“Green” Alternatives to Traditional Gift Wrap

While reading about some excellent “green” alternatives to traditional gift wrap, which I plan to share with you shortly, I was reminded of a story Mom told me about one Christmas when I was a mere babe and too young to remember.

That particular year, Mom had felt inspired to be eco-friendly when wrapping the family Christmas presents. She used brown grocery bags with the writing turned toward the inside, and used different ink stamps to decorate them. She used ribbon and made her own bows and then decorated them with pine cones, cinnamon sticks and the like. She said she put a lot of hard work into them, and when she was finished she was very proud of her accomplishment.

On Christmas Eve, we always made our way to my grandmother’s house (my dad’s mom), where we had dinner and then opened presents. Along with our family, my uncle and his family always came as well. Mom and Dad carried in the presents and placed them under the tree with the other gifts. Then, at dinner, my cousin, who was about 8 years old at the time, asked Mom and Dad if they were broke. Mom asked him what gave him that idea and he said, “Well, you didn’t even have enough money to buy wrapping paper for our presents and had to use paper sacks!”

I think recycling paper sacks, ribbon and filling materials are a wonderful idea. I also like the idea of using things from nature, such as pine needles or leftover straw, to pack your gift, instead of Styrofoam peanuts or bubble wrap. Other suggestions I read about was using stuffing from an old pillow as cushioning for a glass or fragile item, or using store-bought peanuts in the shell to pack your gift in—kind of a gift for now and one for later!!

One of the wrapping suggestions was very close to what my Mom did that year; wrapping the package in brown paper and then using different colored electrical tape to decorate it in a plaid pattern. This is a great idea not only for Christmas gifts, but for gifts throughout the year.

You can use newspaper to wrap bottles, such as of olive oil or wine. Beginning with two layers of newspaper, wrap them around the bottle, leaving about 5 inches of excess newspaper above the top of the bottle. Use a piece of tape to keep the newspaper snug around the bottle and then tie a ribbon or string around the neck of the bottle. Cut strips down from the top of the excess paper to the top of the bottle, and then curl each strip individually by running it along the sharp edge of the scissor blade.

Another great recycling idea is to use the black ribbon from an old VHS tape for decoration. Old cassette and 8-track tapes can also be used as ribbon. Just use a screwdriver to unhinge the screws that hold the tape together. Then, remove the spools inside that hold the black tape and use it just like any other ribbon. Tie the black tape into place and leave extra long strands, then use the blade of the scissors to create curly bows.

I hope you can make use of some of these suggestions—but most of all have fun doing it! And with the state of the economy today, I doubt if anyone will ask you if you are broke because of your choice of wrapping paper, they will just assume it is so!!