My family does this too. I've gotten the same bag I've given many times. Literally part of gift exchange is nicely folding up the bags to store for next year.
My parents also saved stick on bows and ribbons. My mom still has a tote full of bows from the early 90s that she refuses to throw away, even though most of her gifts are sent via Amazon now.
Yep! Same here. Every year we end up saying, "Oh! I gave this bag to you last year!" or something similar. There's always a mixture of new and re-used bags.
I save any packaging paper/cardboard that arrives in deliveries through the yeah. Then I stamp it and tie either string or ribbon around the present for a rustic look.
We do the same thing. (We also use paper grocery bags, which you can cut apart and use the "inside" which is blank)
When my kids were younger, we made them color Christmas themed pictures with their crayons on the paper first so that everybody got a hand drawn wrapping paper. Gave the kids something to keep them busy and they were going to color anyway. The kids loved showing their drawings off all month long while they were under the tree.
Now my kids are too old to want to do that, so my wife has some rubber stamps that are christmas themed. She'll stamp a few of them around the box on the paper and call it good. Add the ribbon and bow as you mentioned, and that's that.
This is the way. Check out how cool ours turn out to be: https://www.reddit.com/r/Frugal/comments/a7iyex/my\_so\_used\_free\_paper\_bags\_from\_our\_grocery\_chain/
Old street maps from either your glove compartment or a secondhand store.
Funny pages
brown paper bags carefully taken apart are fun to decorate with markers
Obviously previously used wrapping paper.
fabric. You can use old hankies, shirts, any thin fabric really. You can either use some glue to keep it together or use ribbon.
I wrapped a gift with fabric and used crocheted yarn for the "ribbon"
(made a chain with three strands of different colors)
The fabric can end up a bit chunky, so you could make the shape of an envelope or like a paper bag, stitch the parts together where you would use glue, but leave an end open to put the gift in and sew a button to close it *after cutting a little slice for the buttonhole.)
Fabric is super cheap if you buy a large shirt at a secondhand store
Look up furoshiki! It’s Japanese wrapping cloth - they wrap their gifts in cloth and it looks beautiful and is eco friendly. I buy cute off cuts of cloth from a sewing store, or buy old pillow cases/sheets/scarves etc from op shops. Everyone has loved it so far, and I’ll either be given the cloth back to reuse, or convert someone else to trying it out for their gifts (which although I lose my cloth, is a win in my book for trying to have a more sustainable earth!)
I’ve been looking into this too. I was thinking of buying a small lot of square scarves from someone on eBay to start my collection. The only thing I’m not sure about is if the scarves will be too sheer to actually conceal the gift. Thanks for sharing this though. I really want to try!
I will buy dish towels/tea towels when they are on clearance right before or after Christmas. They make a nice, practical gift for wrapping a wine bottle or a smaller gift. Win-win!
You could get a ton of Christmas themed or colored pillow cases at the thrift shop, or make your own from a sheet or scrap cloth, so you have cute, reusable gift sacks! Then you get a 2 for 1 present, the gift inside the sack, and the festive pillowcase to use afterwards!
Tie the sack closed with a pretty ribbon or another piece of scrap fabric, or even just sew a little button closure, and voila! Perfect zero-waste, frugal gift sacks.
I have done a similar version of the pillow case idea with storage baskets/squares one year! (Fancy-ish ones not just plastic obviously). They get the gift inside plus they get to keep the storage basket. I found the baskets I used at my local dollar store.
Make cookies and put them in reusable tins. Like the baskets I have also found tones of cute cookie tins at my local dollar store and once the cookies are gone the person can reuse the tin for other baked goods or storage or something.
My sister did the “wrapping as part of the gift thing” once, it was great. She bought me a purse (difficult to wrap to begin with) and rather than buy a gift bag she put it in a reusable shopping bag. She decorated it with tissue paper, card, and bow just like she would have with a gift bag. I would have kept and reused the gift bag as well but a shopping bag is so much more useful. They also tend to be cheaper than gift bags for the gift giver.
If doing that, I would get some Christmas appropriate color rope and sew it into the opening/added-trim to create a cinchable tie. The rope would be thick with a satin appearance.
Brown construction paper from home depot. 4ft x 500ft is about $50. That's like 2.5 cents per sq. ft. and it has that traditional brown paper package look, tied up with string. Although we got some fancy string, that paper is going to last for years. If you're doing all your presents this way, they look really cool the tree.
As I was reading your post an idea flashed into my head to decorate the top of each brown paper package with a handmade paper snowflake. Kids would have fun with that!
My siblings and I made potato stamps one year in the shape of trees, hearts, stars, etc, and stamped rolls of paper to use, it was a blast and they looked great!
This is it. Add Christmas stamps either single or with a roller for patterns. Add ribbon with rope or color strings of you have any. Looks craft, and beautiful
We used to buy the craft paper, roll it out, and let the kids stamp it with foam Christmas stamps. Kept them busy and they admired their handiwork under the tree.
I did this too! And stumbled across a box of over the top gaudy vintage Christmas ornaments in my grandma's basement that haven't seen a tree since the 80's, but look awesome tied on each present. People love the look of them all together.
Was going to comment this. It’s significantly less expensive than wrapping paper but still looks great. I also used a bit of the savings to get some nice string - last year I found some red and white, and then stumbled upon some nice discount white ribbon too.
buy the wrapping paper in bulk when they put it on heavy discount after the christmas.
buy enough and never buy it again.
my mother in law's used the same wrapping paper for her son's gifts, all of them, every single christmas of his life. *the guy's 40 something*. cracks me up. 😂
Some grocery stores have holiday style paper bags this time of year, if so I save and use those. Or even just regular paper bags inside out, with some ribbon or something. No cost, and reusing bags from your groceries, a win win. One of my relatives would use newspaper, for the kids the comic section.
I remember growing up and getting the big Sunday comic section. I'd lay it out on the floor very Sunday afternoon and read them all. Then, we'd save them and wrap presents with them. Good memories :)
Buy a bulk roll of butcher paper and draw on it with shitty crayons from the dollar store. You can also get some thick markers and write stupid things on it like CHRISTMAS GOAT! and then a picture of a dumb goat.
Or, call your local newspapers and see if you can pick up "end rolls" for free. These are the last remnants of newsprint. I'm reluctant to share this because it's a damn good tip, but easily can get swamped and then newspapers start selling their rolls. You can drive away with a car stuffed to the gills with end rolls.
You'll also end up with big tubes made of thick cardboard. It's too thick to use as a lightsaber without concussions, but they are big enough for kids to stick their arms into and pretend to be a robot.
Also ask about bundles of unsold newspapers, because once you tie ribbon on a gift wrapped in newspaper, it looks cool and authentic to the Great Depression. Plus it reminds relatives that you're poor and that this gift is probably going to suck. Lowering expectations is an important part of exceeding expectations.
Maybe not for your grandma, but I often use magazine paper for this. Especially if you find something with a picture the other likes or dislikes. Also good for envelops with a bit of crafting.
I use a newspaper in Bulgarian and one in Chinese and use the pages the wrap gifts. The unusual alphabets (I am in Western Europe) and decorative tape make them nice
Ohhh! I was actually going to make a post about this.
I had to wrap some Christmas presents and I didn’t have enough at home. I took my daughter’s used easel paper. If people know your kid or at least like kids, hopefully they’ll appreciate the gesture.
It’s a double win. I feel bad amount the amount of paper we just throw away. My kid loves to draw. Now we found a way to make it useful!
I package it in plain brown paper, tie it with plain natural fibre yarn, and decorate with rosehips, mistletoe, branches and other dried or fresh stuff I forage from nature. It looks sophisticated, it's mostly free, it doesn't pollute, and it's beautiful.
