Expensive, good paper drains the checkbook. Frugal options such as newsprint, reused gift bags, or the Sunday comics look less than festive under the tree. Ribbons, tape, name-tags, and tissue can all add to the cost. Not to mention it all winds up in the trash the next morning. This year many will consider the alternative: reusable, re-purposed, really fine cloth Christmas wrapping bags.
Cloth Reusable Gift Bags for a Green ChristmasReusable bags have long been around for Christmas wrapping – isn’t Santa’s sack really a big velvet bag? But this idea takes cloth bags to a new level. Gift bags of all shapes and sizes make wrapping gifts a snap and reduces waste down to nothing.
Simple Craft Project to Make Cloth Gift Bags
One resourceful shopper found several fleece throw blankets in a hearty red at her local thrift store and had an idea. By cutting straight across each blanket and folding each length in half, she had the makings of two Christmas wrapping bags. For three dollars in blankets she soon had six bags and a plan. The local discount fabric store offered a shimmery taffeta-style fabric for a dollar a yard. For five dollars and pennies in thread she sewed up another dozen bags in various sizes. This easily frayed fabric required a hem around the opening which quickly became a drawstring option. Cording or satin ribbons make festive ties and decorations. Name-tags can be made from scraps of paper, last year’s Christmas cards, or hand made from blank index cards.
No-Sew Options for Making Cloth Gift Bags
Access to a sewing machine and simple sewing skills speed this job but with a no-fray fabric such as the fleece, bags could even be made with a stapler. Simply fold a large rectangle of fabric in half. The folded edge becomes the bottom of the bag. Staple (or sew) along the two opposite sides leaving the fourth side untouched. Then fold the bag inside out and voile! Fill with frugal Christmas gifts and pile around the tree.
Christine Silva - Christine is a Stay-at-Home-Mother of three children under the age of 6 working feverishly to maintain the appearance of order, calm, and ...
