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Today I have Leslie Johnson guest posting on more ‘greener’ ways to wrap a gift. It’s that season – kid birthday parties, get togethers, holidays, etc. Why not try something different?

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Top 3 Eco-Friendly Gift Wrapping Ideas

It’s the season of the summer babies—and while yes I enjoy celebrating birthdays as much as any mother, buying gifts for all of my family members and children’s friends this season has definitely  put some strain on my purse strings. Fortunately I’ve learned how to save some cash by getting real innovative with the gift wrapping. Sure you could always just save and reuse old gift bags and scraps of wrapping paper, but there are actually tons of simple items in the house and yard that can double as unique and stylish gift wrapping too. The best part? They’re eco-friendly. With that said, to learn 3 neat (and sustainable) ways to wrap presents for any gift-giving holiday or event, continue reading below.

1. Brown Paper Bags
You may have very well already converted to fabric, reusable tote bags to do all of your grocery shopping and thus may not have brown paper bags in your home, but if you have not quite made the transition yet, large brown paper grocery bags can serve as some great “classic looking” gift wrapping.  Granted you want to cover the store’s logo and spruce it up a little—adding some outdoor elements like twigs, flowers and shells can make it look extra special. You can even tie some hemp or natural twine and create a bow. Another good idea is to simply let your children draw or paint on it to give it more of a personal touch.

2. Newspapers. If you have not opted to get the e-version of the local newspaper and still purchase hard-copies, instead of recycling it, save a few pages to use as gift wrapping. To avoid making the gift look “tacky” you want to only use pages that do not have advertisements or photos. Simply add a matching bow or ribbon to give it a finished look. Newspaper gift wrapping can actually look rather sleek and sophisticated if executed correctly. If using the gift wrapping for children’s gift, you may consider using the colorful comics to make the present look more animated.  Similar ideas include using pages from your children’s old picture books and sheet music as gift wrapping options.

3. Old Road Maps. If you have a friend who particularly likes to travel, using old road maps as gift wrapping is a fun, creative way to gift wrap a present, not to mention it’s educational too —it can teach the recipient about cities, roads, landmarks or areas of historical interest located within their state, perfect for a small child. It can even be extremely sentimental as well—perhaps you and the recipient went on a road trip somewhere or the portion of the map shows the city where the recipient grew up. Then again, it doesn’t have to be personal at all really; it can just be a really cool-looking map.

*Because not everything can be gift wrapped, don’t forget about using old mason jars, tins or baskets to place oddly shaped gifts in. Again, with a little decorative touch, these old items can make fabulous packaging. So that the recipient is still surprised of the contents inside, you can still cover the Mason jar in some fabric for example.
Author Bio:

This guest post is contributed by Leslie Johnson, who writes about health, green living, parenting related articles at masters in healthcare administration.

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1. 

   Dani G.

   December 2, 2011 at 5:10 pm

   I cover containers like oatmeal and breadcrumbs with fabric and trim – very cute! Also sew fabric gift bags because recipients love them and it’s a good way to use up fabric scraps. It really doesn’t take much longer than going to a store and buying stuff.

   Reply
   1. 

      Helga

      December 2, 2011 at 5:20 pm

      That’s a great use for those containers! We have used them to store markers, crayons, etc. Way to reuse! Thanks for reading & commenting on this guest post.

      Reply