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8 Eco Friendly Gift Wrap Ideas

December 4, 2017 by Laura 13 Comments

Last Updated on August 31, 2021

Growing up, we were the family that never, EVER ripped the wrapping paper. We carefully peeled away the tape pieces and refolded the paper so it could be used again. I’m pretty sure I had the exact same piece of wrapping paper on my birthday presents for 18 years. My mom is the queen of eco-friendly gift wrap because it literally never got thrown out. But short of recycling the same paper for a couple of decades, here are some really fun diy eco friendly gift wrap ideas!

Are you looking for some beautiful gift wrap alternatives? Try one of these 8 DIY eco friendly gift wrap ideas for your next gift-giving occasion! Flex your creativity with some brown kraft paper eco gift wrap or recycle magazine pages into DIY gift bow toppers. 'Green' wrapping paper alternatives are a great way to create a zero-waste holiday!

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Finding creative ways of wrapping presents can really be half the fun of gift-giving! Everyone will ohh and ahh over your efforts and you can save your slice of humble pie for another day. Nobody forgets an occasion where the wrappings were just as amazing as the gifts!

Eco Friendly Gift Wrap Ideas

I’ve been making efforts lately to try to reduce the amount of waste we produce in our household, slowly but surely finding better options and making better choices. When you stop to think about it, buying paper that will almost immediately be thrown in the garbage seems a little silly. I think we can do better!

(Another idea for eco-friendly items for special occasions is this reusable DIY fabric bunting!)

1. Fabric Wrap

Have a search around for a length of fabric, a pretty cloth napkin or a silky scarf that you can wrap furoshiki style.

eco friendly gift wrap ideas - furoshiki fabric wrap

Photo source: Country Living

2. Sweaters

A sweater sleeve is the perfect size for containing a bottle of wine. Simply sew (or glue for that matter) the raw end of the sleeve closed and use a pretty ribbon to tie up the other end! If you were really feeling crafty, you could turn the body of the sweater into a larger gift bag as well.

eco friendly christmas gift wrap - upcycled sweater

Photo source: The LC Issue

3. Kraft Paper & Stamps

This is maybe not the most eco-friendly but it can be way fun and allows for a ton of creativity. This is a great activity to do with kids too. You can roll out a huge piece of the paper across your dining table and let the kids go nuts. You could use stickers or washi tape and if you’re feeling really brave you can add some glitter too. Scrapbook.com is my go-to site for all things stamping and crafting, you can find practically anything there!

Hand Stamped Brown Kraft Paper - DIY Eco Friendly Gift Wrap Ideas

Photo Source: May Holi Craft

4. Kraft Paper & Foliage

In an effort to make the kraft paper idea a little more eco friendly & reusable, you could leave the paper blank and add easily removable details like foliage, flowers or paper cutouts.

I save any kraft paper that arrives in Amazon orders or other online shopping. I smooth it out and let the boys decorate it with stickers and colouring when they wrap gifts for their friends.

Eco Friendly Gift Wrap Ideas - Brown Kraft Paper & Foliage

Photo Source: Local Milk Blog

5. Burlap

Save your rice bags and anything else that comes packaged in burlap. Wrap it up with a lace ribbon or weave in some leftover lengths of yarn for pops of colour.

Gifts wrapped in Burlap - eco friendly gift wrap ideas

Photo Source: Annabelle OM

6. Tea Towel

A tea towel is the perfect wrap for a food themed gift. Bake up some goodies and wrap them up in a useful & pretty tea towel for the perfect not too specific gift! (aka suitable for anyone on your list!) These tea towels from Canadian designer Avril Loreti are some of my absolute faves!

Avril Loreti Tea Towels

Photo Source: Avril Loreti

7. Music Sheets & Book Pages

Use sheets of music to make an envelope or gift bag. Book pages are the perfect wrap for the book lover in your life!

diy eco friendly gift bags from book pages

Photo Source: Craft and Creativity

8. Newspaper, Comic Books & Magazine Pages

You could stamp or colour on top of the newspaper to add some pretty detail.  Comic book or magazine pages can be turned into DIY bow toppers too!