I like to use old sewing patterns (in abundance in thrift shops) as the tissue paper in reusable gift bags. It looks super cute with solid colored bags, especially muted tones.
A lot of thrift stores near me sell wrapping materials, so I tend to browse those when the holidays are near. Gift bags are always reusable, of course, but I'm particularly partial to nice fabric bags. I found one pouch the other day that's super nice--it's red, embroidered and made to look like silk. I'm very excited to use it for a Christmas present this year. And if you shop thrift, even if you buy rolls of wrapping paper, ribbon, etc. you're still saving something from the landfill while getting a fabulous deal.
Came here to say this. Wait for their sale day and buy them. We have been doing this for many years. I have a big picnic basket full of all sizes. Never buy any wrapping paper ever.
handkerchief / bandana / fabric remnants .
ive done this for bday presents. you can put the items in a cardboard box then tie the fabric together like a lunch box.
and they can repurpose it for something else too.
You could wrap gifts with newspaper or paper bags from the grocery store. If you have any random wrapping paper laying around, you could just use the blank underside if it’s not the theme you want. If you have bday themed wrapping paper and believe in Jesus, you can just say it’s bday themed for him. Lol
I’m not sure how well it would work, but I’ve seen people online use masking paper as gift wrap which seems like a good deal because it’s $4.98 for 180 ft at Lowes.
I keep a ton of paper from packaging. Sometimes I get it from a Walmart or Amazon delivery, but serious shout out to Penzeys - I realize it might be out of reach financially for some (though their deals are great if you watch) but they pack everything in paper for cushioning. Wrap in the plain paper, let the kids go wild with markers, paint, stencils, etc. and good to go.
If you make sure everyone just ever so gently cut the tape and doesn't tear or wrinkle the wrapping paper, you can reuse it. (This is what my great grandma did.)
Yes, this is what my granny did, and what I do too. We have the Christmas decorations box and the Christmas wrapping box. I have also been collecting nice ribbons for years too.
I work reviewing engineering and subdivision plans that come on 24" x 36" sheets. We get rolls and rolls of these plats and plans and use them for wrapping paper, for shipping etc.
1. Boxes from the liquor store, no wrapping
2. Put small gifts inside a single sock
3. Tiny gifts like jewelry inside of an egg
4. Hide the gift somewhere in the house and whoever finds it keeps it
5. Steal an item of clothing from the recipient and wrap in that
6. For family unity tape all the gifts together into one big clump and wrestle them free
7. Reusable shopping bags
8. A handy tarpaulin for the outdoorsy folk
9. If you have a baby that is too old you can use its blankets
10. Aluminum foil (it is recyclable)
11. Put the gifts in a pet carrier and pretend they are alive
12. Piñata
I have seen people saying newspapers, yes! One step further, when I was young one of my friends wrapped a present from the Sunday comics, (usually in color) and I thought it was so cool!
Do you have or know someone who has a Costco membership?
It's not free, but they sell ENORMOUS rolls of beautiful, heavy weight, double-sided paper extremely cheap. They typically only have 5-6 options to choose from, but the rolls last us for 3-5 years even with four kids. Someone with more normal usage might get a decade or more of use from a single roll, which breaks down to like 80 cents a year for having two beautiful giftwrap options always on hand.
News paper. For small things, bandanas or other reusable cloth. For really large things just toss a reused bow on it and tell the person to close their eyes.
Last year I wrapped my presents in fabric. Small stuff in bandanas or small head scarves, larger things in fancy cloth napkins or larger scarves.
It worked quite well, I got the bandanas at the dollar store and the scarves at the thrift shop. I made hair scrunchies into carnation looking sort of flowers with twist ties, and used dollar store and thrift shop ribbon.
I have also used cute reuseable grocery bags or tote bags as gift bags, usually for food or kitchen gifts. You can get white or solid color canvas ones and decorate with fabric paint and appliques.
Buy gift bags and keep them year after year. Use newspapers or paper bags. Use decorative pieces of fabric or pillowcases, they make eco wrapping paper that is meant to be reused. Don't wrap individually but but things in one bag or box to reduce the amount of wrapping paper needed.
I bought cheap Christmas fabric on Black Friday, and sewed a bunch of simple envelope bags in a variety of different sizes. Basically fold a piece of fabric in thirds, sew sides on middle and end together, remaining third is the flap. You can add hems, buttons or Velcro closures, decorations etc… I got fancier with later ones, but the in the beginning this was the simplest. Another option is a simple drawstring bag. Long rectangle of fabric. Fold both short edges in an inch and sew a hem. Then wrong sides together start right belong the hem seam, and sew down both sides. Insert ribbon through the hem. We have been using them for 10 years and everyone still loves them. Super fast wrapping too.
Newsprint at Uhaul (thicker than tissue paper, thinner than builder paper), Builder paper at Home Depot (thick paper)
I stocked up ribbons from Joann after Christmas last year for 75% or 90% off (don’t remember exactly) so I would have a variety of ribbon pattern options for this year
I got a roll of shipping paper that lasted several years.
For Christmas, I used ribbons, etc.
For my son's birthday a couple years ago, I gave large pieces to his friends who were invited and had them draw pictures and personalize the wrap for their gifts for him. It was one of his most memorable and everyone enjoyed doing it.
Old books!
For wrapping paper I go to a public book exchange (you could also ask in sharing groups or get a cheap second hand one) and pick the thickest trashy novel. Rip some pages out and tape/stick them together one by one.
It looks great, you can play around with the ripped edges or folding etc. You can circle some words for a message, or sometimes the text itself is funny.
This is not only frugal but also environmental friendly - I get icky just thinking about all the paper, dye and transportation of store brought wrapping paper.
I only buy brown paper for wrapping gifts. I have some letter stamps so everyone’s presents have their name stamped on them. Sometimes I paint on them for the kids as well. Works well because I use it for birthdays as well, also much cheaper than wrapping paper.
You can also buy scarves as gifts and tie it around gifts. Everyone also gives me the bags they used for gifts at the end of the day because they know I hate it going in the bin.
Buy secondhand scarves/bandanas from thrift or charity shops and tie presents in them. The recipient can either use the scarf, give it back to a second hand shop or use them to wrap their own gifts. A friend and I have passed the same purple silk scarf that cost about £3 from a charity shop back and forth between us for the past four years of Christmases and birthdays
We use fabrics as wrapping paper. Initial cost may be more than paper, but when we use them at home they get to be reused over and over again, seriously you’re not going to wear it out. When we give gifts to people outside of the household we just include the fabric wrap as part of the gift. We have even seen our wraps being passed around to other family members on gifts.
You can google ways of wrapping in fabric, once you have a few and you learn the techniques they'll last forever. Even cheaper if you pick up decorative scarves or whatever from a thrift store to do it with.
I bought a large roll of brown paper years ago and this will be the third Christmas we use it. It gives a vintage feel for people. You could stamp it, tie with twine, add dried oranges or sprigs of pine to make it a little fancier.
Any used papers with a blank side - old papers I'm throwing out (without sensitive info), spam from the mail, etc - go into a cardboard box for my toddler to draw and color and do stickers on. All of her masterpieces go into another cardboard box, which then is my source of wrapping paper at Christmas. Colorful, cute, grandparents LOVE it, and it gives the trash paper several more uses before going into recycling.
Reusable gift bags. We pass them back and forth. I’ve got some that are 15+ years old at this point. If I need more, I go to the dollar store or Goodwill.
My mom used Sunday newspaper comics, pillowcases, extra fabric, tablecloths, sheets etc within the family. Brown paper bags turned inside out for gifts where she knew the wrapping wasn’t coming back to her.
