You wise parents out there already know that excess packaging is not needed for birthday gifts. But if we already have a plain, paper gift bag around, we like to dress it up. In addition to sometimes making their own birthday cards to give away, my kids like to add their own crayon art to the bag before gifting with it. While it may not have the flash of a store-purchased bag, it shows that some personalization and thought went into the process. Butterflies and horses were the themes for two different gift bags recently. And yes, it saves us a few dollars, too.
We glued wide ribbon to cover a store logo on a bag for Father's Day. Then hand-drawn cars completed the design for Dad.