Gift wrap gone green

Photo from Flickr by Paper_Girl

One of the things that has always amazed me about the holidays is that people spend hours searching for the perfect gift for each recipient, wrap it up in pretty paper and bows then the person unwraps it and all the decoration is discarded! What a waste! By far the best suggestion for gift giving is simply to forgo it altogether! Really, most people know what they are going to get anyway so what’s the point? If you simply MUST wrap your gifts though how about some of the following five options

1 – Boxes

We all have boxes on hand at home why not decorate an existing box with water based paint instead? Fun to do and a great project for children! Plus declutters your house at the same time!

2 – Newspaper/brown paper

Ah the old standby! I’m sure we’ve all been there late Christmas eve, wrapping gifts and running out of wrapping paper! Eek! Reach for the trusty standby of newspaper or brown paper grocery sacks. The grocery sacks are good as you can put the gift in, roll down the top and call it done! If you don’t like the logo on the sack simply turn it inside out, it can be done, and the decorate with pens/paint.

3 – Switch paper for fabric

One of the best things I remember about my childhood is that we all had
our own “santa sacks”. A simple cloth bag with a drawstring top. All
the gifts were put in the sack and we simply took them out one by one.
Because we all had our own sacks we knew that the gifts in there was
for us. I guess you could call these a larger take on the traditional
Christmas stockings.For individual gifts the same can apply, just
make/buy a smaller sack, or you can wrap with fabric as you would with
paper. Fabric can be used in so many ways once unwrapped!

4 – Real ribbon

Instead of using the fake ribbon, how about instead using real fabric ribbon that can be reused again and again. If not on a craft or sewing project then it can be used again for gift wrapping.

5 – Use one gift to wrap another. For example, buy a handbag, and inside put another gift of jewelry or beauty products. Or buy a toolbox and fill it with tools. Simply add a bow (as noted above, make it reusable) for a decorative touch!

Try some of these options to green up your gift wrapping this holiday season!

dalgal | My Bio & Articles