This year create custom designed recycled wrapping paper and gift tags.
Homemade Recycled Wrapping Paper and Gift Tags
This may be the year that you finally keep that promise you made to yourself to spend less on gift cards, ribbon and wrapping paper during the holiday season. Here are ideas that will help you reuse, recycle and reinvent, plus add a creative, personal touch to the gifts you give.
Gift Wraps and Bags
•use the color comics section from Sunday newspapers
•reuse shopping bags from high-end stores, especially cosmetic bags
•wrap kitchen gadgets or food in cotton dish towels
•use bandanas or leftover fabric scraps
•wrap with a scarf or shawl; tie it with a ribbon
•package gifts in reusable tote bags or baskets
It’s even better if you can make the wrapping fit the occasion or the person. For example, pages from seed catalogs make great wrappings on gifts for gardeners.
WrapSacks are a new and innovative way to reuse a gift bag and have the fun of knowing where the bag has traveled in its lifetime. It’s meant to be used again by the person who receives it, and you can track where the bags have been.
Gift Cards and Tags
•craft your own with markers, rubber stamps, or clippings from magazines, postcards and calendars
•use personalized business cards folded in half
•you can use squares of left-over wrapping paper as a gift “tag” or write directly on the wrapping paper with brightly colored markers
•transform last year’s holiday cards into gift tags
Ribbons and Ties
•plain wrappings will stand out if you add pretty ribbons
•plain use yarn, twine or rafia for a crafty look
•recycle ribbon from year to year, or pick up new ribbon when you see it on sale or at thrift stores