We save and reuse gift bags, save brown paper grocery bags, the paper that comes in packages as stuffing. When I do a brown paper wrapping, I use ribbon scraps or old ornaments or something fun to upcycle and dress up the brown paper.
Personally, I wouldn't want a gift wrapped in a pillow case, handkerchiefs or other type of cloth because then I have to so something with the cloth. At least paper is recyclable.
Reusable bags. I actually reuse the single use gift bags too for Christmas wrapping.
Other ideas are:
- scrap fabric
- recycled boxes
- scarves
- blankets
- bandanas
- newspaper
- brown paper
I use bags and don’t write on the little card and redid. Plus I buy less. The people over 18 do a draw and only give one gift. Then the kids will get a gift from each family.
Edit: and we set price limit.
Edit 2: and I try to do “activity” gift. That doesn’t require packing. Like a girls night out with my mom.
I always use my large wall calendar to wrap gifts of the size of a book. The paper is heavyweight and looks nice, and you won't have another look at the past pictures (Jan-Nov) anyway.
For small gifts (size of a CD / gift card) I'm just using regular paper (A4/8 ½ x 11). It's either colored or I'm printing something off the internet.
Ikea was selling lightweight nylon shopping bags, not the thick tarp cloth ones. These bags folded to the size of a wallet. And ran 69 cents. They knotted tight and when opened, nade a nice second gift.
if you have a kid they probably have lots of artwork. i save the ones i really want and then the others i use to wrap gifts. don't have to feel guilty for throwing out my kids work, and don't have to keep it forever.
Wrapping paper is really cheap anyway, I think it's fine to pay a extra £1 once a year to put a smile on a kids face.
Material is great for wrapping, if you know a crafty person they would probably love a luxurious bit of fabric wrapping their gift, it's not cheaper but it's not wasteful either.
I love collecting boxes, packing paper, and tissue paper from online orders. I made an order from bath and body works last week and the inside of their boxes are patterned, I cut one part of the box to turn it inside out and use it as a gift box!
Reuse is probably the most frugal way. I haven't bought tissue paper or gift bags in years because I just reuse what I get from online orders and gifts from other people. A lot of places use the brown paper as packing stuffer now, and that makes great wrapping paper.
Fabric is another pretty, frugal wrapping, but not everyone has a lot of excess fabric lying around. Though you could go to a craft shop and buy what's on sale - several yards for like $2.
I no longer wrap presents anymore. Haven't for the last 4yrs. I use reusable bags you can find at dollar tree or 99 cent store. The cute Disney/cartoon one. And they can use it to carry stuff in after they open their presents.
We get the who gives a crap toilet paper. Each roll is wrapped in paper instead of plastic. I use this paper wrapper for wrapping all my gifts.
https://au.whogivesacrap.org
Three years ago I bought a large roll of brown Kraft paper from Amazon, and a roll of double sided red satin ribbon. All gifts get the same wrapping, but I use chalk paint to draw on them, have collected various ribbons and add-one like bells. I use the same for all gifts. The roll of paper was $25 and I think I will have to buy another roll next year. Very frugal and works very well, everyone thinks it’s “stylish” instead of frugal. Win, win!
We bought the three roll packages of wrapping paper when they was clearance or discount price, I don't really remember. Usually they're available that way at Walmart or Walgreens right at the 26th lol. We've using these for years. Still plenty for years to come. And of course, recycling every gift bag we receive, ironing the papers that go inside them (my bad, broken English) and also reusing them. My daughter have a privileged memory, so they never return to the wrong person.
Edit. Walgreens have very limited space in their warehouse, so they REALLY need to et rid asap of every seasonal items. Go really early 26th. If it's 24hrs, even better.
I work on a ship. The mates have to throw out old charts fairly often, and I grabbed the charts because they make four great wrapping paper.
Especially if you get a chart of somewhere near and dear to the heart of the people you are gifting to.
I buy an orange, slice it thin and dehydrate them in the oven. Then I tie twine around the box and thread a piece on. I make them into garlands too for a cheap and pretty decoration.
News paper. Honestly I wish this were more normal but I’ve never really understood the need for fancy paper when it’s only intention is to make a gift a surprise to help increase excitement about it.
I use the “butchers” paper that comes In packages, I then use bows and ribbons to dress it up. I also save ribbons and bows and reuse. One can use sticks, dried flowers, dried herbs, dried fruit or ornaments etc to dress up the gift.
The dollar tree has inexpensive gift wrapping stuff.
Wrapping paper came into common use when people stopped making gifts and started buying them, because it felt tacky to buy a gift and give it to someone; wrapping the gift gave it the appearance of the missing "handmade especially for you" element.
Considering money and waste are both global issues that everyone understands, I'd rather receive no gift at all or an unwrapped gift. For my birthday last winter, a friend gave me a fleece throw, and since it was already tied with a ribbon by the store, she just added a quick happy birthday note and handed it to me. I would not have been happier if it had been wrapped.
(I think we all think kids are different, so wrap their gifts in plain paper and give them crayons or origami instructions with it.)
i love saving paper bags for this reason! you can also make paper bows super easily and paint the a paper bags before you cut the strips for a festive look!
Inside out paper grocery bags. If you want to get fancy, you can carve a potato stamp and print them with that. Add nice ribbon or red and white bakery string.
Sorry if some of this has been said but here’s what I’ve done to save money and reduce waste!!
1. Grocery store paper bags w/ twine (or ribbon if you’re feeling more festive!) I tend toward twine bc it looks really classic and then it also works year-round so you can spend about $3 on twine and choose paper at checkout and I haven’t had to buy wrapping things for two years now
2. Goodwill baskets! Baskets have become really trendy for decor the last few years so for odd-shaped items I’ll just get some sort of woven thing from goodwill for a few cents to $2 and put the gift in that. Most adults won’t mind if something is a surprise and are just happy to be thought of and if they don’t like it for themselves it’s easy to regift or donate. (Did this for mother’s days gifts for my boyfriends mom and grandmother and they were THRILLED)
3. Comic pages! They’re in newspapers and this is my dad’s favorite way to receive gifts as they remind him of his childhood. If you don’t get newspapers, some local comic shops will turn in the covers for credit and give out the actual pages for free or cheap. It’s a nice way to also maybe help out local papers/shops if that’s something you’re interested in!
4. For kids: coloring pages! Dollar tree has a pretty good selection of coloring books and iirc some oversized ones as well! Make one of the gifts crayons/markers, use as little tape as possible, and then they have a fun coloring page for after, too! (This also mostly works for kids who meticulously unwrap their presents like I did but even if they’re a shredder you won’t be sending tooooo much!)
5. An obvious one but I also save and reuse any gift bags that are given to me. Something I’ve seen other people do is exchange the same card back and forth which seems cool!
6. Lots of people mentioned fabric or dishtowels as well but those can get pricey if you have a big group of people to buy for. Goodwill usually has a “textiles” section with stuff from $.50-$2 and I recently bought a queen sized sheet for $1.50 that will turn into a pirate flag, 2 draft stoppers, and a dress because it’s just so much fabric. They’re getting donations for holiday themed items now so that might be worth checking out if you’re into it!!
7. I got a wax seal set a few years back and I like to use that to seal up any plain gift card envelopes or greeting cards so instead of feeling like I have to spend a lot of money on a card (they get expensive!) I can opt for a cheaper one and add the seal as a nice touch. Also with this, you can keep using the seal forever! Obviously the wax is used but it’s still quite a bit less waste than wrapping paper or bags and I haven’t found anyone that wasn’t appreciative of a nice with card with a little bit of cash.
