With simple household materials and recycled items, kids can make their own gift wrap, boxes, and gift tags for the holidays.

Kids will wow friends and family with this button-stamped gift wrap. Affix button to a cork with double-sided tape. Place plain paper on a piece of felt or a folded piece of fabric (this cushions the paper so the mark will be even). Top with a pretty button tied on with baker's twine.

Leave it to the kids to turn household materials into cheery holiday gift wrap. Let them doodle on shopping bags, paper towels, old phone books, and calendars, and top with a festive bow.

Get custom-made stamps created for you and your child to use as decorations on cards and tags this holiday. Just have kids use a single marker to draw a picture, then bring the drawing to an office-supply store. Even images with small details, like the reindeer and snowman shown here, will reproduce well. After the stamp is made, be sure to clean the rubber with a damp paper towel between uses. It's a good idea to store ink pads in resealable plastic bags.

With decorative paper, string, and stickers, kids can decorate matchboxes that hold small surprises for their friends at school.

Glue designs snipped from greeting cards to store-bought or handmade gift tags and add charm to every holiday package.

Holiday gift bags can hold all sorts of goodies. Dress up plain ones by cutting the top of a colorful paper bag with scallop-edged scissors and gluing on a recycled holiday card cutout. Then punch one or two holes and tie on a ribbon.

Choose a Victorian-inspired Christmas decoration for packaging candy and small items. Cones can be cut from plain colored paper or from greeting cards.

To create, draw an arc onto a corner of the construction paper or card using a compass opened up as wide as it can go. Using a pair of pinking shears, cut inside the line. Roll the paper into a cone and staple; reinforce with tape along the inside seam.

To decorate a plain paper cone, draw an oval (we used a stencil from an art-supply store) around a chosen image from a greeting card, and cut just inside the line with pinking shears. Glue the cutout to the front of the cone. Punch a hole on both sides of the cone, thread a ribbon through, and knot the ends.

Give new life to little cardboard candy boxes that have long surrendered their sweets (jewelry boxes also work well). Favorite images cut from old greeting cards are a pretty way to hide department-store logos; a zigzag border adds pizzazz. Fill them with tiny treasures, and you've got a sackful of presents that don't need to be wrapped.

Kids can make handmade envelopes from magazine pages or wrapping paper from last Christmas.

Unfold a regular envelope to use as a template. Choose patterned paper larger than the envelope (or stick mismatched pieces together with glue). Trace the envelope onto the paper, cut out along lines, fold (using the envelope as a guide), and secure with glue stick.

Give a new life to holiday cards as labels for presents. With a pencil, kids can draw (or stencil) the recipient's initial onto a card, and cut it out. Punch a hole in the letter, and tie to gift with yarn or ribbon.

Paper snowflakes aren't quite as delicate as the real things are, but they make perfect toppers for holiday gifts. After kids cut out shapes, help thread ribbons through gaps in the snowflakes and tie around presents. Or glue flakes to plain wrapping paper, then cover with translucent tissue.

Remind guests what to do with an "Open Me" gift tag that you can print, cut out, and affix on Christmas gifts.

Will family and friends receive something sparkly or fuzzy? Is it alive? Kids can share details about Christmas gifts by printing and applying a descriptive clip-art gift tag to presents.

Kids can add a wintry scene to Christmas gifts. Print our snowy gift tag onto adhesive-backed paper. Cut along dotted lines, and stick on presents.

For a more personal gift tag, kids can print this design onto adhesive-backed paper, cut along dotted lines, and add details to the blank faces.

Kids can print snowflake gift tags onto self-adhesive paper and cut out. Affix to presents for a festive touch.

This charming, polka-dot gift tag looks just like wrapping paper. Have kids print on self-adhesive paper, cut out, and apply to gifts.