Ideas To Store & Organize Gift Bags

Below I've gathered ideas for how to store and organize gift bags in your home.

If you're like me you get a lot of presents presented in gift bags, and I at least hate to get rid of them once I receive them.

Have you seen the prices of some of those bags? Outrageous.


I would much rather wait until a good occasion comes around where I need to give a gift and reuse a bag I've been saving then buy a new one then.

But, that can quickly lead to a lot of bags waiting to be used.

That leads me to the first step you should take in any organization project: decluttering.

Here's my article on how to declutter gift bags, which can be helpful if you've got too many.

If you feel like you need it, I'd recommend you read it and then, you can come back to this article to learn how to organize the rest once you have a more reasonable number!

That's because if you have room and a good organizational method saving some for future use is a good money saving idea, which also is better for the environment because you're reusing them.

The ideas that follow can be used to organize Christmas gift bags, or really for any holiday or special occasion.

Store Your Gift Bags In A Large Bag

One idea is to carefully fold all your bags so they lay flat and then use the largest bag you have and place the others inside, grouped according to size.

Then, it's like a "filing system" to go through when you need one.

If you don't want all the bags on the floor you could then hang the big bag, like a reader suggested. She said: "I fold all of my bags flat and them put them in my largest bag. Then I put the handles of the large bag over a clothes hanger and hang it in my craft closet. It works perfectly for me, they aren't on the floor and they are easy to remove from the hanger to go through when I need one."

Filing Bags In Large Plastic Container

Working on the theme of "filing" your bags when they lay flat a reader, Margie, suggested the following: "I store them in a large plastic container. I made dividers for birthday/wedding/baby etc."

I think this can be great if you've got lots of different categories of bags to find the one most appropriate for the situation as quickly as possible.

(You can also see a similar idea below where a reader with a smaller collection used an expandable file folder for a similar organizational method.)

Categorize & File Gift Bags Using An Expandable File Folder

Shannon says:

I use an expandable file for my gift bags (sorted by type) and my tissue paper (sorted by color).

Taylor says:

This is a great idea Shannon. Of course this will only work if you've got a small number of bags, but it is a great alternative if you've just got a few.

Plus I like that you're able to hold your tissue paper in the same place, it makes it handy.

Here are some similar available folders:

Expandable File Folders {Referral Links}

Use A Hanging Gift Bag Organizer

Either of the methods listed above requires either shelf space, or other storage space for a container.

That may be hard to come by in your home. So another idea is to use a hanging gift bag organizer.

Here's a review on this site of this product which you could hang on the back of a door or even inside a closet.

Here are additional gift bag organizers available, of both the hanging variety and others:

Gift Bag Organizers {Referral Links}

The picture above is used to illustrate how many bags the organizer holds, but obviously you wouldn't hang it in the middle of the doorway.

Instead, you'd hang it in a closet which could get it out of the way, but still handy for when you need to give a present and want to grab a bag.

One reader, Serena, used this solution, and provided the picture below. She explained: "I don't have a huge family to shop for, and we're all big on reducing our footprint (and cost) so I'll save some bags and put them in a bag hanger. Keeps them clean and sorted. And made wrapping a breeze. My old system of smaller bags in a bigger bag always ended up with all bags destroyed."



Top photo courtesy of Hasel via Amazon

Gift Bag Organization Using Over The Door Purse Rack

Alicia says:

I categorize my bags and store them in plastic bags such as the ones sheets come in, then hang them on the back of my closet door with this thing I got from Wal-Mart used for hanging purses.

Taylor says:

Thanks for sharing this idea Alicia. Looks great!

Hang Them On Coat Hangers In Closet Organized By Category Or Event

Casey provided this photo, explaining, "I hang mine on coat hangers in the guest room closet organized by event, Christmas, birthdays, babies, and solid colors.

I have a LOT and we go to a lot of birthday parties."

In addition, another reader, Anisa, also suggested this method. She explained: "I used to do the bags in one big bag method, and it was always a mission to find the occasion I was looking for.

So I switched to hanging them by occasion (birthday, baby shower, congrats, etc.) on clothes hangers and hanging them in the kids playroom closet. Works much better----easily visible and accessible!"

Needless to say that a lot of gift bags on one hanger can get heavy, so be sure to use sturdy hangers or they'll bend or break with this method.

Here's another photo, below, sent in by another reader, Cindie, who uses hanging bags to hold her gift bags, for a similar idea.

Hold Your Gift Bags In Baskets On Shelves

This photo was submitted by a reader, April, who explained, "I got the shelving along the side of the road and spray painted it to clean it up!"

You can add the bags to the baskets, organized by color or size and folded up, so they're easy to grab but still look pretty on the shelves.

Baskets {Referral Links}

DIY Gift Bag Storage Idea

Melinda shared a photo, shown above, of the way that she stores her gift bags.

She said: "Not the best pic, but I took an old bulletin board and added chicken wire in the front...now I just slide my bags in and can hang gift tags, etc. on the outside from the chicken wire!"

This is a great idea if you've got just a few bags, and they are all cute. It can really brighten up a room.

***Update: A reader asked how she was storing the curling ribbon in this picture, and she answered. This is what she said:

Thank you for show casing my wrapping / craft area! The curling ribbon is on a stand made for curling ribbon....I used to have a balloon shop and it is a left over....you could use a pegboard with longer pegs for your curling ribbon though!!

More Home Storage Solutions

I hope you enjoyed these ideas for storing and organizing gift bags.

There are even more ideas for storage and organizing on the site in the {A-Z} Storage Solutions & Ideas round up page. Go check it out if you'd like to see even more ideas.

You can also check out more ideas for storing and organizing gift wrap in the Organize Wrapping Paper & Supplies Challenge here on the site, which is part of the 52 Week Organized Home Challenge.

Further, if you've got ideas of your own, or better yet, pictures you'd like to share of how you organize these bags I'd love to see them. You can submit your idea here and I'll add the best ones to the page.

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Related Pages You May Enjoy

Christmas Storage Solutions & Organization Ideas

Getting Rid Of Holiday Clutter Hall Of Fame

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