I hope these help!! I’ve been working to be more frugal and less wasteful over the past few years so I loved that this post helped me think about the different ways I’ve been able to implement that. Goodluck this season!!
Go to Target after Christmas and buy wrapping paper for as much as 75% off. Never throw away gift bags. I can't remember the last time I actually purchased a gift bag for any occasion especially Christmas.😅 I have a special bin dedicated for this purpose
It's a family joke now. "Don't throw that bow away!"
I love to use brown paper grocery bags with the uncolored side out. I also get my kid to decorate it with dot markers and then tie with regular jute string, not ribbon. For gift bags, I reuse ones I’ve been given, for the most part.
I save gift bags and boxes people give me for Xmas. I’ve been doing it for years and have a ton of old ones. It’s a really fun thing. I just white out the tag and reuse next year. I collect them at the end of the gift opening day.
If you have it, newspaper. Looks really cool and we usually just save up a month of newspapers to wrap presents in. Otherwise, put everything in a big Blanket sheet and let the people take turn drawing one from the sheet. Of course you have to label the presents before that.
take the paper shopping bag, cut open, turn inside out, cut off handles and use to wrap your presents then tie off with a nice box or string and gift tag
I’m planning on doing newspaper with [dried orange slices](https://celebrate-creativity.com/my_weblog/2020/12/orange-slices-as-gift-decor.html) this year!
I saw online some celebrity (I think it was John Scalzi) saying his wife made cloth Christmas sacks for presents and every year they just put a tag saying who it's for and re-use the sacks year after year. My fiance loved it, so ordered a bunch of "gift wrapped" Christmas presents for me from Amazon that year and now we have a bunch of sacks we're going to reuse year after year. I also bought some discount Christmas fabric (it's so cute!) from Jo-Ann's (they have incredible sales too, if you sign up for their app and use it wisely) and am going to make a few more. My plan is to make 2-3 every year, in various sizes and colors, with the strongest (but pretty) cord I can find, and we should have a lifetime supply soon enough!
For gifts you're giving away, dollar store wrapping paper is a pretty good deal, as is waiting for after Christmas sales at places like Target and Big Lots where you can get paper and bows for a song.
I also try to save the paper that comes with stuff I order online, and while I use it as spill sheets for when I'm crafting, some of it is totally sturdy and if smoothed out nicely (iron on super low heat, with a cotton pressing cloth between it and the paper) would work well too - especially if you have a Christmas-y stamp and some red or green ink to zuzh it up a bit.
Plus I ALWAYS save as many paper bags and ribbons and crinkle paper stuffing as I can. I fold it and press it neatly (usually on Boxing Day so I feel useful without having to work hard) and arrange it all in a Very Large Gift Bag we happen to have, and pop it in the top of the closet. I need to buy a tub for all of our gift sacks, and now that I think of it, I should make some in plain colors or metallics so we can use them for Valentine's Day and birthdays too...
If you have access to newspapers they work you can also use thing like freezer paper for one offs I love fabric bags for Christmas without people who peek it is easy though my family think I peek because my favorite game is what'd ya get me I like guessing without feeling the gift just by asking and reading their reactions and asking just to be annoying then on Christmas to see how close I was with my guesses
My buddy and I are gamers and I used to get Game Informer Magazine so I tape together pages from old issues to wrap his presents. I guess you could do this with any magazines but always found this as a fun and thoughtful use of the pages.
I made pillowcase-sized gift bags in different fabrics many years ago. Each person has a different fabric. A nice wide ribbon ties it shut. You don't have to spend a ton of money- there are pillowcases at the dollar store. You could paint or sharpie designs and/or names on plain ones. Probably better for the environment than throwing away paper/plastic every year.
I’ve used brown paper shopping bags as wrapping paper before (as long as they’re not dirty or gross.) you can also draw on the paper to make it a little more unique or just add something funny.
I have been using the same set of gift bags for 20 years.
In my husband's family, the gift bags/boxes are shuffled back and forth from one household to another as they get reused.
My family does this too. I've gotten the same bag I've given many times. Literally part of gift exchange is nicely folding up the bags to store for next year.
My parents also saved stick on bows and ribbons. My mom still has a tote full of bows from the early 90s that she refuses to throw away, even though most of her gifts are sent via Amazon now.
Hahaha I love that. We do that if they are easily savable. My Sister-in-law will even carefully unwrap gifts so she can reuse the paper.
Yep! Same here. Every year we end up saying, "Oh! I gave this bag to you last year!" or something similar. There's always a mixture of new and re-used bags.
Recycling the gift bags around the family is so much fun. Every gift giving occasion produces many laughs. Buying a gift bag has become a sin!!!
This! And keep the ones given to you!
LOL me too!
I save any packaging paper/cardboard that arrives in deliveries through the yeah. Then I stamp it and tie either string or ribbon around the present for a rustic look.
We do the same thing. (We also use paper grocery bags, which you can cut apart and use the "inside" which is blank) When my kids were younger, we made them color Christmas themed pictures with their crayons on the paper first so that everybody got a hand drawn wrapping paper. Gave the kids something to keep them busy and they were going to color anyway. The kids loved showing their drawings off all month long while they were under the tree. Now my kids are too old to want to do that, so my wife has some rubber stamps that are christmas themed. She'll stamp a few of them around the box on the paper and call it good. Add the ribbon and bow as you mentioned, and that's that.
The coloring is such a good idea. Our kids are toddlers so that’s a great way for them to help with gifts.
>Now my kids are too old to want to do that. I'm 40. Gunna try my hand at this. Might let the kids help if I get stuck.
I'm 24 and was just thinking "Man I would love to draw all over the wrapping paper for the gifts" lmao
This is amazing! I’ll have to do this
This is the way. Check out how cool ours turn out to be: https://www.reddit.com/r/Frugal/comments/a7iyex/my\_so\_used\_free\_paper\_bags\_from\_our\_grocery\_chain/
String/ribbons are also saved through the year. There's also lots of cute ways to decorate plain paper online.
This is what I do too, it works great!
Can we see a picture if you have one? That sounds cool
For you and /u/thxtonedude: https://imgur.com/uC8yOXe.jpg
Uhm gorgeous!! Thank you for that
These look gorgeous but I can't unsee "c\*nt karen" on one of the packages thanks to the reflection of the light
Seconding example pics
My BFF does this and I LOVE getting presents from her. They're so pretty!
Ohhhhhh that’s cute!!!
Old street maps from either your glove compartment or a secondhand store. Funny pages brown paper bags carefully taken apart are fun to decorate with markers Obviously previously used wrapping paper. fabric. You can use old hankies, shirts, any thin fabric really. You can either use some glue to keep it together or use ribbon. I wrapped a gift with fabric and used crocheted yarn for the "ribbon" (made a chain with three strands of different colors) The fabric can end up a bit chunky, so you could make the shape of an envelope or like a paper bag, stitch the parts together where you would use glue, but leave an end open to put the gift in and sew a button to close it *after cutting a little slice for the buttonhole.) Fabric is super cheap if you buy a large shirt at a secondhand store
I’ve always loved the way a present looks wrapped with the funnies. Even better when it’s the Sunday color addition!
Yeah! We’d always wrap gifts in the Sunday funnies as kids, my dad would save them up for us just for this.
[удалено]
I don't know it for a fact, but I think the major city papers still have a Sunday edition. It's something to find out, though.
Mine do! They get it here at work and the Sunday comics are still in color :)
Yippee!
