it's a wrap

I just laid down the law with myself--I am not allowed to buy another roll of wrapping paper as long as I live! I know, I know, buying wrapping paper is quite an un-green thing to do, but what can I say--I'm an addict. Cute and whimsical, beautiful and elegant, and definitely the old "nature-inspired"...oh yes, I had to buy it all. Those after Christmas sales--oh my.

Addict, yes. But a recovering addict. With great restraint, I've been much, much, much better the last few years. I've started "creatively wrapping" many more of the gifts given here within our family. However, I've been hesitant to give gifts to others wrapped this way. Why? I honestly don't know. I mean, come on, I'm guessing that no one is going to turn up their nose at a gift because it's not wrapped in store-bought paper. And they can always bury them under the pretty packages under their tree, right? (Of course, some will be spared for a while I work my way through the rather large stash of store-bought paper I've accumulated over the years.)

Anyway, guess what? I've decided to share my alternative methods (a.k.a. bore the living shit of you) from time to time. (Thank god for that "mark as read" button, huh?)

Most things we buy around here are used. Used book stores, thrift shops, antique malls, whatever. And when buying used, there generally isn't a lot of wasteful packaging, but many shops still wrap things up your goodies in newsprint, etc. Now if we're just buying one or two things, we'll just tell them to skip it figuring we can manage to get things home safely. But sometimes it seems prudent to let them wrap our treasures up. And here is where I get the paper for one of my favorite ways to "creatively wrap." Yes, it's generally a little (or sometimes, a lot) wrinkled, but who really cares. (That brown packing paper that sometimes comes in boxes that arrive in the mail also works wonderfully. And stamped images on newspaper are fantastic, too.)

So when I head down to the laundry room to hang the clothes, but find the washer hasn't quite finished its cycle yet, I just use those few minutes to whip up a few sheets of wrap using a little bit of acrylic paint and my collection of foam stamps from past craft/decorating projects. (Seriously great way to use up those little dribs and drabs of paint left from other projects.)

Okay, I admit that this pile of presents may not be terribly stunning to look at, but it's reusing something I already had before sending it on to the recycle bin. Plus it's saving me from buying something new that will end up sent to the same place.






(And yes, I'm sorry--I really should have my blogging privileges revoked for using such a corny title.)