Eco-Friendly Unique Gift Wrapping Ideas: Easy, Cute and Better for Earth

If you’re looking to add your own creative touch to your presents then these gift-wrapping ideas might be useful — they’ve certainly solved some last-minute gift problems for me! I’ll also explore some more eco-friendly ideas for wrapping gifts so you can make your receiver and the environment a little bit happier at the same time.

Carton Made with Scrapbooking Paper

Firstly, here’s a carton made from scrapbooking paper which would make a great container for packaging homemade sweets you’d like to gift someone. Make sure to first wrap any food in wax paper or napkins as to not stain the paper itself.

If you have fake flowers, they’ll add a nice touch to your gift’s presentation, or you can cut out flower shapes from scrapbooking or construction paper and layer them. Then print or write out your tag on scrapbooking paper and tie it with the thread or ribbon of your liking. 

Below is a template for a smaller box that fits a letter-sized paper. Fit to the sheet you’re using and print on the reverse side of the scrapbooking paper. You can use a ruler (or a bone folder, if you have one) to mark the folding lines, then glue the side and bottom flaps and close the top with tape when you put the gift inside.

Gift-Wrap Made from Recycled Materials

If you’re really into recycling this method might be the one for you. Take a page from a newspaper (you should iron the paper beforehand on a low-heat setting if the ink easily rubs off) and use it to wrap your gift. If you find your newspaper is printed on very white paper, which mines here happened to be, you can stain it with a used coffee filter to give it more tonal variations.

From there on you can personalize it however you like. Personally, I stamped daisies on the paper, then drew red butterflies using a cookie cutter I had as a guide. I made flowers with scrap fabric and cut out the pink butterfly from an old magazine. You can really get as creative as you want!

Minimalist Gift-Wrap Made from Kraft Paper

Lastly, how about a more mature and minimalist style? Don’t worry, this method won’t cost you much; in fact, if you have a brown paper bag at home already then you’re all set!

If you like you can further customize by using gold or silver markers and drawing whatever you like on your gift; I personally drew a few asterisks (the lousy drawer’s star) on it for a quick and easy pattern. If you want to customize your gift for the time, then you can use some paper to cut out more decorations. I made a few baubles for the holiday season using paper, washi tape (Amazon affiliate link) and cotton string, and ta-da, there you have it!

Storebought, Eco-Friendly Methods

All of the methods we’ve used so far have been eco-friendly, recyclable, and compostable, but if you don’t really feel like getting a bit crafty, then you can, of course, use normal wrapping paper. However, keep in mind that gift-wrapping paper is usually not compostable as the glossy inks on them can be toxic to the environment; here are a few eco-friendly alternatives (Amazon affiliate links):

1. Holiday season
2. Happy birthday
3. Baby boy
4. Mother’s Day
5. Christmas
6. Friend who loves astrology

Whichever method you use, I’m sure whoever receives your gift is bound to enjoy it — and if you’ve tried one of them, we’d love to see it! If you have ideas of your own, we’d love to hear them as well!