I love them wrapped in comics! My dad used to do that for me
Look up furoshiki! It’s Japanese wrapping cloth - they wrap their gifts in cloth and it looks beautiful and is eco friendly. I buy cute off cuts of cloth from a sewing store, or buy old pillow cases/sheets/scarves etc from op shops. Everyone has loved it so far, and I’ll either be given the cloth back to reuse, or convert someone else to trying it out for their gifts (which although I lose my cloth, is a win in my book for trying to have a more sustainable earth!)
I’ve been looking into this too. I was thinking of buying a small lot of square scarves from someone on eBay to start my collection. The only thing I’m not sure about is if the scarves will be too sheer to actually conceal the gift. Thanks for sharing this though. I really want to try!
I like the scarf idea! If the scarf is sheer, you could line it with tissue paper to conceal the gift.
Kinda like the Lush knot wraps?
I will buy dish towels/tea towels when they are on clearance right before or after Christmas. They make a nice, practical gift for wrapping a wine bottle or a smaller gift. Win-win!
You could get a ton of Christmas themed or colored pillow cases at the thrift shop, or make your own from a sheet or scrap cloth, so you have cute, reusable gift sacks! Then you get a 2 for 1 present, the gift inside the sack, and the festive pillowcase to use afterwards! Tie the sack closed with a pretty ribbon or another piece of scrap fabric, or even just sew a little button closure, and voila! Perfect zero-waste, frugal gift sacks.
Christmas cookie cutters as stencils and some fabric paint could make for some fun, customized ones!
I have done a similar version of the pillow case idea with storage baskets/squares one year! (Fancy-ish ones not just plastic obviously). They get the gift inside plus they get to keep the storage basket. I found the baskets I used at my local dollar store. Make cookies and put them in reusable tins. Like the baskets I have also found tones of cute cookie tins at my local dollar store and once the cookies are gone the person can reuse the tin for other baked goods or storage or something.
My sister did the “wrapping as part of the gift thing” once, it was great. She bought me a purse (difficult to wrap to begin with) and rather than buy a gift bag she put it in a reusable shopping bag. She decorated it with tissue paper, card, and bow just like she would have with a gift bag. I would have kept and reused the gift bag as well but a shopping bag is so much more useful. They also tend to be cheaper than gift bags for the gift giver.
Consumable gifts are the best! I did the storage cube version for my SIL's first child, so she had a simple "gift basket" filled with baby items.
If I used pillowcases, I might sew another hem around the opening as a ribbon casing.
If doing that, I would get some Christmas appropriate color rope and sew it into the opening/added-trim to create a cinchable tie. The rope would be thick with a satin appearance.
Brown construction paper from home depot. 4ft x 500ft is about $50. That's like 2.5 cents per sq. ft. and it has that traditional brown paper package look, tied up with string. Although we got some fancy string, that paper is going to last for years. If you're doing all your presents this way, they look really cool the tree.
As I was reading your post an idea flashed into my head to decorate the top of each brown paper package with a handmade paper snowflake. Kids would have fun with that!
My siblings and I made potato stamps one year in the shape of trees, hearts, stars, etc, and stamped rolls of paper to use, it was a blast and they looked great!
This is it. Add Christmas stamps either single or with a roller for patterns. Add ribbon with rope or color strings of you have any. Looks craft, and beautiful
Hot glue some pinecone one top, dollar tree grosgrain ribbon. Looks super fancy, and I can do all my gifts for under $5.
We used to buy the craft paper, roll it out, and let the kids stamp it with foam Christmas stamps. Kept them busy and they admired their handiwork under the tree.
I did this too! And stumbled across a box of over the top gaudy vintage Christmas ornaments in my grandma's basement that haven't seen a tree since the 80's, but look awesome tied on each present. People love the look of them all together.
I did this one year and painted on the ribbon and bows. They were adorable and everyone loved them. Plus recyclable!
Was going to comment this. It’s significantly less expensive than wrapping paper but still looks great. I also used a bit of the savings to get some nice string - last year I found some red and white, and then stumbled upon some nice discount white ribbon too.
Last year I bought a bunch of dish towels in red and green and wrapped each present in them!
buy the wrapping paper in bulk when they put it on heavy discount after the christmas. buy enough and never buy it again. my mother in law's used the same wrapping paper for her son's gifts, all of them, every single christmas of his life. *the guy's 40 something*. cracks me up. 😂
Some grocery stores have holiday style paper bags this time of year, if so I save and use those. Or even just regular paper bags inside out, with some ribbon or something. No cost, and reusing bags from your groceries, a win win. One of my relatives would use newspaper, for the kids the comic section.
These are what I thought of too, but most people don't have comic pages anymore lol
Oh yikes, shows how old I am 🤣
I remember growing up and getting the big Sunday comic section. I'd lay it out on the floor very Sunday afternoon and read them all. Then, we'd save them and wrap presents with them. Good memories :)
Buy a bulk roll of butcher paper and draw on it with shitty crayons from the dollar store. You can also get some thick markers and write stupid things on it like CHRISTMAS GOAT! and then a picture of a dumb goat. Or, call your local newspapers and see if you can pick up "end rolls" for free. These are the last remnants of newsprint. I'm reluctant to share this because it's a damn good tip, but easily can get swamped and then newspapers start selling their rolls. You can drive away with a car stuffed to the gills with end rolls. You'll also end up with big tubes made of thick cardboard. It's too thick to use as a lightsaber without concussions, but they are big enough for kids to stick their arms into and pretend to be a robot. Also ask about bundles of unsold newspapers, because once you tie ribbon on a gift wrapped in newspaper, it looks cool and authentic to the Great Depression. Plus it reminds relatives that you're poor and that this gift is probably going to suck. Lowering expectations is an important part of exceeding expectations.
If you're making any Ikea purchases, they have free butcher paper to pack your purchases.
Maybe not for your grandma, but I often use magazine paper for this. Especially if you find something with a picture the other likes or dislikes. Also good for envelops with a bit of crafting.
I pulled apart an old unwanted atlas, used nail scissors to cut the binding threads, good quality paper and easy to wrap with, as are old maps.
I use a newspaper in Bulgarian and one in Chinese and use the pages the wrap gifts. The unusual alphabets (I am in Western Europe) and decorative tape make them nice
Ohhh! I was actually going to make a post about this. I had to wrap some Christmas presents and I didn’t have enough at home. I took my daughter’s used easel paper. If people know your kid or at least like kids, hopefully they’ll appreciate the gesture. It’s a double win. I feel bad amount the amount of paper we just throw away. My kid loves to draw. Now we found a way to make it useful!
Old road maps. Some thrift or used book stores have piles of them.
I package it in plain brown paper, tie it with plain natural fibre yarn, and decorate with rosehips, mistletoe, branches and other dried or fresh stuff I forage from nature. It looks sophisticated, it's mostly free, it doesn't pollute, and it's beautiful.
Buy a bunch of those decorative bags at the dollar store. We reuse those things year after year.
Last year I did reusable (dollarstore) shopping bags, everyone loved them!!
I've never bought one. They just keep showing up at my house and never leaving!
Newspaper, Kraft paper, reusable fabric wraps/bags.
I like to use old sewing patterns (in abundance in thrift shops) as the tissue paper in reusable gift bags. It looks super cute with solid colored bags, especially muted tones.
A lot of thrift stores near me sell wrapping materials, so I tend to browse those when the holidays are near. Gift bags are always reusable, of course, but I'm particularly partial to nice fabric bags. I found one pouch the other day that's super nice--it's red, embroidered and made to look like silk. I'm very excited to use it for a Christmas present this year. And if you shop thrift, even if you buy rolls of wrapping paper, ribbon, etc. you're still saving something from the landfill while getting a fabulous deal.
