23 thoughts on “How To Reduce or Eliminate Gift-Wrap Waste This Christmas”

1. Emily at

   I don’t like all of the waste that comes with the holidays, either. We reuse gift bags and bows until they fall apart. I’ve saved used wrapping paper and turned it into templates for various projects (like hanging a gallery wall of frames). I also save cards and cut them up to turn them into gift tags. I love your bandana and cloth bag ideas, too! Thanks for sharing with Merry Monday!

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2. Katrin at

   I absolutely agree about all that waste of paper during the holidays, as lovely as it is to wrap presents, but I am using big fabric bags for my girls presents and they are just as beautiful! So are yours and to use bandanas is such a clever idea! Thank you so much for sharing at Sweet Inspiration this week!

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3. Katy SkipTheBag at

   Every year my mom would use some of the same giftbags for Christmas. Seeing them even outside of Christmas time, envokes strong memories of Christmas morning. What a fun, eco-friendly tradition! Thanks for sharing at the Waste Less Wednesday Blog Hop!

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   1. Texas Homesteader Post author at

      I love that Katy! Although our family knows to set the fabric wrappings aside to return to us for reuse year after year, we’ve saved and reused gift bags from gifts we’ve received. We use those for those gifts where we don’t expect to receive the wrappings back, such as when attending parties, etc.

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4. Lisa/Syncopated Mama at

   I often grab pillowcases to use like you did your large bags and have used sheets before, too. I’ve never thought of bandannas, though – that’s brilliant and we’ve got a ton from when we camp in the summers, so I’ll definitely be using that idea this year, too!

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5. Kirstee @ This Whole Home at

   Some great ideas here 🙂
   I tend to wrap in fabric scraps from my sewing room 😉
   Thanks for sharing on the Homesteader Hop!

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6. Julie Corbisiero at

   Hi and congrats on the feature on kathe with an e! What a great idea to not use paper and fabric instead! You do save money this way. Enjoy your holidays. Julie at julieslifestyle.blogspot.com

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7. Cynthia at

   I’m with you about hating to throw away all that wrapping paper. I love your idea of using bandanas. Thank you for linking to the In and Out of the Kitchen Link Party. I look forward to seeing you next week.

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8. Mel at

   For larger gifts, what about pillowcases? Very often, the bottom sheet wears out long before the top sheet and pillowcases. I often find them at thrift stores, sometimes in pristine condition with hand embroidery because people don’t seem to appreciate handwork any more. A pretty ribbon to tie the top (no need to sew a drawstring) and you’re done.

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9. jody at

   I love that bandana idea! You are so right about wrapping paper, it’s so wasteful. When I was little I sold wrapping paper for a school fundraiser one year and my sister and bro-in-law bought a package from me at a very inflated price, so they said they were going to wrap my gift in it every year. And every year I saved the piece they used and used it for their gifts the next year. We just kept taping it up and using it again for the next 23 years until it finally was unusable! They got their money out of that for sure and it was so fun to have our little joke and see the creativity involved in making it last that long!

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10. Barb at

    These bandanas are so colourful and fun! what a great idea. And, pinking shears can pretty much transform anything. Love this no waste idea for Christmas wrapping

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11. Lisa Lynn at

    Awesome ideas! We have been buying recycled paper and then it goes in our wood stove, but I like the reusable idea better. 🙂

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    1. Summers Acres at

       What great ideas! Growing up even though we used store bought paper, Mama would open gingerly and fold up to resuse paper that did not get decimated by the kids. We have always saved bows and reused, but I have gravitated away from using bows at all these days. The wood stove would generally get the rest. Another idea using the brown packing paper is that it can be composted. Win, win.

       Thanks for sharing with us at The HomeAcre Hop!

       ~Ann

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12. Alison at NOVA Frugal Family at

    We currently have a lot of Christmas paper in the basement from a stock up over 5 years ago which we have been using for the kids and I recycle the paper after the holidays. Most other people get the reusable bags that I purchased so that it is considered part of the gift and they can use it for their own shopping. We don’t use as much paper as we thought but I would love to switch to something more reusable if more things stayed at our house. Do you mind giving away your pretty wrapping or do you only use them for family members?

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    1. Texas Homesteader Post author at

       Well Allison, a little of both. Bandanas are inexpensive so it wouldn’t be the end of the world if I didn’t get some of them back – but most of the bandanas do come back to me because people know what I’m trying to do. Last year I made and canned apple pie filling for friends & neighbors and it was decorated with a denim cap tied with jute, a recipe card attached. It looked adorable and the decoration was just large circles from clean worn out jeans cut with pinking shears.

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13. janet pesaturo at

    Thanks for sharing on Backyard Farming Connection. Christmas is always a bittersweet time for me, because, while I love the smiles and gifts, the tremendous waste conjures up images of landfills and baby seabirds dying of malnutrition from eating trash. (OK, call me a Debbie Downer). Really, any ideas that help us waste less are always welcome!

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14. Heidi @lightlycrunchy at

    I like your idea with the bandannas. We have a bunch of drawstring bags that I made years ago and we keep reusing every year, and I do the same thing for the gift tags as you do – it works so well.

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15. Julie B at

    I do like your ideas. For years now we have been adding to our reusable Christmas bags by making bags like the red and green ones in your photo. Most from 2nd hand material, but some from Christmas colored tea towels. I also like using baskets and red or green storage container , first they hold gifts then they store the Christmas decorations. The colored containers also make it easy to find seasonal stuff next years 🙂

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    1. Texas Homesteader Post author at

       Oh Julie, I would absolutely LOVE to make bags out of seasonal tea towels. (sheesh, even though I’ve read they’re super easy to make, I can’t sew…) I also love the colored containers thing – dual purpose! Thanks for sharing. ~TxH~

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       1. Robin Willoughby at

          The best thing you can do for yourself is LEARN TO SEW! It’s very easy….and there are probably classes near you somewhere.

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          1. Texas Homesteader Post author at

             Yes Robin, sewing is very easy (especially something as basic as a gift bag) but I *HATE* sewing and anything remotely like it. My mom & grandmothers were very good seamstresses so I’m not sure why I got skipped in the gene pool for the desire to sew. Why my grandmother sewed patchwork quilts well into her upper nineties for (gasp) fun! But at least by using cloth & ribbons I’m able to still accomplish the task of reducing gift-wrapping trash. I’ve even purchased a couple of larger gift bags that someone more talented than myself sewed. LOL

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16. Audrey at

    I save graded paperwork from my kids throughout the year and wrap some presents in those. It looks really cool wrapped in a crocheted braided ribbon.

    I also use newspaper, feed sacks, bandanas, fabrics, vintage pillow cases, tea towels, and reusable shopping bags.
    Lets see….I’ve also been known to wrap with tin foil then secure it with yarn. I will add a big Pom Pom on it.
    For name tags…I generally cut shaps out cereal boxes and stamp the plain side with a Christmas stamp and the “From: / To:” stamp.

    I RARELY splurge on Christmas paper. RARELY!!!!!

    I love new creative ideas! Happy gift wrapping y’all!

    My family

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    1. Texas Homesteader Post author at

       Audrey, it oftentimes is just a matter of thinking outside the box… (aaaahhh – see what I did there??? LOL) I love your gift-wrapping ideas – thanks for sharing! ~TxH~

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