confession: i’m a gift horse

How many times have you run into a store at the last minute to buy a gift bag, bow, and some tissue paper to wrap a present? Been there, done that. And I’m always annoyed at myself because the whole kit- and-caboodle, not including the darn gift, can end up costing $10.

But those days are over, thanks to a fabulous, online gift-packaging catalogue called Nashville Wraps (www.nashvillewraps.com). You know those skimpy tissue-paper packs at the drugstore (5 pieces for $1.79)? Forget about it. At Nashville, I can buy a 480-sheet ream for $12.50—which sounds insane, but has come in handy over and over (I hosted a bridal shower for a friend… made favor bags for my Mom’s 70th birthday… welcome baskets for my son’s Bar Mitzvah…you get the picture). Those pricey gift bags that run $2-$5 per piece at the grocery store? Nashville sells 100 of them for $48 –in every imaginable pattern and color. (For the non-hoarders, they also sell the goods in smaller batches.)

Needless to say, I’ve stocked up and created a mini gift-wrapping “center” in my home office: two side-by-side bookshelves; a couple of cheap, tension curtain rods to hold my selection of ribbon; canvas storage baskets for tape, bags, and tissue.

I realize it’s a little Candy Spelling of me…but I can’t tell you the last time I had to run out and spend $10 on wrapping supplies. So quid pro quo: What’s your bulk-supply obsession?