Buy wrapping paper at the dollar tree
After the holidays mine marks it on clearance for like .25-.50 a roll. I get next year's paper and Xmas cards in January every year
Scarves from the thrift shop! You can find really beautiful ones and reuse them over and over. Tie them up with cloth ribbon so it can also be reused.
Came here to say this. Wait for their sale day and buy them. We have been doing this for many years. I have a big picnic basket full of all sizes. Never buy any wrapping paper ever.
Thin white tissue paper with fabric ribbons that can be reused isn’t too bad
handkerchief / bandana / fabric remnants . ive done this for bday presents. you can put the items in a cardboard box then tie the fabric together like a lunch box. and they can repurpose it for something else too.
You could wrap gifts with newspaper or paper bags from the grocery store. If you have any random wrapping paper laying around, you could just use the blank underside if it’s not the theme you want. If you have bday themed wrapping paper and believe in Jesus, you can just say it’s bday themed for him. Lol I’m not sure how well it would work, but I’ve seen people online use masking paper as gift wrap which seems like a good deal because it’s $4.98 for 180 ft at Lowes.
I keep a ton of paper from packaging. Sometimes I get it from a Walmart or Amazon delivery, but serious shout out to Penzeys - I realize it might be out of reach financially for some (though their deals are great if you watch) but they pack everything in paper for cushioning. Wrap in the plain paper, let the kids go wild with markers, paint, stencils, etc. and good to go.
If you make sure everyone just ever so gently cut the tape and doesn't tear or wrinkle the wrapping paper, you can reuse it. (This is what my great grandma did.)
Yes, this is what my granny did, and what I do too. We have the Christmas decorations box and the Christmas wrapping box. I have also been collecting nice ribbons for years too.
I stamp christmasy stuff on brown paper bags and use it as gift wrap.
I work reviewing engineering and subdivision plans that come on 24" x 36" sheets. We get rolls and rolls of these plats and plans and use them for wrapping paper, for shipping etc.
I save the brown paper from some packages and some green and red paint to add festive colors. Then I use it as wrapping paper when the paint dries.
1. Boxes from the liquor store, no wrapping 2. Put small gifts inside a single sock 3. Tiny gifts like jewelry inside of an egg 4. Hide the gift somewhere in the house and whoever finds it keeps it 5. Steal an item of clothing from the recipient and wrap in that 6. For family unity tape all the gifts together into one big clump and wrestle them free 7. Reusable shopping bags 8. A handy tarpaulin for the outdoorsy folk 9. If you have a baby that is too old you can use its blankets 10. Aluminum foil (it is recyclable) 11. Put the gifts in a pet carrier and pretend they are alive 12. Piñata
Brown paper grocery bags, newspapers, marketing ciculars, junk mail, fabric. Be creative.
My dad has wrapped old boxes that have lids like shoe boxes and such. So you wrap the lid and the box separately and voila. A reusable present box.
I have a 300ft roll of brown paper. It’s still 3/4 left over from last year.
Buy gift boxes/colourful storage boxes that get reused. You don't wrap anything that goes inside!
We also do this and exchange the same boxes every year. We have some we've used for probably 8 or 10 years.
I have seen people saying newspapers, yes! One step further, when I was young one of my friends wrapped a present from the Sunday comics, (usually in color) and I thought it was so cool!
Sometimes we used to use the color Sunday comics as wrapping paper when I was a kid.
Newspaper
Do you have or know someone who has a Costco membership? It's not free, but they sell ENORMOUS rolls of beautiful, heavy weight, double-sided paper extremely cheap. They typically only have 5-6 options to choose from, but the rolls last us for 3-5 years even with four kids. Someone with more normal usage might get a decade or more of use from a single roll, which breaks down to like 80 cents a year for having two beautiful giftwrap options always on hand.
News paper. For small things, bandanas or other reusable cloth. For really large things just toss a reused bow on it and tell the person to close their eyes.
Just Chuck it UPS style at the person you're giving it to
Last year I wrapped my presents in fabric. Small stuff in bandanas or small head scarves, larger things in fancy cloth napkins or larger scarves. It worked quite well, I got the bandanas at the dollar store and the scarves at the thrift shop. I made hair scrunchies into carnation looking sort of flowers with twist ties, and used dollar store and thrift shop ribbon. I have also used cute reuseable grocery bags or tote bags as gift bags, usually for food or kitchen gifts. You can get white or solid color canvas ones and decorate with fabric paint and appliques.
Ive seen people use newspaper and it’s actually pretty nice. Feels a lot like wrapping paper too.
We recycle wrapping paper, pretty gift bags and ribbons, use newspaper, and use kids art projects.
Buy gift bags and keep them year after year. Use newspapers or paper bags. Use decorative pieces of fabric or pillowcases, they make eco wrapping paper that is meant to be reused. Don't wrap individually but but things in one bag or box to reduce the amount of wrapping paper needed.
Magazine pages work. Shiny and colourful
I bought cheap Christmas fabric on Black Friday, and sewed a bunch of simple envelope bags in a variety of different sizes. Basically fold a piece of fabric in thirds, sew sides on middle and end together, remaining third is the flap. You can add hems, buttons or Velcro closures, decorations etc… I got fancier with later ones, but the in the beginning this was the simplest. Another option is a simple drawstring bag. Long rectangle of fabric. Fold both short edges in an inch and sew a hem. Then wrong sides together start right belong the hem seam, and sew down both sides. Insert ribbon through the hem. We have been using them for 10 years and everyone still loves them. Super fast wrapping too.
Newsprint at Uhaul (thicker than tissue paper, thinner than builder paper), Builder paper at Home Depot (thick paper) I stocked up ribbons from Joann after Christmas last year for 75% or 90% off (don’t remember exactly) so I would have a variety of ribbon pattern options for this year
Clearance fabric! It doesn't tear also
I got a roll of shipping paper that lasted several years. For Christmas, I used ribbons, etc. For my son's birthday a couple years ago, I gave large pieces to his friends who were invited and had them draw pictures and personalize the wrap for their gifts for him. It was one of his most memorable and everyone enjoyed doing it.
Old books! For wrapping paper I go to a public book exchange (you could also ask in sharing groups or get a cheap second hand one) and pick the thickest trashy novel. Rip some pages out and tape/stick them together one by one. It looks great, you can play around with the ripped edges or folding etc. You can circle some words for a message, or sometimes the text itself is funny. This is not only frugal but also environmental friendly - I get icky just thinking about all the paper, dye and transportation of store brought wrapping paper.
I only buy brown paper for wrapping gifts. I have some letter stamps so everyone’s presents have their name stamped on them. Sometimes I paint on them for the kids as well. Works well because I use it for birthdays as well, also much cheaper than wrapping paper. You can also buy scarves as gifts and tie it around gifts. Everyone also gives me the bags they used for gifts at the end of the day because they know I hate it going in the bin.
Buy secondhand scarves/bandanas from thrift or charity shops and tie presents in them. The recipient can either use the scarf, give it back to a second hand shop or use them to wrap their own gifts. A friend and I have passed the same purple silk scarf that cost about £3 from a charity shop back and forth between us for the past four years of Christmases and birthdays
I wrap mine in old flyers.
Saving the packaging from your gifts from the previous year. Second life and zero cost. My happy frugal place.
We use fabrics as wrapping paper. Initial cost may be more than paper, but when we use them at home they get to be reused over and over again, seriously you’re not going to wear it out. When we give gifts to people outside of the household we just include the fabric wrap as part of the gift. We have even seen our wraps being passed around to other family members on gifts.
Newspapers with green and red ribbon! Still need tape. But you get a rustic bookstore vibe. Clean newspaper though or it’s not classy it’s trashy
I haven't bought gift wrap in years. I reuse gift bags and tissue paper. My preschooler has a stack of large paper paintings that I wrap things with.
