This is the first year that I’ve actually tried not to buy new gift wrap, ribbons, and tags for our holiday gift wrapping. We still have several rolls of wrapping paper (I doubt we will ever run out!) but I really wanted to make some of our wrappings a little more eco-friendly in nature.
One of our gifts to wrap was a cute little tutu (3 actually) for some of Big B’s girlfriends. How on earth do you wrap a tutu anyways? I decided to take use some old t-shirts for the wrapping and tie them with tulle that was left over from the tutus (yes, I made the tutus as well). For the tags I cut out shapes from food boxes that were in our recycling box and tied them on. I’m sure if I had taken my time I could have made them even prettier but those who know me know that my time is limited these days! Here is the final product…not too bad!
And remember all those magazinesI told you I received in the mail? I decided to make some upcycled ribbons from them. I found a simple tutorial here and made them my own. Here is how I made mine:
Step 1: Retrieve all those old magazines and sale flyers from your recycle bin.
Step 2: Cut strips of varying lengths and widths depending on how large or uniform you want your ribbons to be.
Step 3: Fold and tape each strip into a figure 8 (as shown below). You could also sew or staple the stips to hold them.
Step 4: Arrange your strips to form a layer of ribbon. Staple (sew or tape) each layer together.
Step 5: Stack the layers to form one large ribbon. Don’t forget to add a small piece in the center and a tail.
Step 6: Attach to your package!
Step 7: Recycle after the holidays!!
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Oh that is really neat… i still have bows left from last year – I always grab everyone's bows when they are throwing them away so I can reuse them – but I totally want to do this!
Love it!
Wow, I never would have thought to make bows from magazine pages! I love that!
Someone else told me she uses samples of wall paper for gift wrap. I have used paper grocery bags and let my 2 year old paint it for added special effect.
Merry Christmas!
very cute!!!
I don't know why I didn't think of this! I usually don't add a bow, but I will definatly use this idea for birthday and holidays! Thanks
Oh, darn! I just saw this now….I love the christmas bows!!!!! Well this is great for any present
Once your little one gets into it, they can generate a lot of coloring, paintings and other artwork. While we try to keep the best ones, there is often just too much. Grandma loves getting her presents wrapped in these instead of us throwing them away. This works especially well with large art paper