DIY eco friendly gift bows out of magazine pages

Photo Source & DIY: Whole Living

(9) Reusable Fabric Gift Bags

I recently created this simple DIY reusable fabric gift bag tutorial for Christmas. It has pretty metallic details and can be used year after year!

Easy DIY Gift Bags Sewing Tutorial. Fill these cute bags with tea and other treats as a simple and thoughtful homemade gift idea for Christmas.

Bonus Idea:

One thing I do every year is turn the Christmas cards I received into gift tags for the following Christmas. I happen to have a punch that cuts out the tags, but you could easily cut them out by hand. This idea works great with birthday cards too!

Gift Tag Punch - DIY Gift Tags from greeting cards - Eco friendly gift wrap ideas

With this list you’ll likely spend more time creating the perfect package than picking out the gift!

What’s the prettiest gift wrap you’ve either given or received?

Happy Wrapping!

Filed Under: Birthdays, Christmas, Everything Else, Holidays, Homemaking, Life Tagged With: crafts & diys, diy christmas gift wrap, diy gift wrap, diy wrapping paper, eco friendly christmas wrap, eco friendly gift wrap, eco friendly gift wrap ideas, eco friendly wrapping paper, gift wrap diy, homemaking

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. April Kitchens says

    December 6, 2017 at 10:48 pm

    We use the comic strips from newspapers to wrap my daughters gifts. I also like the idea of using cloth. For birthday gifts, we use brown paper bags and my daughter draws a picture or two to decorate the paper.

    Reply
  2. Marie Ndiaye says

    December 6, 2017 at 2:44 pm

    These are all so adorable! I love the wine sweater! And what a great idea about the holiday cards into tags — genius! I’m definitely stealing that. Thanks so much for these wonderful ideas.

    Reply
  3. Lynn Woods says

    December 6, 2017 at 12:25 pm

    Oh I love these! The sweaters are my favorite.

    Reply
  4. chelsey says

    December 6, 2017 at 6:55 am

    I love these ideas so creative! Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  5. Yolanda says

    December 6, 2017 at 2:49 am

    I have to get some kraft paper. I just love the look with the stamps or green foliage. Thanks for the reminder.

    Reply
  6. Felicia @ The Starving Chef says

    December 5, 2017 at 11:13 pm

    Such creative ideas here – I have some old clothes I was going to donate but now I might upcycle them into present wrapping instead!

    Reply
  7. Laura @ The Mindful Mom Blographer says

    December 5, 2017 at 11:10 pm

    Oh my gosh, the sweaters!!! I LOVE that idea! So cute, festive and useful! I also loved the music sheet idea. That is beautiful! A wonderful list of ideas!

    Reply
  8. Carolin says

    December 5, 2017 at 7:14 pm

    Really great ideas. I especially love the sweater version that looks so cute or the fabric one… makes the gifts look so elegant ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  9. Zahra Biabani says

    December 5, 2017 at 3:46 pm

    Definitely going to be doing the book page/music sheets for wrapping! Also love the repurposed bags into tags idea!

    Reply
  10. Kristi says

    December 5, 2017 at 3:14 pm

    Such cute ideas! I use a lot of the stuffing the comes in packages and try to dress it up or let the kids color it.

    Reply
  11. Katie Braswell says

    December 5, 2017 at 1:59 pm

    How elegant!!! I love all these ideas, especially the ones that are “repurposed”! I love taking my time to wrap presents and making them beautiful, so this post was perfect to spark my inspiration. <3

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. 25 Unique Handmade Gift Ideas for Christmas | The Yellow Birdhouse says:
    October 14, 2020 at 9:21 am

    […] Related: 25 Gift Ideas to Make and Sew 21 Easy Christmas Crafts DIY Reusable Fabric Gift Bags 8 Eco Friendly Gift Wrap Ideas […]

    Reply
  2. Christmas DIY: Reusable Fabric Gift Bags | The Yellow Birdhouse says:
    November 1, 2019 at 2:40 pm

    […] You can find more eco-friendly gift wrapping ideas in this post. […]

    Reply

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I’m Laura, a busy work at home mama to two amazing boys. I help moms live their best crafty life, whether that’s with fun DIY projects or running an online shop. My passion is crafting with wool felt, but you’ll find a little bit of everything on the blog since I’m an unstoppable crafter and I love to share! Read More…

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