Christmas crafts

Reusing Left Over Wrapping Paper

By editor ⋅ December 29, 2007 ⋅ Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

If you have wrapping paper left over from Christmas Day, or partial rolls of gift wrap that aren’t big enough to save, then try some of these recycling ideas for reusing gift wrap.

- Make beautiful loopy Wrapping Paper Bows with nothing more than small strips of paper, invisible tape and a small square of cardboard.

- Make paper beads by cutting triangles of gift wrap paper, approximately six inches long and 5/8 inch wide at the widest point.  Wrap around toothpicks, using a smear of white glue on the thin tip to stick it down.  Slide the bead off the toothpick, let dry and thread on elastic cord to make a bracelet or necklace.

-  Make festive coasters by gluing wrapping paper to circles of cardboard or juice can lids; apply several coats of decoupage medium or white glue thinned with water, or laminate with self-adhesive clear plastic.

- Shred wrapping paper and use in place of bubble wrap or styrofoam packing peanuts.

- Give to the kids to make bookmarks or book covers.

 - Use for scribbling paper, origami crafts or collages.

- Use the prettiest wrapping paper as background material for scrapbooking.

- Cover a shoebox with wrapping paper to make a decorative storage container for Christmas ornaments.

- Use wrapping paper to make sewing patterns; draw the pattern pieces on the blank side and cut out.

- Reuse wrapping paper taken from large gifts to wrap smaller gifts; if necessary, place the paper on the ironing board, spritz with a little water and iron on a low setting to remove any wrinkles.

Tags: , bows, homemade, paper, Recycling, wrapping paper