Wrapping alternatives
Wrap your gifts in your kids’ artwork, maps and travel brochures, colorful magazine and newspaper pages, old Sunday comics sections, pieces of fabric. Gifts for the kitchen can be folded in cloth napkins or collected in a picnic basket and wrapped in a tablecloth.
[edit] Gift Wrapping Alternatives
Gift wrapping is fun and necessary for many occasions, but there are the environmental costs of resource extraction, manufacture and waste disposal to be considered. You can create attractive gift wrap yourself by reusing paper, fabric or even using the Sunday comics. If you prefer buying gift wrap, look for recycled content gift wrap paper whenever you can find it.
[edit] Fabric Gift Bags
Fabric Gift Bags make beautiful, personal and unique gift wraps for all gift-giving occassions. Even better, they're re-usable and made of recycled materials. To buy fabric gift bags, click here.
To make your own gift bags, start by gathering all the scrap material you can lay your hands on. Thrift shops are a good source, as are the "discontinued" bins in your local fabric shops. (Sometimes the most garish fabrics which wind up in the discontinued bins are great for gift bags.)
The Gift Bags will look richer and last longer if they are lined, so collect any fabric you can get your hands on, no matter how plain, for the inside of the bag. Old cotton bedsheet material works well for this. Simple to make. Here's how:
1. Cut two pieces of your fabric and two pieces of the lining material all to the same size. Any size, any shape rectangle. A variety of sizes is useful, and square or "close to square" rectangles are the most versatile shapes.
2. Put each fabric piece on top of each lining piece, fold over the top edges and sew. Just the top edges. Now you've hemmed the opening edge of the Gift Bag.
3. Stack both sets of fabric with the lining (inside) faces to the outside. The decorative fabric pieces will be facing each other on the inside of the "sandwich". Be sure the hemmed edges are both on top. Sew the three un-hemmed edges with a simple running stitch, 1/4" in from the edge.
4. Turn inside out. Set a generous length of ribbon about 2" down from the top, and tack it to the bag with a few stitches in the middle of the ribbon length.
That's all there is to it! The bags are ready to use, or ready to give as gifts themselves.
[edit] Comic Strip Wrapping Paper
Save those Sunday newspaper colored funny sheets! These large sheets of color comics are perfect for wrapping kids' gifts. They look fun and colorful, and add an extra touch of interest to the gift. (They'll be read and re-read, and passed around for others to enjoy.)
If you want the wrapping to look more 'finished', put a piece of clear cello over the comic sheet wrap. Of course the price is right, and the discarded wrap is still recyclable.
Calendars, Wallpaper and more
What to do with last years' calendar?
If it's a large size calendar, cut out the pictures and use them for gift wrap. The pictures are bright and interesting, the coated stock is glossy and finished looking and the weight of the paper makes the wrapping extra-deluxe. One of the very best sources for wrapping paper is children's art. Children are prolific artists, and they love to see their work acknowledged. Over the course of the year, save your children's artwork (especialy large pieces) for use during the holidays and other gift-giving occasions. Use your childrens' artwork, with their permission, to wrap gifts for the holidays. The relatives, especially, will love the personal touch. You can also collect the 'discontinued' books of wallpaper samples from your local paint and wallpaper shop. The pages are large enough to provide great wrapping paper for small and medium sized gifts.
Another wonderful source for gift wrap is old maps. Road maps, topographical maps, out-of-date aeronautical and marine charts all work well, and can be 'matched' with the gift, e.g. a topo map to wrap a gift of outdoor gear, or an old marine chart for a boat-related gift.
How about re-used gift wrap for gift wrap? Be a little careful when opening large presents and you can re-use the paper. It will need to be cut down to clean up the taped and torn edges, but enough good paper will remain to be useful for wrapping smaller presents. Also, high-quality ribbon, especially fabric-ribbon, can be ironed flat to look like new.
