How do you hide Holiday Gifts?

We all use it but, the closet is not always the ideal place to hide holiday gifts from your children or even your prying spouse.

Here are some creative and fun suggestions

to keep your carefully chosen gifts a secret until the big day.

~Ask a friend or relative to store the presents for you at their house.  You can offer to do the same for them.

~Keep the gifts in the trunk of the car that gets parked in the garage.  Just be sure that the kids do not have access to your keys or have a tendency to go into the car unsupervised.

~Delay buying gifts until a couple of days prior to the holiday.  This way the temptation for children to look for their gifts is not there. 

~Check to see if any online retailers have the option to choose your own shipping dates.  This way you may be able to target your delivery closer to the holidays.

~Hide gifts in plain sight.  Place gifts in everyday boxes or items on the shelf that the kids wouldn't suspect would be hiding a gift.

~Wrap up a gift the recipient wouldn't normally care for and put their name on it. Leave the wrapped box in a place that is not-so-obvious but easy to find, like the top shelf of a closet or hidden under a blanket. That way if it is found the recipient will hopefully stop looking.  And they’ll be very surprised Christmas morning.

~Use unusual containers to hide the items. Empty food boxes, like cereal, granola bars, etc are perfect for hiding smaller items right under their noses.

~Think of places they never go or are not allowed to go like under the sink, a special room in the basement, garage storage or attic.

~One place most teenagers would never look is the parent’s underwear drawers. I think that’s a great place for hiding small gift items.

~Hide the gifts in your unused luggage. Empty suitcases can hold a lot of presents!

~If you have smaller gifts, use pockets of clothes that are hanging in your closet.

~Use the Christmas storage boxes. After you pull out the decorations you have lots of empty space just waiting to be filled.

~A friend of mine codes her gifts instead of tagging them.  Each year there is a different code that has to be cracked. One year the colour of the wrapping determined which gift belonged who which kid.  Another year it was the number of pieces of tape used.  It's fun and keeps them guessing right to the end.

 ~And if you are really serious, put the gifts behind locked doors. Some closets have locks on them and that might be your only option in the end.

Do you have more ideas on how to hide gifts?  What do you do at your house?  I’d love to hear it!