Creative Gift Wrapping Ideas that Won't Cost a Penny

If you're looking for an affordable and creative way to wrap your gifts this holiday season, look no further! Here you'll find several easy techniques and unexpected materials for wrapping presents that are probably already in your home!

1) Newspaper

Start saving those newspapers now and you'll have enough to wrap a department store's worth of gifts. The comics have the most color, but feel free to put secret messages in the crossword puzzles or circle unusual classified ads. If you want to be extra artistic, break out the markers and add some holiday cheer to those glum news stories. When the holidays are over, you can recycle all your wrapping paper!

2) Aluminum Foil

The best perk for wrapping with foil is there's no tape required-just fold, pinch, and crinkle to your heart's content! It's already shiny, but you can customize each gift by rubbing the foil over different textures (like cooling racks or pineapples) pre-wrap. It's incredibly easy to open, and best of all, it's recyclable!

3) Egg Cartons

For a dozen eggs, you can get 6 tiny boxes-perfect for jewelry, candy, or small toys. Cut a half-circle out of two opposite sides of each cup to help them fit together and tie the box closed with ribbon, or punch holes around the edges and lace the two halves together. Then decorate your tiny box! Use cardboard cartons for a more biodegradable package.

4) Duct Tape

If you're feeling a little pranksterish this holiday season, wrap your gifts in duct tape. It can be fun to watch people struggle to open your presents, and find out just how bad they want the gift you got them! Now that duct tape comes in a variety of colors, you can brighten things up instead of relying on the standard metallic gray. You can even sculpt ribbon and bows! Just remember to put down a "safety layer" of newspaper between your gift and the tape.

5) Cellophane

Another kitchen staple that makes a great wrapping paper, cellophane can be layered for a translucent look, or crinkled up to make ribbons and bows for your other gift wrapping options. Like aluminum foil, cellophane doesn't require tape. Plus, it might be a nice change after that duct tape trick you pulled.

6) Fabric

If you don't have a sewing basket on hand, most craft stores have remainder bins where you can get fabric for a few cents. This can be a fun, reusable way to wrap your holiday gifts! With paints, markers, or bleach pens from the laundry room, you can create personalized designs for each gift.

7) Cardboard Tubes

Empty paper towel and toilet paper rolls can be perfect tubular cases for all kinds of small gifts. Just cushion the gift in some brightly colored tissue paper before you tuck in inside the cardboard tube. Then you can use paper, aluminum foil, or fabric to wrap the tube in a festive way! Try tying off each end of the tube so it looks like a tootsie roll instead of sealing it off squarely.

8) Empty Plastic Bottles

With a good rinse and some artful slicing, empty soda bottles and milk jugs can become festive holiday baskets! Cut large windows in opposite sides of a two-liter soda bottle for easy access, then use ribbon or wire to create a handle around the bottle neck. For milk jugs, take advantage of the built in handle when you carve out your basket. Get creative with paints, ribbon, or some of the other gift-wrapping supplies mentioned here to decorate your recyclable plastic holiday basket.

9) Furoshiki Wrapping

This is a fun way to wrap gifts with fabric, tissue paper, or newsprint. From Japan, this wrapping style uses folds and tucks to wrap objects without tape. It's fun to do, easy to open, and will probably not be done by anyone else at your Christmas party! You can Google furoshiki to find directions and pictures for dozens of different wrapping designs perfect for boxes, bottles, or oddly-shaped gifts.