How to Reuse old Wrapping Paper
Holiday shopping is filled with presents and a seemingly endless amount of wrapping paper. Instead of seeing the wrapping paper as clutter or a nuisance to clean up after opening all the presents, try to view wrapping paper for all of the creative uses you can do with it. After opening your presents, make sure to save the wrapping paper for some fun activities for you and the family.
Pictures
Pictures during Christmas time can help to capture the best moments during the holidays, whether it’s the traditional Santa pictures with the children or just the simple snapshots of the family opening presents. A great way to add detail to these pictures for framing is to use wrapping paper as a border.
You can purchase plain wooden frames at your local arts and crafts store, likeMichael’s. Choose a wide plank wooden frame and cut the wrapping paper to fit securely around the frame. Glue the wrapping paper on the wooden frame. You can choose a singular metallic colored wrapping paper, a festive and colorful wrapping paper or even mismatched scraps to create a custom looking frame.
Another great option for your pictures is to highlight the border. Some frames have a shadow box feature or included border within the picture frame. You can line the box or border to reuse your wrapping paper and highlight your Christmas photo.
While it’s nice to have framed pictures around the house, it can be difficult to keep up with new framed Christmas photos every year. Instead, a great option is a scrapbook for all of your Christmas photos each year. Scrapbooks often offer separate decorative pages to purchase for your scrapbook. Instead of purchasing decorative Christmas leaflets for scrapbooking, use some wrapping paper to use as cutouts or backgrounds for your scrapbook pages.
Kid’s crafts
Finding new and inventive crafts for kids can be difficult to constantly come up with. However, using wrapping paper for kid’s crafts can be a great way to reuse old wrapping paper while thinking of fun new ideas for kid’s crafts. Whether it’s wrapping a cleaned out soup can to be used as a pencil holder, cutting out geometric shapes to make paper flowers or simply using the backside of wrapping paper for crayons and doodling; kids will get a kick out of the decorative colors and festive designs.
Functional
Functional uses for wrapping paper can be enjoyed the whole year round. Shredded wrapping paper can be used as packing material for shipping or storing, whether it’s late Christmas gifts or storing glass ornaments. You can also cut squares into the wrapping paper to be used as a stack for scrap paper for grocery lists, to-do lists or writing notes for around the telephone.
With the amount of money that’s spent on wrapping paper during the holidays, it’s important not to underestimate the uses of wrapping paper after the holidays are over. Finding fun and creative ways to reuse wrapping paper can help to add extra festivities for the kids. Take some extra time to think of different ways to reuse your old wrapping paper and make for some fun crafting after the holidays.
