Best Places to Hide Your Christmas Gifts You Never Thought Of
There is a scene inNational Christmas Vacation that I neverliked (yes, only one). Clark Griswold sneaks into the attic to stash a bag full of Christmas gifts, only to discover an old, dusty Mother’s Day gift from 1983, tucked away in the same location. (Considering that the movie was released in 1989, that doesn’t make the forgotten gift quite old as it sounds today.) The point is that Clark hid it away and then forgot, but that’s a stretch. How can you seemingly forget where the gift is hidden just a few days or weeks before an important event like Mother’s Day, and try to use the same nook to store gifts a few years later? It’s not a coincidence – it goes straight to the spot!
Regardless of if you’re anything like Clark (and aren’t we all, at least a little like Clark?), You too are in the thick of the shopping-gift-and-stash season. But while tiptoeing your way through your own home, resist the temptation to find the simplest, and therefore most obvious, hiding places. Your partner knows what these bags are hidden in the back of the toilet, and your kids will peek under your bed as soon as you take their eyes off them. May this year be the year that you confuse them all by hiding their gifts in places they would not even think to suspect.
Dispensing storage boxes
Even if your basement or attic doesn’t have an inch of free storage space, there should be at least a couple of drawers available – assuming you’ve mustered the energy to decorate your home for the holidays this year. No one thinks of rummaging through holiday storage boxes when the decorations are on display, so fill them up with gifts.
Christmas tree box
Likewise, if you have a fake Christmas tree box that’s not all ripped off one side from years of trying to put that stupid tree back in a damn box that was clearly never big enough to fit in, what the devil? Then you have another perfect storage space to complement your trash can trick. This will never work for me personally, given the state of my Christmas tree box, but I hope this is an option for you.
Empty shipping crates (or mislabeled storage containers)
We welcome this idea from HGTV . If you have not mustered the strength to decorate the holidays this year, and thus your red and green urns are still filled to the brim, you have other options – to hide your gifts in (almost) a visible place. Maggie Miller writes : “Wrap them in cloth or plastic bags and place them behind other items in a storage box. The couple will never suspect that their secret surprise is right in front of them. ” It’s the same with all those Amazon boxes that have been piling up in the corner of your basement for several years – no one pays attention to them because they are all empty. Or are they?
Suitcases
Assuming you don’t actually need the specified suitcases for your vacation travel, this is another place that the gift lover can easily overlook, especially if they are tucked away in a rarely walked part of the house, like the basement, in the attic. , or garage.
Coolers
Another gem from HGTV , similar to the more commonly recommended suitcases, those coolers that you use but multiple times a year can be used as gift concealers during the holiday months. Put your presents in the refrigerator, put another storage box on it, and your family won’t get any wiser.
Spare wheel in the trunk
I’m not a big fan of hiding gifts in the open section of the trunk – mainly because I drive an SUV in which you can peer into the trunk from the back seat, which makes it a terrible hideout. But even if my suitcase was closed, I would worry that one day I will slip, forget about the gifts and open the suitcase right in front of the child. The spare wheel is good, isn’t it? No one will go in there, especially if you have a lot of other random items – reusable bags, blankets, connecting cables, and the like – taking up space.
Under your child’s bed
I admit it’s a little risky, but I also think it’s kind of a genius. When was the last time your child tried to make sense of the abyss under his bed? Exactly. If hidden properly, it can be the best hideout of them all. It’s especially good if you store their off-season clothes in the trash cans under their bed – no child, teenager, or teenager will rummage through last summer’s shorts and swimwear for gifts. However, you know your child best, so be careful with that.
The creepiest place in your house
Do you know where my son will never find a gift? In a dark, narrow tool cabinet in my creepy 1925 basement that’s where it is. You have to go into it, man. Sure, you may not have the creepy, nearly 100-year-old nook that served god knows what its original purpose, but you probably have an equivalent space: an attic, a cluttered barn, a corner of a basement where most household centipedes live (I child). If others in your home are unwilling to take risks, this is the perfect place to seal and hide their gifts.
Someone else’s house
You know who doesn’t care what your spouse gets for Christmas? Neighborhood teenage boys, that’s who. Do a little gift exchange to completely hide your gifts in another home – be it a friend’s, neighbor’s, or relative’s – and hide their gifts in your home. Tell everyone they can spy if they want to, but they’ll only find out what Uncle Dave bought for Aunt Janie.