Saturday, December 17, 2005

Paper Bag Christmas Wrap


Today's entry isn't cooking or really even vegan-related, but this year I finally decided not to buy anymore Christmas wrapping paper!

A bit of an environmental thing I guess, but more how troubled I am buying rolls of wrapping paper, paying too much money for it, and then throwing it all away days later.

My cupboard had dozens of brown paper bags and paper shopping bags from different stores. I decided to put them to use. Simply cut the bottom out of the bag, then cut along one fold to get a long sheet of paper. Then, gently tear off any handles from the bag.

The store-branded bags were pretty enough to use as they were. For the brown bags, my daughter and I decorated with crayons and paints. She went her own route coloring and painting her own colors and pictures, and that was fine with me. All the wrap looked fun and had some personality! Plus, the bags were thick and didn't tear like the cheap store-bought wrap.

I won't buy Christmas wrap anymore. Yay! This was a fun, easy project, and since I am no Martha :) ... any of you can do this!

3 comments:

Dreena said...

Hi Mal! Very cool... glad to hear another doing the same - it's pretty easy too! We made some more yesterday using paint and cutting shapes of candy canes and Christmas trees from household sponges to use as 'stamps'. A bit messy with the older daughter, but fun!

Anonymous said...

I did this with my Christmas gifts, too. I decorated them, by tracing around cookie cutters we had with colored pencils. I did buy some metallic paper ribbon, but it was really cheap. . . Other years, I've always saved up the comic sections from the Sunday paper for wrapping. I've also used old road maps.

Dreena said...

Oh, comics are an excellent idea too! Will keep that in mind for next year, and also for kids' birthday parties. Thanks!