Earth Day Series/Gift Wrap

Every other Tuesday, our lovely cleaning lady comes to visit.  She is a precious person and I love spending time with her when she's here.  This week, I was wrapping a kid's birthday present while she was working.  I was so proud of the freshly wrapped gift that I showed it to her when I was done.  The first thing she said was, "Did you take a picture of it?  You have to take a picture of it!".  

So I did.  

When it comes to gift wrap, I face a bit of a personal conundrum.  I LOVE GIFT WRAP.  To me, when a present is nicely wrapped, the presentation is better than the gift itself.  The paper snob in me often has fights with the treehugger in me.  Dead trees make wrapping paper......paper that, frankly, most people don't appreciate.  It just gets ripped off and thrown in the trash (for most people).  When Hubbs had his surgery a few months ago, my dear friend gave him a present. It came in a white bag and had the most adorable tissue paper.  Plus a cute dog-themed ribbon.  Of course I saved it.  When I went to wrap this present (a hardback copy of this book), I combed through my gift wrap collection, pulled out these tissue papers and put together the above present. I didn't spend ONE CENT on the wrapping.  No resources were wasted on new paper/gift bag, I had an enjoyable moment of creativity and, I hope the recipient and his parents will enjoy the presentation and appreciate the effort put into the wrapping.  For me, it just felt good and I was so happy to pass it on to someone else!  

On occasion, I will purchase a roll of fresh, new paper.  I go for the high-quality stuff since I buy it so infrequently.  Paper Source Wrap is 100% recyclable and is made from 30% post-consumer waste....which makes me feel a little less guilty about buying it!  My most recent purchase is the hedgehog paper below.  Love, love, love.  It looks great with simple twine wrapped around it and a mushroom-shaped grocery store bag card (wish I had a photo to share).

This is thick, hardy paper that can be reused over and over again.  It's so beautiful that I can't bear to think of the recipient just balling it up and throwing it in the trash.  I have one piece of this paper that I've now reused three times!  And, in case you're wondering, this is in no way a sponsored post ~ I know it sounds that way!

I adore being at a party or shower with someone's grandmother or great aunt  or senior friend/relative who can't bear to throw gift wrap away.  I love when they regale party guests with tales of surviving The Great Depression and not believing in throwing anything away.  Those great ladies can teach us a lot!

I have to say, also, that I'm always a little crushed when I receive a gift and it's been thrown in a cheap, ugly, Dollar Store gift bag with some crumpled up tissue paper.  Am I the only one?  You see, I call myself a paper snob for good reason!

I keep a Pinterest board just for gift wrap ideas and I look at it often for ideas and inspiration! There are some GREAT recycled gift wrap ideas on there!

I decided to write this post because I'm curious what others do.  Do you recycle gift wrap, ribbons, bows, etc?  What's your gift wrap philosophy (yes, there is such a thing!)?  Do you buy the cheap stuff (since it will likely be trashed) or invest in the good stuff?  Do you appreciate a nicely wrapped gift?  Are you as passionate about gift wrap as me?  Please share!!!!  

I could seriously talk about gift wrap all day long.....

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As an aside, I once used a sweet owl print wrapping paper for a baby shower a few years ago. (I am SO NOT a traditionalist when it comes to gift wrap ~ I refuse to use pink wrapping paper for baby girls ~ girls are SO MUCH MORE interesting than that!) The gift wrapped in the vibrant green and orange with the adorable little owls really stuck out on the gift table and lots of women commented on how much they liked the paper.  One lady went up to my friend afterwards and asked if she could have the leftover owl wrapping paper.  She liked it so much that she wanted to frame a little piece of it for her daughter's bedroom and reuse the remainder! That made me smile from ear to ear.