Fun, Inexpensive and Eco-friendly Ways To Present a Gift Without Wrapping Paper

Gift Basket

You could purchase a gift basket online for $100 and find out later that your hundred dollars bought some tea, a few cookies, a candy and a shredded paper stuffed into a basket or you could save some money a make a much prettier one yourself. It’s easy, just shop at a resale shop like Goodwill. Purchase a few gift baskets (about $1 to $2 each) stuff each basket with your own shredded paper, place your home made, store bought or a mixture of the two gifts inside the basket. Tie a pretty bow around the basket and that’s it.

Scrap Fabric

Grab whatever scarp fabric you have. The pieces of fabric can from around the house like: outgrown children’s clothing, an old set of blue jeans, old ties, outgrown baby blankets, etc., Then cut out two even pieces. Put the pieces back to back. Sew each side together. Sew the bottom together. Turn it inside out and you have a bag. The bags can be made in a variety of sizes and shapes. You can sew some string or ribbon to the tops if you wish or leave it without string. Put the gift inside, tie the ribbon in a slipknot around the top and you are done.

Cloth Napkins and Handkerchiefs

Wrapping gifts in cloth napkins or in handkerchiefs can definitely look tacky if wrapped lazily, but with a bit of thought and the help of some Furoshiki graphics a cloth napkin can look elegantly wrapped around a gift. For Furoshiki images look here.

Newspaper, Magazines, Mail, Maps

A great way to recycle junk mail and paper waste is to use it as wrapping paper. Wrapped correctly, paper material-no matter what the source, can look almost as beautiful as wrapping paper. If it doesn’t, that’s okay too. Most people don’t really care how a gift looks on the outside they just want to hear the ripping of the paper and see what is on the inside. Just in case put on a beautiful handmade bow at the top of the gift to make it look a little bit more presentable.

Decorative Reusable Box

Decorative boxes are often lightweight, vary in sizes and, depending on the boxes décor, can look very elegant. They can often be found at resale shop for a very cheap price. Like a gift basket a gift(s) can be neatly placed inside the box and then stuffed with shredded paper to teasingly conceal the gift. It’s that easy.

Picnic Basket

Picnic baskets are ideal eco-wrapping alternatives for gifts related to: cooking (small kitchen appliances or utensils), food (snacks, cookies etc.) crafts (yarn, craft books, and so on). It’s also a great place to conceal something tiny and squirmy like a puppy or a kitty. Don’t forget the bow on the kitty.

Clay Pot

A clay pot with packets of seeds, hand gardening tools, and a gift card (in an envelop or tin box) to a home improvement or gardening store is very presentable. The gift is small but it keeps on giving for seasons to come.

Bucket

A bucket can be filled half way to the top with sand (just be careful not to spill it), decorated with a few shells and then toped with a colorful envelope made from an old traveling magazine page. Inside the handmade envelope there could be a gift card or a ticket to a romantic eco-getaway. Don’t forget to put a pretty bow on the bucket with streams of ribbon coming down.

Cookie Tins

Make a batch or two of your best cookies or snack. Cover the tin inside with a reusable cloth napkin. Place the cookies in the napkin. Use the ends of the napkins to cover the cookies. Place the

tin lid on top of the cookies and that’s its. You’re done. Oh wait! Don’t forget the handmade bow. The bows make all the difference. 

Most of the eco-wrapping alternatives above can be reused again and again for years to come by you, the gift giver, or by the gift receiver. Either way, the eco-wrapping alternatives help keep wrapping paper out of the landfills. They also help keep money in your pocketbook.