No wrapping paper - too miserable?

[MarmaladeTeepee]

My DC are nearly 11 and 9 so the days of large, bulky presents are behind us and realistically all of their presents could now fit in a large sack. Would it be utterly miserable of me just to put all of their presents in a sack without wrapping them? I'm just thinking of the sheer envionmental waste that is wrapping paper, but at the same time I don't want to be a total kill joy. Does wrapping paper really make much of a difference?

I did the Japanese moth wrapping thing from YouTube last year.. gathered them up and will reuse.. they looked FAB ..

For people who you aren't going to be with then brown paper is the way to go ..x

No !!! No moths were harmed in my wrapping !! It was CLOTH !!

You can use some nice scarves, any pretty square of material and wrap them up with ribbon and reuse them every year.

I use tissue paper or brown paper
Tissue is good because you can scrunch it round the item and not use sellotape

Moths

I like the idea of scarves, but then I'd have to buy scarves....

I have some Christmas themed fabric, some plain fabric with Christmas images printed on (or cute stick FC and reindeer in Sharpie!), as well as drawstring bags. If you're not a big sewer, just fold squares of material and tie with twine/ribbon. Can be bought cheaply.

Yes it does! Unwrapping presents is the best bit!
You can get recycled and or recyclable wrapping or do what my grandma did and instuct everyone to unwrap their presents carefully and reuse the paper for the next 10 years🤣

Brown paper wrapped with fabric ribbon that can be reused every year. I buy a 10m roll from the local haberdashery for not a lot and they have a good range of colours. Ido have some non recyclable paper bought for 25p in Waitrose at the end of the winter sale but the majority will be wrapped in brown paper.

Save Xmas cards and get your kids to cut out the pictures on them with pinking shears, punch a hole in one corner and tie a bit of twine on. They make excellent gift tags for the following year, plus its a fun, easy and non-messy craft activity for that boring bit between Xmas and NY.

@MarmaladeTeepee As everyone else has said, brown paper is a good option 😊 if you want something a bit more festive then I got loads of lovely fully recyclable Christmas papers from John Lewis and Paperchase last year so I’m sure there will be a good selection this year too 😊

We do brown paper and string/ribbon. A few special presents are wrapped in Christmas fabric and boxes, which I whip back each year and reuse next year.

We’ve started using old newspaper and even takeaway menus, any junk mail that comes through, as wrapping paper. It sounds disgusting but looks actually really nice under the tree imo😂😂😂

Everything wrapped in paper here- gift bags/material just not the same. Stockings are wrapped too in last year's saved paper! Last year I made sure I bought recyclable paper.

I leave unwrapped in piles on the floor for each dc and wrap the door! They love it and do a countdown to burst through the door. Big dc who knows their is no Santa has asked for the same for their bday

I think wrapping paper is an integral part, but I don't like throwing paper away.

My compromise is reusing wrapping paper, not just recycling it.

Paper in good condition gets smoothed and put away for next year - I tend to cut off any very torn bits.
Paper in worse condition gets put in a scrap paper bag, and used for things like scrunching up in shoes when they get wet in the rain.

Smaller scraps of paper can be reused as gift tags, or made into paper chains.

Some bits get used for writing shopping lists.

I've used some bits before for shredding to put in a hamper or gift basket.

I usually get away with buying one or two rolls of new (recycled, kraft) wrap from Oxfam, and the rest is from years gone by.

Any clothes which are worn out during the year are made into fabric bags of various sizes. Presents are just dropped in. Father Christmas is not quite as environmentally friendly and uses wrapping paper which is disappointing considering that he will probably be substantially affected by global warming. In a few years he will probably switch to fabric too.

Brown paper doesn't have to be boring. I have been using beautiful velvet ribbon bought at a Christmas fair for years. I also add craft bells - again easily gathered up and put away for another year. It looks classic and very Christmassy.

Oh do wrap them. Don't you like wrapping up presents? I love it.