Last weekend, during my Black Friday shopping forays, I purchased something I want to tell you all about — it’s a Santa Sack.  I got it at Michael’s, a nationwide chain of craft stores.  They all carry identical merchandise, so if it was available at my local store, it will be at yours too.

The Santa Sack is a large (about 2 feet by 3 feet) felt bag with a drawstring.  It sells for about $3.  There are several styles — all brightly colored Christmas designs:  Santas, snowmen, reindeer.  I have several– at that price, how can you resist?

If you have to transport many small gifts from one place to another, the bag is great since you don’t have to worry about one falling off the stack or wedging its way under the car seat, to be found in mid-May.

I also use it for decoration/camouflage.  I hate to file, so I put it off.  I have a huge stack of filing in my den, a room I need to use for my Christmas party.  I know that I won’t file before the end of the year, so I just break out a handy Santa sack and tuck all the papers inside.  Instead of being an unsightly mess, they are an attractive decoration in the corner of a room  — a sack full of presents awaiting delivery by a reindeer-drawn sleigh.  A similar ploy can be used to hide the stack of mending in your guest room or the mountain of clothes on your kid’s floor.  If your house is already perfectly tidy (if it is, please tell us all how you do it without full-time domestic staff), you can use the sacks as holiday clothes hampers or fill them with old sheets and towels to make an attractive display.