Recycled Wrapping Paper

[Katherine]

OK so I've managed to order my recycled cards for the woodland trust so thats done. However I still haven't located any recycled wrapping paper. All the charity stuff which is recycled comes in sheets and is very expensive and we'll need loads. Doesn't anywhere like Tesco do recycled stuff? anywhere on the highstreet? At the moment I am thinking how to decorate newspaper so the inlaws don't think I'm just being tight. I've done potato prints on brown paper before but I don't actually think that stuff is recyled either.

Not sure if this is a good price? The gift wrap and string bundle? 6 sheets for £3.95 sounds not too bad to me. Plus the string. But not necessarily very Christmassy colours (yellow and blue).

I'd really like to buy on a roll.

Have you thought about using other things? Unused wallpaper
pretty cake tins
extra fabric (quilting fabric can look especially pretty or one yaer i had an old dress that I was able to cut up and wrap 4 presents in and they turned out beautifully)
Plain white produce bags are fun to decorate.

We don't have wallpaper - on our walls of elsewhere, just painted plaster.

But..... I really like the idea of the fabric. Might go an pinch some of DH shirts. He's got too many anyway. Could use some of his ties for ribbons. Might get in trouble though. Oohhh have to nip back to the fabric shop to look for some bargains now.

Recycled wrapping paper Lots of other lovely stuff on this site too.

We use newspaper, sometimes adorned with the dds' artwork.

And cheap rolls of white paper which they use for painting and printing and then we use it as wrapping paper.

it's not tight it's green. There's a difference.

Oh I forgot tea towels. The ones with Ticking work especially well. I think its nice to wrap presents in something people can use later. Fennel is right, I wish more people looked at alternatives to regular wrap.

Glad I'm not the only one who's happy with newspaper, I used to force my family to wrap my pressies in it when I was a kid. Would look really nice with ribbon.
I'm stockpiling DD's pre-school paintings (average rate of 3 of a day!) for ours this year.

I use plain brown parcel paper, adorned with whatever I feel like at the time - last year I used red ribbon and candy canes, another year I used green ribbon and cardboard holly leaves. For adults, the Financial Times looks really pretty as wrapping paper, with huge black ribbons.

Article in December edition of She magazine on just this topic!

Brown paper, thin black ribbon and gold sealing wax
Brown paper, wide red ribbon
Brown paper, green parcel string, red stick on stars
Brown paper, gold string.

Looks fab. Incredibly classy. Not cheap AT ALL!

But is brown paper recycled? Otherwise its no better than buying wrapping paper......

I think the tea towels is a fab idea. Do I need a trip to ikea for their cheap packs of towels now. Like you say at least they will be useful afterwards Might need to invest in a table cloth for SIL breadmaker though!!!!!

Sorry - should have said - I use recycled brown paper! Available from some good stationers.

Which good stationers? Sounds v classy.

I used to use brown paper till I started to worry it wasn't recycled. One year the kids did potato prints all over it. Looked fab (not classy but ..... homely?)

I wonder if the partners stuff is recycled. Its the only one round here, apart from smiths.

Mind you still like the idea of tea towels. Aren't they £1 for a pack of 5 from ikea. Cheaper than wrapping paper!

If you have a scrapstore locally check them out. The Exeter one has had large sheets of paper and some xmas paper, all being rescesd from being thrown away by manufacturs/ retailers.
I hang onto large sheets of wrapping from presents to use again along with gift bags. One gift box has been doing the rounds in my family for about 6 years so far! Mind you- I did send my grand father teh same christmas card for about 8 years as a child- every year it was given back to the church recycled card scheme and made into a new card which I would buy as soon as they were put on sale in Autum.

Newspaper? Does everyone have black smudges on their faces in the Christmas photos?

If you don't have spare wallpaper at home what about your local charity shop? Mine sells rolls of wallpaper for 50p.

\link{Oooh look!\shop.wwf.org.uk/Detail.aspx?id=230922}

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ahem

Great stuff although quite expensive - and sheets again. But they do some great stuff don't they. Also have lovely recycled wrapping paper £3.99 for 6 sheets

Been eyeing up a lot of DDs old dresses though. She's a real tomboy and never wears them anyway....