Green Ideas for Wrapping Paper

This holiday season make your gift giving all about giving green. Don't stop at the gift itself but make the wrapping green too. You can spend a ton of money on gift wrapping, often times adding substantially to the gift price. Why not try some of these gift wrapping ideas to ease your budget and be more earth friendly.

Butcher paper

Consider wrapping everything in one kind of paper. Butcher paper is very cost effective. You can jazz it up with ribbon or make it more green by using raffia or left over yarn. You could personalize it with decorating. Try writing sayings or thoughts you have about the recipient in a nice script handwriting. This would make for a very elegant touch. You could be festive or playful by adding stamped images. If you don't have rubber stamps at hand, you could carve a potato and stamp with acrylic or tempera paint. For a playful child's theme, consider handprints.

Repurposing paper

If you are given a gift with a great bag or even paper, consider using it again. Keep the gift box and use it for another gift you intend to give. This is a great example of recycling.

Newspaper

Reusing newspaper is a great green wrapping. While it is not a new idea, it is very time-honored. You can use the funny papers for children's gifts and maybe the stock page for the man of the house. The women's section that includes recipes would be a great idea for a woman's gift. You get the idea, choose a theme for the recipient.

Foil

Newspaper isn't the only item laying around your house that can be used for gift-wrapping. How about wrapping in aluminum foil? You can decorate the foil with permanent markers. Some foils you can "carve" a design into the surface. And the best thing about using aluminum foil there is no need for taping the ends together.

Packing paper

If you have recently moved, you have a ton of packing paper on hand. Consider saving it for using as wrapping paper. Just like the butcher paper, you can decorate the surface. Packing paper is often inexpensive if not free. Check your local moving companies and see if they have any on hand.

Fabric bags

Many cultures give gifts in reusable fabric gift bags. These are very similar to a pillowcase with a drawstring. Oftentimes holiday fabrics are used to make these bags. If you don't have any decorative fabric on hand, consider using a pillowcase. The fabric is easy to decorate with permanent markers or fabric dye. If interested, you could sew a few of these reusable cloth bags. While there is a financial outlay to make them, they are reusable for years to come.

Shopping bags

If you buy items for a teenager from a popular name brand store, consider using the bag as the wrapping leaving the name visible. They will be so excited to see what was chosen for them from a store they love.

Plastic department store bags

These are not the grocery store kind of bag but the higher end drawstring plastic bags. Cut them open to make flat sheets of plastic. Layer a variety of different kinds of these bags together. You can see through them and the patterns and type together make an interesting look. Using a layer of wax paper under and over the plastic bags, iron them together to make plastic fabric if you will. You can wrap a present as you normally would using this bonded plastic, or you can continue to iron the plastic to create an envelope or bag that is one of a kind and unique. For this idea, you can repurpose bags you have on hand or ask at the stores for a bag, they will usually comply.