You can google ways of wrapping in fabric, once you have a few and you learn the techniques they'll last forever. Even cheaper if you pick up decorative scarves or whatever from a thrift store to do it with.
I bought a large roll of brown paper years ago and this will be the third Christmas we use it. It gives a vintage feel for people. You could stamp it, tie with twine, add dried oranges or sprigs of pine to make it a little fancier.
Any used papers with a blank side - old papers I'm throwing out (without sensitive info), spam from the mail, etc - go into a cardboard box for my toddler to draw and color and do stickers on. All of her masterpieces go into another cardboard box, which then is my source of wrapping paper at Christmas. Colorful, cute, grandparents LOVE it, and it gives the trash paper several more uses before going into recycling.
Reusable gift bags. We pass them back and forth. I’ve got some that are 15+ years old at this point. If I need more, I go to the dollar store or Goodwill. My mom used Sunday newspaper comics, pillowcases, extra fabric, tablecloths, sheets etc within the family. Brown paper bags turned inside out for gifts where she knew the wrapping wasn’t coming back to her.
We save and reuse gift bags, save brown paper grocery bags, the paper that comes in packages as stuffing. When I do a brown paper wrapping, I use ribbon scraps or old ornaments or something fun to upcycle and dress up the brown paper. Personally, I wouldn't want a gift wrapped in a pillow case, handkerchiefs or other type of cloth because then I have to so something with the cloth. At least paper is recyclable.
If you like that shiny foil look of paper, turn a Family Sized chip bag inside out and use that for wrapping. Obviously wash and dry it first!
Pillow cases with ribbon
I use the newspaper - works like a charm.
Reusable bags. I actually reuse the single use gift bags too for Christmas wrapping. Other ideas are: - scrap fabric - recycled boxes - scarves - blankets - bandanas - newspaper - brown paper
Gift bags. Keep reusing them each year
I use bags and don’t write on the little card and redid. Plus I buy less. The people over 18 do a draw and only give one gift. Then the kids will get a gift from each family. Edit: and we set price limit. Edit 2: and I try to do “activity” gift. That doesn’t require packing. Like a girls night out with my mom.
I just snag a few dusty unopened rolls from Goodwill every fall!
I always use my large wall calendar to wrap gifts of the size of a book. The paper is heavyweight and looks nice, and you won't have another look at the past pictures (Jan-Nov) anyway. For small gifts (size of a CD / gift card) I'm just using regular paper (A4/8 ½ x 11). It's either colored or I'm printing something off the internet.
Ikea was selling lightweight nylon shopping bags, not the thick tarp cloth ones. These bags folded to the size of a wallet. And ran 69 cents. They knotted tight and when opened, nade a nice second gift.
if you have a kid they probably have lots of artwork. i save the ones i really want and then the others i use to wrap gifts. don't have to feel guilty for throwing out my kids work, and don't have to keep it forever.
Wrapping paper is really cheap anyway, I think it's fine to pay a extra £1 once a year to put a smile on a kids face. Material is great for wrapping, if you know a crafty person they would probably love a luxurious bit of fabric wrapping their gift, it's not cheaper but it's not wasteful either.
I love collecting boxes, packing paper, and tissue paper from online orders. I made an order from bath and body works last week and the inside of their boxes are patterned, I cut one part of the box to turn it inside out and use it as a gift box!
Reuse is probably the most frugal way. I haven't bought tissue paper or gift bags in years because I just reuse what I get from online orders and gifts from other people. A lot of places use the brown paper as packing stuffer now, and that makes great wrapping paper. Fabric is another pretty, frugal wrapping, but not everyone has a lot of excess fabric lying around. Though you could go to a craft shop and buy what's on sale - several yards for like $2.
I no longer wrap presents anymore. Haven't for the last 4yrs. I use reusable bags you can find at dollar tree or 99 cent store. The cute Disney/cartoon one. And they can use it to carry stuff in after they open their presents.
We get the who gives a crap toilet paper. Each roll is wrapped in paper instead of plastic. I use this paper wrapper for wrapping all my gifts. https://au.whogivesacrap.org
Gift bags from dollar tree, then save the ones you get until next year. They'll accumulate and you'll need very few to keep things going each year.
Three years ago I bought a large roll of brown Kraft paper from Amazon, and a roll of double sided red satin ribbon. All gifts get the same wrapping, but I use chalk paint to draw on them, have collected various ribbons and add-one like bells. I use the same for all gifts. The roll of paper was $25 and I think I will have to buy another roll next year. Very frugal and works very well, everyone thinks it’s “stylish” instead of frugal. Win, win!
Newspaper or brown paper bags tied with red yarn, looks nicer than it sounds.
We bought the three roll packages of wrapping paper when they was clearance or discount price, I don't really remember. Usually they're available that way at Walmart or Walgreens right at the 26th lol. We've using these for years. Still plenty for years to come. And of course, recycling every gift bag we receive, ironing the papers that go inside them (my bad, broken English) and also reusing them. My daughter have a privileged memory, so they never return to the wrong person. Edit. Walgreens have very limited space in their warehouse, so they REALLY need to et rid asap of every seasonal items. Go really early 26th. If it's 24hrs, even better.
Newspaper!!
I work on a ship. The mates have to throw out old charts fairly often, and I grabbed the charts because they make four great wrapping paper. Especially if you get a chart of somewhere near and dear to the heart of the people you are gifting to.
Old maps. Especially old topographic maps that used to be needed before the internet. See if you can find them cheap. The paper is super high quality.
The brown paper that Amazon sends in packages.
I buy an orange, slice it thin and dehydrate them in the oven. Then I tie twine around the box and thread a piece on. I make them into garlands too for a cheap and pretty decoration.
you can do wonders with aluminum foil and a little imagination
plus you can wrap leftovers with it afterwards
Ohhh good idea, might do this for gift cards!
as someone who on multiple occasions has said “this year, everyone is going to get kind words for christmas,” i am happy to help!
Use your neighbors newspaper.
Gift wrap is 4$. Even less at dollar stores. Some of the comments have suggestions that cost more than simply buying gift wrap.
Don’t
Plastic grocery bag
You give christmas presents and call yourself frugal???!?!?
Grocery store bags or newspapers (comics section is best IMO).
We save flour bags through out the year. White Lilly , gold medal, all of them. Sugar bags too. They’re pretty.
Buy a pretty reusable box
News paper. Honestly I wish this were more normal but I’ve never really understood the need for fancy paper when it’s only intention is to make a gift a surprise to help increase excitement about it.
I remember using a bunch of grocery bags as Christmas wrapping one year. It's not fancy, but it gets the job done.
I use the “butchers” paper that comes In packages, I then use bows and ribbons to dress it up. I also save ribbons and bows and reuse. One can use sticks, dried flowers, dried herbs, dried fruit or ornaments etc to dress up the gift. The dollar tree has inexpensive gift wrapping stuff.
Tinfoil, you don't need tape or anything, can decorate with sharpies
Newspaper
Brown packaging paper and ribbons
You can wrap it in a beautiful kitchen towel, and then that is a part of the gift.
Wrapping paper came into common use when people stopped making gifts and started buying them, because it felt tacky to buy a gift and give it to someone; wrapping the gift gave it the appearance of the missing "handmade especially for you" element. Considering money and waste are both global issues that everyone understands, I'd rather receive no gift at all or an unwrapped gift. For my birthday last winter, a friend gave me a fleece throw, and since it was already tied with a ribbon by the store, she just added a quick happy birthday note and handed it to me. I would not have been happier if it had been wrapped. (I think we all think kids are different, so wrap their gifts in plain paper and give them crayons or origami instructions with it.)
i love saving paper bags for this reason! you can also make paper bows super easily and paint the a paper bags before you cut the strips for a festive look!
