Most of us have re-gifted a fancy holiday gift bag or two, but what are some other creative, and eco-friendly, ways to present your gifts?
• Stash your present inside another gift, such as a pretty pouch, petite purse, or bold reusable shopping bag. Personalize the bag with embroidery or iron-on letters to add a, well, personal touch.
• Decorate a reusable box with decoupaged images, stickers, and letters spelling the recipient’s name or initials. I prefer boxes with plastic lids like instant breakfast, oatmeal, or some cereal boxes. Put a big ribbon on top. After the holiday it can be used to store other treasures.
• Use a scarf or scrap of fabric to tie up a fancy bundle or bottle. Add a gift tag and you’re ready to go.
• Fashion a stack of fabric pouches from a variety of old colored t-shirts. Create an envelope fold pouch that only requires stitching on two sides (like a pillow slipcover), tuck your goodies inside, make a stack of different colored pouches, and then bundle together with a ribbon. Viola!
• Fold a paper box and lid. Find instructions for an origami box. Use print outs of your favorite digital pictures, magazine images, or pages from an old book. If the paper isn’t stiff enough, mount the images on cardstock first.
• Create a gift terrarium with your present nestled under a glass dome among moss and tiny plants. You could rest a glimmering necklace on a rock or situate a tiny gift box among flowers.
Other ideas to make gifts fabulous? Sew, crochet or knit a pouch. Embellish with buttons and embroidery. Add a homemade tree ornament as the gift tag.
