Learn how to make sustainable gift wrapping

Check out simple tips to save money and keep a green attitude by making sustainable gift wrapping yourself and reusing materials you already have at home

Gift box

Newspaper sheets

If you have sheets of newspaper at home, why not use them for gift wrapping? You can take advantage of the pages that contain comic strips to make the gift more stylized. To finish, make a bow with a ribbon or add another ornament.

If your gift is not in a box or does not have an easy-to-wrap shape, you can make a bag of newspaper. Here's how:

bags
  1. Take two sheets of newspaper and place one on top of the other;
  2. Cut a rectangle measuring 40.5 cm x 21 cm and glue one over the other (prefer to cut a region without folds, or try to fit the existing folds in the regions that will be marked in step 3);
  3. With the help of a pencil and a ruler, measure and fold the sheet as shown in the image below;

    Cut

  4. You can glue two pieces of 11 cm x 2.5 cm card stock into the two largest marked rectangles (below the 3 cm mark) to give more support;
  5. Glue the entire length folded 3 cm and glue;
  6. Apply glue on the outside of the 1.5 cm side and glue on the underside that measures 11.5 cm, closing the box;
  7. The last part, which measures 5 cm, will be the bottom of the bag and you can close and glue it as a gift wrap. Fold in the smaller corners, leaving the larger rectangles in a trapezoid shape. Then apply glue and close the bottom of the bag;
  8. For more support, you can glue a piece of cardboard to the bottom, inside the bag;

    pasting

  9. Using a paper hole punch, punch 2 holes in the top of the bag;
  10. Thread a string or ribbon through the holes and tie a knot at the end.

Calendars

Did you know that you can make use of those old calendars? You can make a scheme similar to the one described above.

calendar gift box

Magazines

Old magazines can also be used to make super easy decorations.
  1. You just cut nine strips (approximately 2 cm wide): three strips of the same length (choose the size you want), three equal strips 2.5 cm less in length, two strips 5 cm less and a strip approximately 9 cm long.
  2. Glue the ends of all strips together forming an "8" and, on the last 9 cm strip, glue them together in a circle.
  3. Then glue the strips in an "8" shape, one over the other, first the largest and always decreasing. Finish by pasting the last strip in a circle in the center.
flower ornament

Old clothes

bags

If you have a piece of clothing that you no longer wear and that cannot be given away, you can use it to make a reusable gift bag.

For a more cool wrapping, use printed clothes, but it is also possible to make a more elegant wrapping with clothes made from shiny fabrics, such as velvet.

  1. To make a gift bag is very simple: just place the gift on top of the fabric and mark a rectangle in which the gift will fit, leaving a little fabric above it;
  2. Then cut the rectangle and sew the sides and base;
  3. To give the wrap a nice finish, fold the top edge inward (approximately 1 cm) and sew. Do this twice;
  4. Finish by closing your gift with a bow.

If you don't have any printed or shiny fabrics, don't be discouraged. You can use simpler fabrics and spice it up by decorating with buttons that are useless at home. You can also make a wrap using scarves and scarves creatively with a Japanese technique called Furoshiki (see here).

gift boxes

decorated box

Don't throw away the gift boxes you win, as you can reuse them to wrap other gifts.

Using your creativity, you can customize the box with string, wool, or colored thread that is useless at home. You can also use ink, with the help of a pencil with an eraser tip, making small balls of colored ink in the box.

Leftover wrapping paper

Do not dispose of leftover wrapping paper in the trash, as they can be used for wrapping smaller gifts and also as a decoration.

Gift box
  1. Take a piece of wrapping paper that is rectangular in shape and keep the long side vertical;
  2. Fold in half, joining the upper and lower ends;
  3. Fold it again, but this time, joining the ends on the left with the ends on the right (note: if your piece of paper is still large, you can repeat this step, joining the ends on the right side);
  4. Make vertical cuts with a width of approximately 1 cm, without cutting the strips to the end, also cutting the fold made in step 3;
  5. With the help of scissors, quickly pass the blade by pressing the unprinted side of the strips against your finger, leaving them curled;
  6. Fold again;
  7. Secure the gift with the help of masking tape and arrange the rolled up strips as needed.
Mounting

Curiosity

The metallized gift packaging is made of biaxially oriented polypropylene film (BOPP) which, despite being recyclable, few cooperatives do its recycling, and the city of São Paulo considers the material as non-recyclable. Learn more about this material here.

Therefore, prefer plain colored papers and always remember to properly separate for recycling after use.

By making a nice wrap yourself, you give a personal touch to the gift, save money and avoid the production of more waste. Always try to reuse the materials you already have at home and after use, separate them correctly for recycling.

  • Check out more information about materials you can reuse at home here.


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