Gift Wrap & Topper {Recycled & Almost Free}

You have so many gifts to wrap, you're trying to save money, you want to recycle & yet still be creative-look no further- use your newspaper!  For smaller gifts the newspaper always has been a great way to wrap a gift and recycle but you can also make an adorable topper to match that adds a feminine finishing touch to your gift that's simple & quick.

I saw this in the December/January 2010 issue of Country Living and couldn't wait to try it.  It took less than 5 minutes to make each topper and is so easy you can make them in assembly line fashion and have all of your gifts wrapped in no time for pennies.

1.  Stack eight sheets of newsprint and cut into an 8 inch square.

2.  Accordion-fold the stack into 1 inch increments.

3.  Next, cut four pieces of ribbon to a length of 8 inches.

4.  Unfold the paper slightly and rest a piece of ribbon in each crease {if you end up with more than four folds, you'll need to cut additional ribbon}.

5.  Gather the folds back together and pinch the center of the paper tightly {it will look like a bow toe}, binding it with a rubber band.

6.  Starting from the top, peel up each layer of newspaper, scrunching it together as you go . Finally, curl the ribbon to make a cluster in the topper's center.

I really went for the recycle & free with this package cutting a paper bell from a magazine to use as a gift tag.  You can have the kids go through Christmas issues of your magazines and cut out Holiday pictures and then punch a hole at the top to add to your package.

hugs, mb

I recently found the great blog below {I hang out over there & get soooo many wonderful ideas} & have linked up this post to the Saturday Nite Special!