Here's a budget recycling gift wrapping idea that comes thanks to our IKEA purchases back in November last year.

Apologies, these photos are not great as the presents are under the tree and we have had such grey weather here back in December last year that getting decent shots was problematic.

Two year's ago our Christmas gift wrapping was all red paper finished off with inexpensive white gift ribbon and gift tags made from old Christmas cards.

Then last year we have a reverse thing going on, quite by accident! 

In November we had some furniture delivered from IKEA, 5 low cupboards to go along one wall in the living room. I don't know if you have ever brought furniture from IKEA but sheets of thin white paper are put between some of the bits to protect them so I ended up with A LOT of really quite big sheets of this thin white paper.

Just that week I had made these paper napkin poinsettias with the intention of using them on presents, it was like it was meant to be!

The IKEA packing paper is pretty thin so I used it doubled up, luckily I had plenty, the ribbon is very inexpensive red raffia from Tesco. I've added the poinsettias for grown up ladies with a little dab from my hot glue gun. For the kids I added a chocolate coin (again with a teeny dab of hot glue), the guys just had the raffia ribbon. 

Instead of tags I'd written names on with a red pen and a cute font, I had to write on them after they were wrapped as I just couldn't work out the placement on the paper in advance. It came out ok on boxes but on some of the more squishy presents the letters wiggle a little bit!

I keep reading that normal wrapping paper is difficult to recycle, something about the inks and whatever makes it shiny. I tend to keep big pieces and reuse them anyway but this year I am happy to have saved this packing paper for a second use before it goes in the recycling.

I'm not suggesting for a second that it is cost effective to buy furniture from IKEA just to save money on wrapping paper! However if you are buying it anyway maybe save the paper and give it another use? This idea is not just for Christmas either, plain white paper could be great for birthdays all year round too. Just jazz it up with some ribbon, a flower or two or maybe some doodles, stamping and paint.

Julie