3 Frugal Gift Wrap Ideas (bonus: they're green too!)
On Monday, after many requests, I told you all that I'd devote a post to this topic, and I'm here to deliver on that promise.
Gift wrap is one of those many areas where saving money and being green intersect...I love it when that happens. There are quite a few different options for wrapping gifts on the cheaply and greenly (I know that is not a word), but here are a few of my favorites, which, in my opinion, don't cross the line between frugal and cheap. Unlike some frugal people, I do place a somewhat high value on having my gifts look pretty. So I am sort of picky about which money saving wrap methods I will use....they have to be inexpensive AND visually pleasing.
Cloth Gift Bags
I've already linked you to this post once this week, but in case you missed it, you can check out my cloth bag tutorial from last December.
I usually only use these for exchanging gifts within our family because after I spend the time making them, I'd sort of prefer to keep them!
I don't have nearly enough of these to use for all of our presents, though my collection is slowly growing.
Gift Boxes
I own several of these adorable little boxes, which make great "wrapping" material for small presents like jewelry. I got some of them when I purchased some 70% off jewelry (clearance, of course!), and I kept the boxes because I thought they were so cute. The green sparkly ones (I have two) came from our church's Sharing Closet (which is like freecycle in a room).
These are really tempting for small children to open, so to keep the present safe and to dress the box up a bit, I like to tie ribbon around the boxes. If you want to be really green (not to mention classy), you can use real ribbon.
But curling ribbon is a good option too (of course, you'll want to purchase it in January when it's on clearance.).
Paper Gift Bags
These are not a great option for wrapping children's presents, at least not at our house, because the children cannot be trusted to resist peeking inside the bag! But for adult presents or for presents going to people outside of our home, these are a great option. They're so easy to use, and as long as they are stored properly, they can be re-used multiple times.
Tissue paper is sort of necessary for gift bags, but it can be found for $.25-$.50 after Christmas with very little effort, and if you're patient enough to fold it, it can be stored and re-used.
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Of course, if you're not super duper concerned about disposable wrapping, you can often pick up rolls of wrapping paper at very low prices after Christmas. I usually do that because there's inevitably a handful of presents that will not work with a gift bag or a gift box. Since we recycle the wrapping paper most of the time, I don't feel particularly guilty about it.
What about you? What are your inexpensive gift wrap ideas? I know some of you have written blog posts on this topic this month, so if you have, feel free to leave a link in the comments.
I love the cloth bag idea, I'm going to have to give that a try. Especially in velvet it looks so sumptuous. I'm also in love with pretty wrapping, and I do recycle or re-use everything, but I could be better about finding alternative materials. Thanks for inviting us to share links. I actually posted a how-to-wrap tutorial today at http://urbandomesticity.wordpress.com/2009/12/17/how-to-wrap-a-gift/
Don't forget opened-up paper bags! If plain brown wrapping isn't your thing you - or your kids - can draw on it. A surefire favorite for the grandparents!
Over the years I've created a stash of mostly-used wrapping gear. I have wine bags (cloth and paper), gift bags, ribbon (cloth and fancy decorating), tissue paper (lots from store purchases or shipping padding). Every few years I buy a large bag of adhesive bows for under $5, a couple of fat rolls of solid color wrapping paper, and one of those ribbon tubes that have 5 different kinds on it. Since I'm a lousy wrapper I generally rely on gift bags + tissue paper so the purchased materials last a long time.
If you buy new, clothing boxes can be reused many times also.
I wrote a post about be green this season.
http://mommyhastowork.blogspot.com/2009/12/going-green-this-holiday.html
I think frugal wrapping is just about being creative, or knowing where to get supplies on the cheap. Christmas Tree Shop or the Dollar Tree all have very reasonably priced wrapping products. Also, we've been getting a lot of deliveries at work of snack foods and gift baskets, so when they are empty I grab the boxes or tins before they are thrown away. It keeps things out of the landfill and gives me a free box or tin for wrapping!
Dollar Tree usually has rolls of gift wrap and packages of tissue paper for...you guessed it, a buck.
I love real ribbon. It DOES look a thousand times more elegant than curling ribbon, and obviously, it keeps better for re-use, too. Great ideas!
I love real ribbon, too, especially cloth ribbon. I like to wrap my gifts in blank newsprint, which I purchase at moving stores as "packing paper", then use really nice ribbon and calligraphy to do the to/from.
