Earth-Friendly Christmas Gift Wrapping Ideas

Having an earth-friendly Christmas doesn't mean all your presents have to be wrapped in boring brown paper bags. A bit of planning coupled with some eco-conscious Christmas wrapping ideas can assure that your gifts are earth-friendly and beautifully presented.

Make the wrapping part of the gift

Using a gift item as the wrapping can be an artistic way to wrap a Christmas gift. Try to match the wrapping to the gift inside. For example you can use a kitchen towel to wrap a food or culinary item, a bath towel for spa or beauty items or a scarf to wrap an accessory. Pillow cases, cloth grocery bags, aprons and lap blankets also make terrific wrapping choices.

Hit the second-hand store

Your local thrift store has some wonderful treasures you can use as cheap wrapping paper. Sheet music makes a wonderful wrapping for small electronics like an ipod and gas cards can be wrapped in a used map. Keep gift wrapping in mind during your next visit to the thrift store and you will certainly come up with some great ideas.

Look at the newspaper creatively

Newspaper comics are a common way to wrap an earth-friendly gift, but they might not feel very festive. Decorate the comics with your own Christmas touches- a Santa hat on Snoopy and a Christmas tree for Cathy are cute touches others are sure to appreciate. Save toys and electronics ads for wrapping as they tend to be a bit more fun too look at than headlines.

Get the kids involved

Family members such as Grandma and Grandpa will adore their gifts even more if they are wrapped in paper the kids made. Set the kids up with some art supplies, paper (the blank side of used paper is best), paper bags, magazines, paper towel rolls, old Christmas cards and anything else you have lying around. You will be amazed at the ingenious wrapping designs the kids can come up with, plus it will keep them busy while you do holiday chores of your own.

Skip the wrap

Choosing gifts that don't require any wrapping at all such as gift cards is the most eco-friendly way to give at the holidays. Decorate the gift card envelope with a few festive touches or a small bow. Large gifts don't need to be wrapped at all- just tie on some ribbon and place then near the tree at the last minute.

Think organic

Adorn gifts with items from your winter yard such as trimmings from your evergreen. A small clipping is all that is needed for most gifts and the clipping can be tossed in the yard or compost heap after it is used. Anything edible or biodegradable can become an eco-friendly gift embellishment as long as it doesn't hit the garbage after the gift is open.

Tag resourcefully

Christmas tags can be made out of a variety of used items. Old Christmas cards, used Christmas envelopes, scraps of paper too small to wrap with and magazine pages all make nice gift tags. Better yet, you can skip the tag altogether by writing the recipients name directly on the gift with a gold or silver marker.

If you must buy, buy green

If you simply have to have some wrapping paper buy it from a store that sells sustainable, recycled or eco-conscious gift wrap such as http://www.paporganics.com/ and http://www.custompaper.com/ . Reusable sacks or bags also make for earth-friendly Christmas wrapping. Cloth gift sacks that can be used year after year can be made at home or purchased through http://wrapsacks.com/index.php .