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

A gift doesn’t need to be wrapped in wrapping paper to look
presentable. There are a variety of unique, inexpensive and eco-friendly ways
to present a beautiful present without wrapping paper. All it takes is a little
eco-friendly imagination and ideas like the ones below to help that imagination
along.

 

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.