By Susan Shinn
sshinn@salisburypost.com
When I was a kid, my mother’s best friend always gave me gifts wrapped in the funny papers.
Jan was ahead of her time.
When I was working on this article, her son John said, “Make sure you’ve got Snoopy showing in the pictures.”
Check.
The shaky economy is affecting everything, making us question every single purchase. Couple that with a growing concern on the environment and you’ve got a frowny face against gift wrapping.
I’m not sure when it went out of vogue to use store-bought wrapping paper.
I’ve already gotten mine for this year ó I bought it on sale last Christmas.
But that may be the last year I do that.
It seems this year that even Christmas is going green.
So LifeStyle editor Katie Scarvey and I put on our thinking caps to come up with some ideas for creative wrapping materials.
Really, there’s no limit to what you can come up with.
Here are just a few of the materials we discovered:
– Katie’s favorite wrapping material is brown paper. As in “brown paper packages, tied up with strings.” Brown paper makes a great palette for all sorts of creative packages. Recycle paper grocery sacks to wrap your gifts with, and then have fun adding adornments. Recycle ribbons, or buy some festive yarn at dollar stores.
Use Christmas ornaments or candy canes for embellishment.
– Tissue paper. Kaye Brown Hirst told me this was how presents were wrapped back in the day. It’s definitely an inexpensive option.
If you’d just rather use what you’ve got consider:
– The funny papers. Jan’s standby.
– Pages from magazines. High-end magazines like Architectural Digest work especially well.
– Old maps. For your favorite traveler.
– Old calendars are another idea.
– Recyclable bags. Give a gift wrapped in a Baggu or grocery store’s reusable cloth bag and you’ve got two gifts in one.
– Katie also recommended recycled gift bags to wrap with. When gift bags tear at the seams and will no longer serve their original function, cut them up and use them as wrapping paper.
– Gift baskets. Another standby that can be gussied up with inexpensive cellophane paper.
– The last time I checked, you could get end rolls of newsprint from the Post. That way, you can use stamps or crayons or markers or whatever to make your own wrapping paper.
– Katie suggested finding pretty silk scarves at thrift stores to wrap presents with. I used a few scarves I had on hand and you can’t believe how good it looks!
– Kaye collects vintage handkerchiefs, and said those work well for small gifts. Fabric scraps also fit the bill, Kaye said.
– The Web site gogreenonline had these ideas:
Wrap in things that are reusable all year long: Fabric shopping bags, tshirts, dishtowels, hats, scarves, interesting containers like tins and cigar style boxes, baskets, lace bits and table toppers, saris ó the list is endless
Wrap in art that will be kept: Poetry written on rice paper or craft paper, drawings and wishes that unfold in layers, origami.
– I even thought about wrapping some kitchen gadgets in aluminum foil, but that might be taking things a little far. Still, you never know what you can come up with once you start looking around the house…
We hope this gives you a few ideas to be a little more eco-friendly for the holidays.