The Art of Eco Friendly Gift Wrapping
Wrapping presents is one of my favorite holiday traditions and this year I am challenging myself to only use recycled or reuse items. After five minutes looking around Art From Scrap I had so many ideas, I wanted to share some of them with you.
The easiest way to start is just grab some old maps. The more the merrier!
Then wrap your presents with them, bonus if you can find maps that have a special meaning for the person receiving the gift. Some bright yarn makes for an easy bow on top. Then add a leather scrap for a cool gift tag that could become a key chain after all the presents are unwrapped.
If you are wanting to decorate your gift boxes or wrapping paper yourself I would suggest cork stamping. Take a cork and draw the shape you want to stamp on the top. Simple geometric shapes seemed to work the best for me. I drew a triangle then used an X-Acto knife to carefully cut around the shape. Here are some examples of my stamps.
Find some paint that you want to use. I used acrylic paints, but any thick paint should work. Press your cork stamp into the paint, then dab it off on a scratch paper to make sure you are getting your image. Now it’s time to get stamping!
If paper isn’t your thing, fabric can be a beautiful reuse way to wrap any gift. The Japanese art of Furoshiki, wrapping goods in fabric, has so many ways to tie knots and create beautiful little fabric creations.
You can create your own Sustainable Gift Wrapping in our free That’s A Wrap! Workshop on Saturday, December 15th from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm at Art From Scrap. Part of our Handcrafted Holiday Marketplace, our gift wrapping workshop will show you some beautiful and eco friendly ways to wrap your gifts this year.
We hope you visit the Art From Scrap Creative ReUse Store to see what inspires you to reuse a little more this holiday season. We are open Thursday and Friday 11:00 – 6:00 and Saturday and Sunday 10:00 – 4:00. Our Store will be closed from December 24th until January 2nd, reopening on January 3rd.
Happy Holidays!
Josh was born and raised in Santa Barbara, where his passion and curiosity for the environment began and has continued to grow. During his undergraduate studies, Josh pursued this interest at the University of California at Santa Cruz, receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Studies.
Melissa Dodos developed her passion for creative reuse as a mother of four and elementary educator over the past 25 years. She loves to inspire creativity by connecting people with resources and ideas.
Veronica grew up in San Diego and spent four years in San Luis Obispo studying Animal Science at Cal Poly. As an undergrad she learned lots about livestock, agriculture, and wildlife.
Stephanie began her journey as an educator over twenty years ago working as a preschool teacher in Washington state for a cooperative preschool program affiliated with Whatcom Community College. She loved observing the wonder and curiosity of the children and bringing them out into nature to explore the natural world. She continued her love for learning and got her teaching license and then her Montessori certification and worked as an elementary teacher in Tribal, Public, and Montessori schools. She collaborated to create a school garden and her students loved it so much that it became a special place where they could garden, read, explore, play, and it provided a safe sanctuary for students to calm down and reset when they were having difficult moments.
Morgan’s mermaid soul is always seeking adventure—swimming a relay across the Santa Barbara Channel and taking the first photo of a newborn orca off Anacapa Island being standout experiences close to home.
Lindsay Johnson
