Resourceful Gift Wrapping

There are many ways to be resourceful during the holidays.  Here are a few things I do every year to reduce resources and save money.  Reuse old wrapping paper is the first step.  I know this sounds silly, but it makes sense.  I avoid saving ripped pieces and those with warn spots from tape.  Now that we have a 3 year old, it's nearly impossible to save paper since he's an overzealous gift opener, but I manage to save small pieces from the large presents.

Make your own gift tags from old cards. My Mom taught me this years ago.  Before greeting cards go to the recycling bin, I cut out the pictures with a pinking scissors (cuts zig zags).  A hole is punched in the corner and attached to the gift with a ribbon.

Ribbon can be used multiple times before it is doomed for the trash.  I have not bought ribbon in 5 years and this is how much I still have.  

Comics are fun and colorful and perfect for birthday gifts.

Very few people use paper maps in their vehicles with the convenience of GPS systems and phones so why not use the maps as wrapping paper before the recycling bin?  At the National Weather Service where my husband works, he brings home stacks of weather maps that are created daily and then recycled.  They are big sheets of paper with weather patterns drawn all over them.  This paper makes a unique wrapping.

Reuse gift bags.  This seems like a very obvious one, but I am surprised how many times I have seen people throw them away at parties.  An even better option is using cloth bags----the bag is also given as a gift.  My friend had pictures of her children printed on canvas bags that state,

"Please take note!  Always bring a tote!"

Reuse old tissue paper.  This pile is only a smidgen of what I actually have.  If the paper isn't too wrinkled, I just flatten it and put it in my box.  If it's really wrinkled, I iron it with the residual heat from the iron after I turn it off from ironing clothes.  I have used tissue paper for padding in a gift, but I have also used it as wrapping paper on the outside of a package. 

Send a postcard and save on postage.  I will use the front of an old Christmas and birthday card and size them to a postcard.  Instead of spending $.44, you spend $.29.  The minimum size of a postcard is 3.5 x 5 inches and the maximum size is 4.25 x 6 inches.