You might be a penny pincher if…
You refuse to spend even a penny on gift wrap. And why should you when there are perfectly good paper bags to be reused from your latest grocery shopping trip—and when the ground outside is full of twigs and pine cones to complete the look.
You simply cut that bag open, turn it print side down, and wrap up any and every present you have. Glue a few pine cones or spare spruce branches or leaves and you have the most festive and FREE wrap job ever.
Some people enjoy coughing up money for spendy wrapping paper. But I’ll keep combing the trash for paper bags in perfect shape. 😉
~Mavis
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Dara says
Along similar lines, Amazon uses brown paper as their packing material pretty often. Since it comes in long sheets, I take it and iron it and use it for my girls to color on. I never thought about using it to wrap presents though! Even better!
Katie says
Yes! I was just about to comment that! I save it and we I haven’t had to buy wrapping paper. I also have my 4.5 year old decorate it. Super fun for all.
E in Upstate NY says
Grandparents love receiving presents decorated by their grandchildren. From the local newspaper, was able to get the “ends” of their paper roll. In the kitchen, we had a flush door to the basement. Wrapped the paper around it down to the floor. taping in the back. With a box of crayons, they would be occupied for hours. Used to save those sheets as wrapping paper. Family loved it.
Lea says
My cousin made us a whole bunch of fabric, draw string bags in various sizes a few years ago that we use instead of wrapping paper. We use those for the family and in our household for gifts all year round.
I do have wrapping paper and gift bags for gifts that leave our home – but I haven’t bought any in years – reusing the gift bags we receive from others mostly and using the bit of paper that we bought ages ago.
We generally don’t have brown paper bags in the house (we tend to use reusable bags) but I love that idea too! (“brown paper packages tied up with string…”). 🙂
Heidi says
And you don’t have to store all those rolls of wrapping paper!!
Gail says
Here in California we pay for plastic and paper bags.
Mary Ann says
I only buy wrapping paper when it’s on the deepest discount after Christmas, but lately I need even less. I donate to a lot of animal charities and they frequently send me those big folded up squares of cute wrapping paper. I would be donating anyway, so it’s a nice little bonus with all the cute animal designs!
anne says
Comic paper is fun too.esp for bdays.been doing it for years.kids live it
Julie says
I’ve been using the butcher paper that comes with meat and fish purchases at my local grocery store, if it is not contaminated, and stamp it with rubber stamps. When my mother received a gift, she asked how much I paid for “such fancy paper”.
Mariah says
I can’t think of the last time I got a paper bag when shopping. In Los Angeles, we use reusable shopping bags…otherwise you can purchase bags from the retailer. We buy a roll or two of gift wrap from the dollar store each year, plus we reuse gift bags from the previous years. I buy ribbon for the next year when it hits 75 percent off at Walmart after the holidays. Still cheap and festive for only a few dollars.
Heather in Idaho says
I have done this or several years! It’s not only “free,” but cozy old-fashioned! You can also glue wintery pictures from catalogues, use glitter, or cut brown gingerbread boys from construction paper.
Trader Joe’s has awesome brown paper bags that can be saved throughout the year. You can also get this butcher-type of paper from Costco for free. Where? Between their products they separate their items with either cardboard or a thinner butcher paper. It’s yours for the taking!
Heather in Idaho says
Oh! Extra maps from AAA or wherever, are loads of fun too!
Carrie says
I haven’t purchased any gift wrap or bags in
9 years. Just after I got married my husband said something about the waste of wrapping gifts so I took that as a challenge and said I’d never buy it again. We have a whole tub of gift bags and tissue we have saved (if others say they aren’t going to keep them we scoop them up). I also made fabric Christmas gift bags that we use…and take back after they are opened. We also save the paper from packages that someone else mentioned (but I don’t iron it) and use nice ribbon we’ve collected. It makes me happy to know we aren’t contributing to the waste that gets taken curbside after the holidays.
Mel says
I reuse old gift bags and shipping boxes, but I do buy gift wrap every year or two. We use reusable freezer grocery bags, so we don’t have an obvious source of paper ones. I’ve considered newspaper, but I dislike rereading the depressing headlines on Christmas morning. Store bought gift wrap seems wasteful, but it’s only once a year, and I think the reusable grocery bags offsets that a little. Plus, I like the uniformity and convenience of store bought paper, both for storage and actual use. I try to buy recycled paper (and recycle it after use), and I have taken to getting reversible prints so I don’t need to stock Christmas and non-Christmas paper, but that’s about my limit.
UpstateNYer says
I love the look of the brown paper. Add some colorful ribbon and you have a great looking package!
Using the Sunday paper funnies was also used for birthday gifts in my home growing up. Plus it is a bonus to read, if it is left intact.
Lisa Millar says
I used newspaper one year (Tried to avoid ugly headliines tho) and tired with black and white ribbon.
These days I like to buy (if the size suits) handmade bags at the markets. I put presents in those as the wrapping, but its also part of the present.
I love the Japanese traditional art of wrapping presents in beautiful material. Furoshiki. There are whole books dedicated to how to wrap things beautifully in cloth.
Traditionally, you would present someone with a gift wrapped in cloth. The person would unwrap it, but present you back the cloth (reuse-recycle!) The catch was a cloth could not come back empty. People used to keep small things like sweets so they could hand the furoshiki back with something in it.
I find wrapping paper so expensive. So many great ideas out there NOT to waste money on wrapping paper!
Brianna says
My dad is an Architect and he always wraps gifts in old blueprints. My mother frequently uses tea towels or hand embroidered flour sacks that are beautiful. I bought a huge roll of wrapping paper in 2009 and I am still using it, but this might be the last year.
My daughter (5) just wrapped her gifts tonight for the first time and she used a tiny piece of wrapping paper and a whole new roll of tape for just 1 tiny gift! It cost more to wrap the gift than it was for her to buy it from her school store.
Mavis Butterfield says
I LOVE the blueprint idea!!
Carolyn Kaare says
I learned in my Master Recycling/Composting class that wrapping paper is not recyclable. The pretty store bought paper isn’t just regular paper that can be recycled. Even better reason to use alternatives to gift wrap.
Mel says
Many types are not recyclable, but some brands are nowadays. The tricky thing is separating out the recyclable scraps from the pile at family gatherings. The recyclable ones are also pricier. I’m not sure if they’re compostable though.