One other thing I've done in the past is to package gifts in other gifts. For example, I made a matching throw pillow and fleece blanket for a guy friend who loved wolves, wrapped the pillow in the blanket, and secured the whole thing with a ribbon. For a baby shower, I assembled some baby bath supplies in a wicker basket, then wrapped the whole thing in a towel secured with ribbon. I knitted a scarf for my sister and wrapped it around the matching hat I'd purchased.
This works great if the intended recipient needs towels, scarves, blankets, etc., but it could also work with just plain, pretty fabric, especially if intended recipient likes to sew or do crafty things.
Furoshiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furoshiki
These are really cool and add something a bit exotic to it. Plus it's a great way to take your lunch to work as well.
We also reuse wrapping paper and my mom and grandma will iron the paper and fold it up and put it in a big gift bag. or box and save it for next year.
Tissue paper is easily revived when ironed. Use the lowest setting on your iron.
Gently press and it is like new.
Another frugal idea not mention is, of course cutting your old cards for gift tags.
Look for wonderful ribbon to go on sale after the holidays!
Also at this time of year I look for plain colored, plaid, or candy theme paper at the $ stores to use for birthday wrapping paper through out the year.
Love the gift bags. I am going to start making some after the holidays for next year!
Thanks for the ideas!
My friend turned me on to using tissue paper by itself for gift wrapping. Cheap and cheerful. Several layers easily covers (and protects!) small gifts and looks quite pretty. If you wrap a bunch all in red or all in green it looks quite christmasy. I also use my child's larger poster sized paintings from school as gift wrap. I have to ask if it's alright first, of course 😉
A couple of years ago I bought some really nice Christmas wrapping paper from Target, in their dollar spot (now they charge up to $2.50 for some of the items in that section). The paper was a heavy duty shiny/foil/metallic. Although the roll was a short width (about 2 feet), they didn't scrimp on length. There was more paper on the roll than you can get at a dollar store, for sure. I had bought 4 rolls. I don't know if they still carry them, but it's worth looking for.
Cookie tins show up quite frequently in recycle bins and yard sales, so I've started to collect them. They are very durable, though not nicely collapsible like gift bags. Cookies aren't the only things you can put in them: try socks, long johns (you need the big tins for those), artwork.
I do a lot of canning and gifting of that. This year I picked up a muffin dough bucket from a bakery and packed it with an assortment of condiments and jams for my son and his girlfriend. They can use the bucket for yard work in the summer!
Wow! I blogged about the exact same topic today! Check out my wrapping and gift tag ideas at http://mynonfabulousfblog.blogspot.com/
I had picked up on your sewn bag idea from last year and ended up making cute drawstring bags out of the homemade table runners from my wedding (who'd ever need 20 ft olive green runners again?!?). Thanks!
The green boxes are to-die-for!!! I want them so bad, I don't even want a present in them 🙂 They are probably not too hard to make/decorate yourself if you can find some small boxes!
This year I made gift bags for a bunch of people. Mine weren't nearly as fancy as yours, but they were super easy to make. I took burlap, cut it to size and sewed up two sides to make the bag. I frayed the top a bit and then added checked ribbon and jingle bells. I was able to get 20 bags of varying size out of 3 yards of fabric.
Newspaper makes good wrapping paper, jazzed up with ribbon or bows. Also, pages from magazines (selotaped together for larger presents).
As a newly married couple my husband and I were still trying to figure out how to budget. Christmas was definitely important to both of us and we had set aside money for gifts for each other, but a few days before we both realized that we hadn't bought wrapping paper and had used up our budgeted money on stocking stuffers. We did however have a stack of newspapers next to our door(we got the subscription at a discounted price). Anyway old newspapers combined with green and red ribbon from the dollar store made for some very cute presents, and e v e r y t h i n g was wrapped for one dollar( the cost of the ribbon)
I buy a large roll of white freezer paper (Walmart or groc store) and my daughter uses it for painting, stamping, and for wrapping gifts! I use craft paint and she decorates the white paper with her handprints or footprints for a personal touch for family. Now my almost-4 month old added his little handprint to a gift just the other day!
It is awesome to decorate gifts together and add our personal touch to them! =) Love your blog topics, you have amazing ideas and beautiful photos!