At an average store, a gift bag can cost upward of a few dollars. Most people find one that fits the gift, and they use it once, to bring to a party or occassion, and after the present is unwrapped, the gift bag usually falls prey to being trashed. There are those who do reuse them, but they are only so string, and will only last through so many new lives.
On the other hand, stores from Walmart and Target, to Barnes and Noble and Toys R Us, are offering resuable shopping totes from as little as $0.85 to $1.99. This is no more than one would normally spend on wrapping, certainly, and is a gift in itself. Even though you can get a traditional bag for a dollar at a dollare store, a reusable gift bag is a practical and green gift that will continue to be useful long after the party balloons have all lost their helium.
There are bags on the market to please people of all age groups and interests. For children and the young at heart, Toys R Us has an adorable line of shopping totes, ranging from Nintendo characters (I bought a Yoshi one for myself), to Disney princesses, to comic book superheroes. Barnes and Noble offers more intellectually savvy totes, featuring names of authors and images of beloved and classic novels. My mum recently bought me a "Tree Grows in Brooklyn" tote for $1.99. It would also have made a perfect birthday present bag for a person such as myself.
Yoshi Tote
Burlington Coat Factory also has an amazing varied array of totes. Even the Dollar Tree had a few cute ones last time I went in, with seasonal prints. Once you start looking, you'll see them everywhere. Find the right one, put some tissue paper in it if you wish, fill it up and cap it off with a pretty bow. Using shopping totes as gift bags is a catchy idea...both fashionable, and functional, just like the totes themselves!
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