
3 Ways to Wrap Presents with Recycled Brown Paper
When it comes to wrapping presents, it can be extremely wasteful. Most wrapping paper cannot be recycled because most of it actually contains plastic. The rule of thumb is if it has glitter it cannot be recycled. Also, if it had bright inks it is hard for the paper to break down and be sorted. With that said, there are two options. You can either find other alternatives to wrapping paper or you try using recycled brown paper. Here are three ways you can wrap your presents in a semi eco-friendly way.



The Easiest Way: Gift Bags
These adorable, sparkly bags are from Paper Source. Paper Source not only partners with responsible, sustainable forestry mills but they also make their solid colored papers with at least 30% post-consumer waste. They also donate, reuse, and recycle all of their scrap paper so that it can get another chance at life. With that said, when you wrap presents this year you might want to consider using supplies from Paper Source. One of the easiest ways to wrap presents is to use a gift bag. Don’t worry about the tissue paper unless you feel like you really need it.
Give Old Gifted Bags a Second Life
As mentioned earlier, glitter on bags make it so that the bags cannot be recycled. So if you receive or give a gift bag, make sure it gets a second (or third or fourth) life. It is extremely silly to throw away a gift bag after one use when it can be used again and again.

The Crazy Way: Add Funky Stickers
If you read my post from Sunday, you know I’m obsessed with felt ornaments and decorations. With that said, I was over the moon when Anthropologie gave me these stickers after a few in-store purchases. They are such a fun way to add color to the brown paper. You can get the same stickers if you make a purchase in store or I found these similar ones online. You could probably also glue these stickers to paper as well. Another option is using string to tie the present in multiple different ways. That would be a funny way to see someone open the present.



The Creative: A Little Paint
A little ink and twine can go a long way when you wrap presents! I’ve had this idea for about two years now and I’m so glad I could finally bring it to life. These adorable stamps were found at Paper Source and the twine was purchased from an earlier project. The fun part about using stamps is that you can decide how much or how little pattern you want on your paper. I wrapped all of the boxes first and then put the ink on it. I highly recommend you let the ink set for 5-10 minutes before you touch or put the twine around the boxes. Another way to spice it up is to tuck a small pine tree branch underneath the twine.
Other Stamp Ideas:
- Hearts
- Stars
- Christmas Trees
- Christmas Lights
- Ornaments

Cleaner Ways to Wrap Presents:
- Cloth Wrapping
- Using Trader Joe’s bags as the wrapping paper
- Using newspaper or old crosswords as wrapping paper
- Painting the box it came in
- Using mason jars (what can’t you do with a mason jar)
Other Posts You May Like:
- First Time Decorating for Christmas in New Jersey
- How to Make a Scented Salt Dough Garland
- 9 Traditions My Family Celebrates During the Christmas Season
- 6 Ways to Get in the Holiday Spirit
As always,


28 Comments
Margot
Kraft paper is such a great alternative. I love the wrapping with the pompon it’s so cute !
xx
Margot
https://troughthepasturesofthesky.com
PeculiarPorter
Thank you so much, Margot! I already can’t wait to wrap presents for next year!
dousedinpink
My post today is on the same topic! Love the idea of adding pom poms and stickers!
Jill – Doused in Pink
PeculiarPorter
Ahh, I need to go check out your post!
Inspiremyfancy
These are such cure wrapping ideas. I love them all, and my fave is the pom pom wrapping because it’s so creative!
xx,
Tania
https://inspiremyfancy.com
SundayDahlias
I personally love the way brown wrapping paper looks, so these are such good ideas!
https://sundaydahlias.com
PeculiarPorter
Thank you so much!
PeculiarPorter
Thank you so much Tania! We actually saved the pom poms afterward and made an ornament with them! They’re so fun!
Chanel
This is a great post! I am definitely going to have to get some of this brown paper. I love glitter wrapping paper but after I use up my roll I’m done!
x,
S | Je M’appelle Chanel
PeculiarPorter
Ahh, I’m so happy to hear that!
Gabrielle
Ooh! I always love giftwrapping tips and tricks, especially now as I’ll be doing mine at the weekend! Your Christmas tree looks super beautiful by the way 🙂 Merry Christmas!
Gabrielle | A Glass Of Ice x
PeculiarPorter
Thank you so much, Gabrielle! I hope you had a wonderful holiday!
Jessica
These are really cute tips dear! Thanks a lot for sharing!
Jessica | notjessfashion.com
PeculiarPorter
Thank you so much, Jessica!
nayatilly
You did a wonderful job wrapping these, Logan! Love the sticker idea. Happy holidays xx
Naya
http://www.nayatilly.com
PeculiarPorter
Thank you so much, Naya!
Jules
Great ideas, sustainability is really important, especially during Christmas!
https://julesonthemoon.com/
PeculiarPorter
I couldn’t agree more!
Emily
I adore this post Logan, I absoloutely love how brown paper wrapped presents looked, especially when they are jazzed up! We always keep a stack of gift bags which get reused numerous times. It’s so important we all do our bit to help.
Musings & More
Emily
I adore how brown paper wrapped presents look – especially when jazzed up a bit with some accessories! And we have a stack of gift bags that I know get used by multiple people on different occasions. It’s so important for us all to do our bit.
Musings & More
PeculiarPorter
I couldn’t agree more, Emily! I love that you keep all of your gift bags! It’s such a perfect way to make sure that you don’t create waste!
Mica
You’re so skilled at wrapping, these are great ideas! my friend does this and gets her kids to draw / decorate the paper before she wraps things up in it – I’ll need to think about that for next year! I have a lot of gift bags I might start using too. I was so sad to realise wrapping paper can’t be recycled a few weeks ago!
Hope you had a merry Christmas 🙂 We had a great time with family and so much good food! Have a happy new year 🙂
PeculiarPorter
Thank you so much! I love the idea of having kids decorate the paper! I’m so happy to hear you had such a wonderful holiday! Hope you have a wonderful 2020!
Diana Maria
I love this! I used this paper this year, and I didn’t even think of these creative ways to make my gifts look cuter. I’ll definitely use different ribbon and string next year xx
My Lovelier Days
PeculiarPorter
Ahh, I would love to see how you decorate it next year! It was so much fun decorating all of the presents!
Kathrine Eldridge
This wrapping is so cool! I love the vintage vibes of the brown paper.
https://www.kathrineeldridge.com
Jyoti
Amazing wrapping ideas! Love your creativity!Nice post.
Have a great day!
Allurerage
Rampdiary
Maisha
I am so happy reading your blog. I learnt something new activity. I think this is my resolution to use old waste paper as your wrapping option and make them look beautiful with these cute lil props.
Love your blog
Keep in touch beautiful
Thanks
Maisha
Glamforgood.blogspot.com