Saturday 7 November 2009

Re-Used Gift Wrapping


For those who celebrate Christmas, its time to start Christmas shopping! So over the next month I will be posting ideas for Christmas cards and gift wrap that not only use recycled materials, but also look great! My family has always reused Christmas wrapping paper when giving gifts within the close family. However people outside the close family, unless they're keen recyclists themselves, may be less than impressed by obviously reused paper. So how about some more imaginative ways to reuse paper in eye-catching ways? For this first one, I had reused green and white tissue paper, covered the join with green ribbon and then added a gift tag (recycled from a greetings card!) in matching colours.

26 comments:

Reader Wil said...

Great idea to use recycled gift wrapping. In fact we use and reuse our wrapping paper as much as possible for as long as possible. Some of the X-mas and St. Nicolas( for the Dutch!) paper is so pretty that we cannot throw it away. Yours is also very pretty!
Thanks for your visit! Have a great weekend!

Katherine said...

It's so easy to make reused tissue paper pretty, just a bit of ribbon and a gift tag like you've shown here. I think reused tissue paper looks nice than new.

steven said...

extremely crafty - crafty green!! my family has taken to placing gifts in cloth bags specially decorated for the purpose, or in cloth also specially decorated for the purpose. have a lovely evening. steven

The Weaver of Grass said...

Very clever idea, Juliet.

maryt/theteach said...

Poet, you are very clever! I will be visiting for more Christmas crafts! :)

Kat Mortensen said...

Very pretty! I like the two-tone and the card is adorable. I look forward to your other tips.

Deb G said...

My family's gotten use to me wrapping things in used/re-purposed paper. :)

I've used little pieces of wrapping paper for making cards too. I've also shredded it to use as packaging.

Becky said...

I think reusing gift wrapping is a super idea. I have done it my self. I always save old Christmas cards too and cut them in pretty shapes with my craft scissors to use as gift tags.
To answer your question about what kind of duck uses that duck house, I don't really know. The pond is rather small, and might be used by Wood Ducks. We have them in our area.This pond iss about 15 miles from our house.
Have a great rest of the week-end.
Becky

Unknown said...

Yes, I think we need to either get away from wrapping paper or reuse it. Sometimes it seems wrapping and cards cost more than the gifts! Plus all the waste. Gift wrap scraps are good for making collage items from too.

Annie Jeffries said...

Yes, yes. Never through paper away if it can be saved and reused. I always end up feeling very virtuous and not so light in the pocket. LOL

libbyquilter said...

excellent~! i'm a big fan of re-using gift wrap and gift bags but i frequently wrap gifts in cloth . . . such as yardage, kitchen linens and vintage tablecloths. also love to use the beautiful vintage boxes and tins that can be found~!~ i can hardly wait to see what new ideas you will be bringing us~!!~

:)
libbyQ

jasmine said...

Neat idea for posting. I've bee ecouraging folk to make their own presents or consider buying from a craft doated to charuty, such as Made4aid, Hero Initiative, Art for the Animals or Art for hearts. I'd so much rather see money in the hands of a charity than a corporate giant that doesn't consider the worker behind the label or the environment.

The Bunns said...

As a kid, gifts RG got were wrapped in the funny papers and tied with string. Seemed great to him.

Love the penguin ...

Unknown said...

Reusing paper is the way to go! Everyone at my house is used to a few wrinkles. LOL It'll be great to see your ideas.;-)

Golden West said...

One way to fancy up used tissue paper is to fold it into smaller and smaller squares and then dip the corners into small bowls of food coloring. Gently open the paper up to dry and you have a lovely kaleidoscope colored gift wrap. Also, if your paper is too wrinkly, it will iron up just like a piece of cloth. When the paper gets too old to keep reusing for gifts, use it to wrap and store your glass Christmas ornaments. I'm still using some paper my daughter and I dyed when she was a tot and she turned 30 this year.

Jenn Jilks said...

Great idea, Juliet!
We do the same in our family. But my mother had hundreds of bags and sacks in her Christmas trunk. I've been using those for non-family! That said, we are far away and I have been mailing the kids packages, or leaving them in their wrappers of bubble and box, and forgoing wrapping entirely! Glad to see some good eco-ideas.

Thank you for visiting My Muskoka ! We haven't 'talked' in awhile. Love the poems.

Anonymous said...

Great idea, Juliet. I wish more people would think like you. I don't buy paper at all. Sometimes, I use brown bags trimmed with little cones off evergreens and yarn, but mostly use my quilting scraps to wrap, and make tiny drawstring bags.

green ink said...

I do that too, when I've received a gift with pretty paper. I very rarely buy giftwrap anymore, except at Christmas, but even then I try to be original and eco-friendly! My favourite gift wrapping material is my old Time Outs! I go through and find things that I think match the recipients personality and have loads of fun that way :)

Deb Cushman said...

Wonderful idea. I like the colors and great job on hiding the seam. Lovely little card.

We'll be digging out our Christmas stuff to see what we can salvage for this year.

JoMo said...

We save & reuse gift bags, that usually does the trick. I don't think I've bought one in 5 years. For immediate family, we always wrap in newspaper with funny or appropriate headlines showing and underlined or highlighted with colored pens & inks. We handmake the tags. I like your creative use of paper too.

Ana said...

that looks lovely!
I reuse as much as I can gift bags,since I do not know how to wrap a gift properly.

Nicole said...

I love this!
I wish more people would reuse the paper or simply do something different for a "wrapping".

aspiritofsimplicity said...

I think it looks very nice. I used to use pictures my children had painted or drawn to wrap gifts in.

d. moll, l.ac. said...

Thumbs up, I'm a paper saver too. Even the the paper that looks used I crinkle up more, then smooth it out, so it's consistent and use it again!

Caroline Gill said...

I'd love to receive a parcel like that!

Lucy said...

There's a particular blue satin ribbon I bought for a friend's 80th birthday present, and it has been doing the rounds ever since, though it may have been cut in half by now; it's always interesting to see who gets it next - he's about 86 now I think!

One of our local friends, who is a very keen recycler of wrappings, said this year no Christmas presents except home-made ones, we all have more than enough, and everyone agreed very readily, and find we're looking forward to it.

I just carefull washed up a travel sweet tin, and am wondering if my old enamel paints are still usable...