead and remove the

cookie cutter with a clean pair of pliers, and your pancake will hold its shape. Now

just finish them up in the usual way, then make a whole bunch more. Add some butter and

a drizzle of maple syrup, and you've got a festive and impressive, holiday breakfast.

When you're wrapping packages, you know the frustration that comes when you can't find

the edge of the tape. Then when you do find it, it's surprisingly difficult to get it

up. The solution, is a simple bread clip. There's a good chance you have one of these

lying around, and all you need to do is just tuck it under the edge of the tape. This custom

"Grab Tab" will save your spot without damaging the tape at all, and makes a nice little handle

for pulling the tape up when you need it. If you don't have a bread clip, try using

a penny instead.

Your Christmas tree may be fake, but you can still enjoy the scent of a fresh cut tree.

Just take the air filter from your furnace, and pick up a bottle, of pine essential oil.

And remember that a little goes a long way. Now add 10-20 drops on the backside of the

filter, then place it back into position. Open up your air register, then sit back,

and enjoy the fresh piney aroma.

When the cookies are baked and ready for frosting, it can be a pretty messy job. And no matter

how hard you try, they still look like they were frosted by a 4 year old. You can win

this challenge by pouring your frosting into a few different condiment containers. Screw

the caps on tight, and now you've got a much nicer cookie icer. This will give you so much

decorating precision, that your imagination is the only limitation. There's no sugary

mess to clean up, and if you press the cap back on, your frosting will stay good for

days.

When the season's over and it's time to take the Christmas lights down, you know that throwing

them in a bin just means you'll have a major rats nest to deal with next year. Try using

a simple extension cord holder instead. You can find these at hardware stores for about

a dollar and a half. When your lights are wrapped, plug the two ends of the cord together,

and now your guaranteed, to be tangle free. By the way, if you can't find one of these

cord wrappers, try making one out of a piece of cardboard. It will work just as well, and

nothing beats the price of free.

When you're entertaining friends with a nice warm chocolaty drink, go one step further

by grabbing a potato peeler and their favorite chocolate bar. Carefully shave down the side

of the candy bar and you'll see it creates a decorative chocolate garnishing. You can

use these tasty shavings to deliciously garnish their drink, or decorate anything else you

can think of. Your friends will be super impressed, and wondering why they never thought of this.

Rather than letting all that wrapping paper go to waste, try removing little decorations

like ribbons and bows, then use something like glue or spray adhesive to attach the

wrapping paper back to the box your present came in. Now cut a rectangle about the size

of a postcard, and reattach the bows and ribbons. Just like that, you've got an impressive "thank

you" card to return your appreciation. Your family and friends will be blown away, and

hey, it's better for the environment anyway.

Well there are a few ideas that will hopefully make your Christmas a little merrier. If you

liked these projects, perhaps you'll like some of my others. Check them out at www.thekingofrandom.com