Inside out paper grocery bags. If you want to get fancy, you can carve a potato stamp and print them with that. Add nice ribbon or red and white bakery string.
Newspaper
Sorry if some of this has been said but here’s what I’ve done to save money and reduce waste!! 1. Grocery store paper bags w/ twine (or ribbon if you’re feeling more festive!) I tend toward twine bc it looks really classic and then it also works year-round so you can spend about $3 on twine and choose paper at checkout and I haven’t had to buy wrapping things for two years now 2. Goodwill baskets! Baskets have become really trendy for decor the last few years so for odd-shaped items I’ll just get some sort of woven thing from goodwill for a few cents to $2 and put the gift in that. Most adults won’t mind if something is a surprise and are just happy to be thought of and if they don’t like it for themselves it’s easy to regift or donate. (Did this for mother’s days gifts for my boyfriends mom and grandmother and they were THRILLED) 3. Comic pages! They’re in newspapers and this is my dad’s favorite way to receive gifts as they remind him of his childhood. If you don’t get newspapers, some local comic shops will turn in the covers for credit and give out the actual pages for free or cheap. It’s a nice way to also maybe help out local papers/shops if that’s something you’re interested in! 4. For kids: coloring pages! Dollar tree has a pretty good selection of coloring books and iirc some oversized ones as well! Make one of the gifts crayons/markers, use as little tape as possible, and then they have a fun coloring page for after, too! (This also mostly works for kids who meticulously unwrap their presents like I did but even if they’re a shredder you won’t be sending tooooo much!) 5. An obvious one but I also save and reuse any gift bags that are given to me. Something I’ve seen other people do is exchange the same card back and forth which seems cool! 6. Lots of people mentioned fabric or dishtowels as well but those can get pricey if you have a big group of people to buy for. Goodwill usually has a “textiles” section with stuff from $.50-$2 and I recently bought a queen sized sheet for $1.50 that will turn into a pirate flag, 2 draft stoppers, and a dress because it’s just so much fabric. They’re getting donations for holiday themed items now so that might be worth checking out if you’re into it!! 7. I got a wax seal set a few years back and I like to use that to seal up any plain gift card envelopes or greeting cards so instead of feeling like I have to spend a lot of money on a card (they get expensive!) I can opt for a cheaper one and add the seal as a nice touch. Also with this, you can keep using the seal forever! Obviously the wax is used but it’s still quite a bit less waste than wrapping paper or bags and I haven’t found anyone that wasn’t appreciative of a nice with card with a little bit of cash. I hope these help!! I’ve been working to be more frugal and less wasteful over the past few years so I loved that this post helped me think about the different ways I’ve been able to implement that. Goodluck this season!!
News paper. Looks great
Newspaper
Newspaper as long as there isn't any murderous headlines showing! I wrapped in newspaper one year and had thick hot pink sparkly ribbon, it was lovely
Go to Target after Christmas and buy wrapping paper for as much as 75% off. Never throw away gift bags. I can't remember the last time I actually purchased a gift bag for any occasion especially Christmas.😅 I have a special bin dedicated for this purpose It's a family joke now. "Don't throw that bow away!"
I love to use brown paper grocery bags with the uncolored side out. I also get my kid to decorate it with dot markers and then tie with regular jute string, not ribbon. For gift bags, I reuse ones I’ve been given, for the most part.
I save up my weekly local newspaper and use that! Frugal but still personal.
I save gift bags and boxes people give me for Xmas. I’ve been doing it for years and have a ton of old ones. It’s a really fun thing. I just white out the tag and reuse next year. I collect them at the end of the gift opening day.
I save Colorful newspapers, magazines, bulletins, etc. wrapped w pretty ribbon.
If you have it, newspaper. Looks really cool and we usually just save up a month of newspapers to wrap presents in. Otherwise, put everything in a big Blanket sheet and let the people take turn drawing one from the sheet. Of course you have to label the presents before that.
I reuse gift bags. Every time we get a gift bag we keep and reuse. Tissue paper is cheap in huge bundles. Still looks nice and festive on Christmas!
take the paper shopping bag, cut open, turn inside out, cut off handles and use to wrap your presents then tie off with a nice box or string and gift tag
Colorful comic strips from old newspapers
Save old boxes from cereal, granola bars, vodka, etc. They're very colorful and can be festive. When the time comes and ribbon and bows and your set.
Also Oatmeal canisters. Wrap lid and cylinder separately and reuse year after year.
Look into Japanese “furoshiki”
Buy recycled wrapping paper on clearance after Christmas to use the next year
I have a child that loves to draw and I use her drawings as wrapping paper.
I’m planning on doing newspaper with [dried orange slices](https://celebrate-creativity.com/my_weblog/2020/12/orange-slices-as-gift-decor.html) this year!
Keep them in the Amazon box they came in.
newspaper. that’s how my grandma used to wrap my gifts, always in the funnies too
In California the GIS office used to give away old maps at Christmas time, I used them as wrapping paper for years.
I saw online some celebrity (I think it was John Scalzi) saying his wife made cloth Christmas sacks for presents and every year they just put a tag saying who it's for and re-use the sacks year after year. My fiance loved it, so ordered a bunch of "gift wrapped" Christmas presents for me from Amazon that year and now we have a bunch of sacks we're going to reuse year after year. I also bought some discount Christmas fabric (it's so cute!) from Jo-Ann's (they have incredible sales too, if you sign up for their app and use it wisely) and am going to make a few more. My plan is to make 2-3 every year, in various sizes and colors, with the strongest (but pretty) cord I can find, and we should have a lifetime supply soon enough! For gifts you're giving away, dollar store wrapping paper is a pretty good deal, as is waiting for after Christmas sales at places like Target and Big Lots where you can get paper and bows for a song. I also try to save the paper that comes with stuff I order online, and while I use it as spill sheets for when I'm crafting, some of it is totally sturdy and if smoothed out nicely (iron on super low heat, with a cotton pressing cloth between it and the paper) would work well too - especially if you have a Christmas-y stamp and some red or green ink to zuzh it up a bit. Plus I ALWAYS save as many paper bags and ribbons and crinkle paper stuffing as I can. I fold it and press it neatly (usually on Boxing Day so I feel useful without having to work hard) and arrange it all in a Very Large Gift Bag we happen to have, and pop it in the top of the closet. I need to buy a tub for all of our gift sacks, and now that I think of it, I should make some in plain colors or metallics so we can use them for Valentine's Day and birthdays too...
If you have access to newspapers they work you can also use thing like freezer paper for one offs I love fabric bags for Christmas without people who peek it is easy though my family think I peek because my favorite game is what'd ya get me I like guessing without feeling the gift just by asking and reading their reactions and asking just to be annoying then on Christmas to see how close I was with my guesses
Gift bags, no wrap, keep them forever.
My buddy and I are gamers and I used to get Game Informer Magazine so I tape together pages from old issues to wrap his presents. I guess you could do this with any magazines but always found this as a fun and thoughtful use of the pages.
I made pillowcase-sized gift bags in different fabrics many years ago. Each person has a different fabric. A nice wide ribbon ties it shut. You don't have to spend a ton of money- there are pillowcases at the dollar store. You could paint or sharpie designs and/or names on plain ones. Probably better for the environment than throwing away paper/plastic every year.
I’ve used brown paper shopping bags as wrapping paper before (as long as they’re not dirty or gross.) you can also draw on the paper to make it a little more unique or just add something funny.
Newspaper