A follow-on from the Christmas post - Gift wrapping ideas

[MrsP]

Anyone have good ideas for ways to wrap gifts which aren't as wasteful as buying sqashed dead tree with pretty pictures on?

So far I've come up with:

1) No gift wrap - result: I get lynched by my more consumer relatives and my vastly disappointed kids.
2) Newspaper - result: black-handed kids on Christmas Day (plus I have a wierd aversion to newpaper as wrap).
3) Reused gift wrap - result: a good solution, but despite my squirrelly ways I don't have enough.
4) Recycled giftwrap - result: I spend money I can't bring myself to spend on expensive wrapping paper.
5) Recycled tissue paper/kraft paper - result: can be customised by the kids, but I can't find any reasonably priced supplies.
6) Bags made from reclaimed fabric - result: I spend the next six weeks sewing when I should be sleeping. And the bags probably get chucked away :sigh:

So, if nothing else, ideas for where I can get colourful recycled tissue paper?

[red]

we used newspaper last year and it was fine

also used magazines... and advertising rubbish.. I wrapped some presents with advetising wassit from garden centre.. it looked christmassy too with their pictures of trees and decs etc,, and no black hands.

give less presents?

[Shirley]

cloth bags that can be used again for shopping gets my vote.

Small stuff could be stashed in gloves, or new socks (extra pressies!)

[hamster]

My auntie always uses brown parcel paper from the post office and sticks wooden stars on that she spray-paints gold and ties them up with string (usually also spray-painted gold). It looks really pretty, and the paper can be reused or recycled, the string can be reused and the stars can be used to decorate your walls...

[the.fee.fairy]

Can you get hold of some chip shop paper? One year when i was at uni, i managed to talk the local chippie owner into giving me a pile of paper. So, i made potato stamps and stamped my own wrapping paper. It looked great, and went down really well with the recipients.

[Annpan]

We use brown parcel paper (40p for a roll, from IKEA)
We tart it up with ribbon, (again, IKEA, £? but cheap) which invariabley ends up in someones hair, or as extra decoration until the tree comes down. One year I will buy satin ribbon and save it up for re-use.
I do like newspaper as wrap, again tarted up a bit. Broadsheet or maybe the financial times (lovely pink paper) Not the Sun

I keep a hold of any gift bags that I am given and they always get re-used

I detest the re-use of wrapping paper, it looks cheap and skin-flint, why give a pressie if you are a skin-flint? Or indeed, why wrap it at all?... to add, if you can pass it off as new that is fine, I hate the stuff that has been sellotaped back together.

[Thomzo]

I save the old file dividers from work and make them into little boxes and decorate for small presents.

I recently wrapped a cardboard box (again recycled from work) with ordinary white paper onto which I had printed "Happy birthday". It worked quite well but would have been better if the sheets had been bigger.

I keep and re-use cellophane from any flowers I'm given and any tissue paper that I get as well as gift bags and pretty carrier bags, especially paper ones.

Otherwise I will buy plain coloured wrapping paper (I think I got mine from Ikea and it was either recycled or sustainable) which I can then use all year round. Decorated with home made Christmas shapes or a bit of ribbon it looks quite stylish.

Zoe

[Chickenlady]

I agree about the brown paper - I too bought several rolls on my last, nightmare trip to Ikea (never again!). Somebody told me, but I don't know if this is true, that it is partly made from recycled paper.

This stuff looks good:
www.postpack.co.uk/acatalog/Brown_Paper_Sheets_Rolls


I got some raffia string from the range that I will use instead of ribbon. Can't be arsed to spend hours decorating paper that will get ripped off and destroyed in 5 minutes!

[wulf]

One year we used newspaper and then went very un-eco-friendly by spraypainting copper coloured stars. This wasn't a great hit as it turns out the paint didn't adhere to the newsprint very well....

Generally, we use a mixture of cheapish and recycled wrapping paper. I think that the present opening ceremony is part of the fun of Christmas Day, so like to wrap things well. In my family I am confident that anything decent will be set aside for reuse in future and anything ruined will end up stuffed into old toilet rolls and used on the fire.

Wulf

[possum]

print your own paper on your computer, if you need larger sheets, tape it together

[Tomr]

I usually use brown paper as well. Usually with an array of hand drawn stars, trees and Christmas type things all over it.
Wooden spray pained stars sounds like a plan though. Plenty of scraps of wood hanging around in the shed begging to pressed into action.

[Tomr]

Just thought of something else I did once. Wasn't for Christmas but its still and idea.
Make up a cardboard box out of some strongish card, glue a patten of string around the sides (you could do a name if your feeling creative or just do a swirly patten) then paint the entire thing silver/gold/red/insert name of festive colour.

I did this to put Jewellery in once. String glued into a heart shape and the whole thing sprayed pink.

[Shirley]

I really like the idea of making boxes instead of using paper wrapping paper. They'll then have a use for the future too.

Nice one !!

[Silver Ether]

any old box, covered in brown paper and use a rubber stamp to decorate it ...

One of my faves is wrapping in voile fabric ... I buy it from some where like Dunelm or the market when its cheap ... then use a contrasing coloured voile that has been torn into a strip to tie it together... don't be mean with the fabric as it can be reused for crafting, for kids or you can iron it over and reuse it ... Hession or muslin are nice too

[the.fee.fairy]

Along the fabric lines, there are some instructions online somewhere about ironing plastic bags to make a fabric. That might be nice to use as wrapping.