Sparkly Polliwog: Recycled Wrapping

Did you know..................
according to Earth 911

-As much as half of the 85 million tons of paper products Americans consume every year goes toward packaging, wrapping and decorating goods.

-Wrapping paper and shopping bags alone account for about 4 million tons of trash annually in the U.S.

-It can often be difficult to find a location to recycle your wrapping paper because the materials are typically non-recyclable.

-If every American family wrapped just three presents in reused materials, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields.

This Year here at Sparkly Polliwog, we plan to not waste money buying wrapping paper for Christmas or Birthdays.

We know that there is not always time to wrap a gift cute before giving it, but we think that the wrapping is half the gift!! Its fun to personalize it or add fresh flowers or lace. My nieces birthdays are this weekend and I thought what not a better way to show the "lets not waste money and use what we have" to make their wrappings cute. We usually use cloth bags at the grocery store, but for those times we forget we ask for paper. Which is perfect to use for wrapping gifts!!!

I used brown paper bags, left over Christmas ornaments from my daughters pink tree, tulle from tutus I make and my favorite item of the month-JUTE! I kept it simple and used a precut stenciled letter for their names.

I plan on using this same method for Christmas gifts, maybe using a stamp or paint for Initial.

Sometimes it is the simple wrapping that's the cutest! Recycled, thrifty and cute. My favorite combo :)

Magazines

Another great thing we love to wrap with are magazines that we have lying around the house!

My husband LOVES Lord Of The Rings, so this year I wrapped one of his gifts using a magazine he finished reading.

What guy wouldn't like a picture of Gollum on his Christmas present?

You can even make the bow out of the same magazine!

For instructions on making the bow go here: gift bow

Newspaper

Newspaper is a GREAT thing to wrap gifts with! You can usually find it around the house, it is recyclable, you can burn it, you can compost it, you can clean windows with it, use it to make hats and boats, start seeds for your garden in it, protect valuables when you are moving, use it in your pets cages........ WOW, I think we should dedicate a blog page just to newspaper! :)

Here are some cute ways you can use newspaper to wrap your gifts. You can dress the gift up or down depending on the ribbon you pick to use. We have been saving up the comics to wrap our oldest sons gifts in.

Adorable newspaper wrapping paper. Much less expensive than all the patterned paper and just a little twine and ribbon make it special.

Adorable newspaper wrapping paper. Much less expensive than all the patterned paper and just a little twine and ribbon make it special.

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Picture found here

Newspaper wrapping and monogram gift tags! you know what - I have wrapped gifts in newspaper before but when they are all together like this they look terrific! I think this will be my plan for this year!

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A Shirt

How about a shirt! So fun and just about everyone can use an extra shirt!

Infuse new life into a thrift-store shirt and brooch. Not only is the result eco-friendly, but, as gift wrap designer Jenn Playford points out, when you remove the brooch and unpin the shirt, you've got three gifts in one.

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Picture found here

I haven't quite let go of Christmas...either that or my mind is already gearing up for this year...regardless love the idea of recycling an old shirt for wrapping gift. This would be adorable in tartan!

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Cut an old shirt into strips and use them for the bow!

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Fabric

Wrapping a gift in fabric is perfect because it can be reused for so many different things..... and you don't have to use tape!

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I love the idea of wrapping presents with fabric... so cute

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Picture found here

We use bags like these and reuse them every year. They are fun because you can make them using any fabric of your choice!

Here is a great fabric gift bag tutorial

Gift Bag

Bows

We think putting the bow on at the end is the funnest part. There are so many different things you can use to finish off your gift.

Cupcake liners
cupcake liners as gift bows

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Paper
Gift Bows

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Bow Tie
Bow Tie Wrap: Instead of gift-boxing a tie this year, why not tie a gift box? Bow ties fit around many small gifts, and both the traditional and pre-tied kinds will work. (Learn How to Make This Gift via Martha Stewart)

Bow Tie Wrap: Instead of gift-boxing a tie this year, why not tie a gift box? Bow ties fit around many small gifts, and both the traditional and pre-tied kinds will work. (Learn How to Make This Gift via Martha Stewart)

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Silk Flowers
Silk flowers make gorgeous bows for gift packages. Recycle and think outside the 'box' for your package, too! See how at I Gotta Create!

Silk flowers make gorgeous bows for gift packages. Recycle and think outside the 'box' for your package, too! See how at I Gotta Create!

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Yarn
Rainbow Yarn Gift Wrapping - I love this bright and colorful way to wrap a package. It has big wow factor but won't break the bank. All you need is some brown butcher paper and some colorful yarn. Begin wrapping the package with multiple yarn strands and tying a knot.

Rainbow Yarn Gift Wrapping - I love this bright and colorful way to wrap a package. It has big wow factor but won't break the bank. All you need is some brown butcher paper and some colorful yarn. Begin wrapping the package with multiple yarn strands and tying a knot.

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Pasta
Tie up wrapped gift boxes with cooking twine and farfalle pasta. (I think it would be cute to have my son decorate the pasta with paint & glitter, too) ;)

Tie up wrapped gift boxes with cooking twine and farfalle pasta. (I think it would be cute to have my son decorate the pasta with paint & glitter, too) ;)

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Fabric
Ooh aah OH, fabric bows are so pretty! I love these simple colors but would also like to try more colorful scraps with a plain brown paper-wrapped gift.