Eight Best Reusable Alternatives to Traditional Wrapping Paper

While wrapped gifts are a big part of the joy of a holiday gift, all that one-time-use wrapping paper can seem quite wasteful, not to mention expensive. Introducing some reusable alternatives that look really good can add some sustainable and cost-effective beauty to your holiday gifting routine. The best paper alternatives can even be part of the gift itself. Here are some of the best ways to improve your wrapping skills with sustainable twisting.

Towels

Using cloth napkins, kitchen towels, or kitchen towels as packaging can be both festive and reusable. During the Christmas shopping season, you can often find good deals on them, and you might be surprised at how little you spend on something that’s hard to imagine anyone having too much. Kitchen towels can be found in sets, as well as cloth napkins, making this practical multipurpose “wrap” even more economical.

Remains of fabric

If you’re a craftsman, you probably have leftover fabric that could easily be used as gift wrapping. You can cut it to any shape you want, so the fabric can be practical for oddly shaped gifts or if you want to get creative with the packaging style. If you have longer, thinner strips of scraps, they can be used as tape to tie the packages together.

Hair accessories

Headbands, scarves, and bandanas can make great gift wrapping as well as great items for the gift recipient. Use a scarf or bandana as a wrap with an elastic headband or two to secure it all in place to make the gift both beautiful and practical.

Banks and banks

Depending on the size of your gift, jars and tins can make a good presentation and you can add embellishments to make them more fun. Jars and cups don’t have to be just for cookies – you can fill them with other cute little gifts like socks, jewelry, belts, hats, or other accessories. Adding fabric ribbon or baking twine to the end will give it a fun look.

Baskets

Baskets can be a great way to pack, using some other items like cloth or kitchen towels as part of the package. Baskets are often popular with gardeners and crafters, but are likely to come in handy for many people. Since they come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, baskets can be a good solution for custom-sized gifts, as well as an attractive way to go beyond the gift-wrapped box this season.

DIY reusable Christmas box

To make the packaging more traditional, try using a hard-walled wooden or cardboard box and a mod-pog to glue the wrapping paper to the box. You will also need a foam brush to apply the craft glue. Once it dries, your box will last for many Christmases.

Reusable bags and shopping bags

As an alternative to paper gift bags, reusable shopping bags or tote bags can be used. Among the wide variety of styles, you can find one that matches the size of your gift and looks just as good as the paper alternative, except that it can be used for a wide variety of things after it has been used to present your gift. Since you can find a variety of reusable bags for around a dollar each, they are also an affordable alternative to traditional packaging. (Or you could use this as an opportunity to offload some of your growing stock .)

Add decorations

To decorate holiday sets, you can use fabric ribbon, dried holly, pine sprigs, rosemary, and any other fragrant dried herbs you like. Butcher’s twine, parachute cord, and embellishments can also be reused to add style to your pack.

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