Years ago it was tacky to reuse Christmas wrapping paper, only the die hard frugal environmentalists were doing it.

I know I always felt rather odd for gathering Christmas paper when we did our family get together and gift unwrapping.

Now, it's not so dorky to be more cautious of how we use our resources –

• to save money,

• reduce land fill

• and to save our resources 

and that means Christmas wrap too.

Here are some ways you can recycle your wrapping paper by using it for other things after it's already wrapped gifts.

• Use crumpled wrapping paper to keep fragile ornaments from being damaged.  Sure, you can buy ornament keepers, but a sturdy box and some crumpled paper will do the same job.  It will also save you money because ornament keepers can be expensive.  

• Push crumpled-up wrapping paper into formed hats or purses to help them stay the correct shape when they’re stored away for a period of time.  This is especially helpful if you don’t have boxes to store them in.

• Re-wrap presents next year.  Of course, this will be difficult to do if the paper is too wrinkled or torn up.  If you had wrapped a large present, this shouldn’t be too much of a problem; however, it might be if the gift was smaller. 

• If the wrapping paper is wrinkled, you can turn the paper on the wrong side and iron it on low.  You can also cut off parts of the wrapping paper that can be used again to wrap smaller presents in the future.

• Did someone wrap a present in wrapping paper that’s not really limited to Christmas?  Iron the back of the wrapping paper with an iron set on low.  Find a corkboard that will fit into the paper and wrap it up.  This is a great craft for children to try because they can tape the wrapping paper on the back and it doesn’t have to be perfect.  Hang the corkboard up by a telephone as a message board.  You can also cut used, ironed wrapping paper into squares to use for leaving telephone messages.

• Learn a new craft and recycle your wrapping paper at the same time.  You can find books on origami at the library.  If your library doesn’t have a book, look online.  There are many websites that are dedicated to the art of folding paper.

• Use the ironed paper as drawer or shelf liners.  Measure the size of your drawers and shelves before placing the paper in them.  This will allow the paper to fit as closely as possible.  If you have enough wrapping paper to recycle this way, you may be able to place more than one layer in each drawer.  Remove the top layer of paper when it is soiled and you’ll already have another to replace it.

• Be sure to store it in a dry, out of the way place. You can try re-rolling it, or folding it and keeping it in plastic totes. You can get tall, thin ones just for gift wrap these days that don't take much floor space. 

Of course you can solve the storage problem and save a lot more gift wrap by not using it at all to wrap your Christmas gifts, and encouraging your family and friends by your own example to follow suit. 

Find out how…

5 Ways to Have a Paperless Christmas

Christmas is coming, don't forget to save your wrap this Christmas.

Bookmark this page so that you can come back for some great ideas on what to do with it. 

Want to save even more packaging, more money and have more fun Christmas gift giving this year?

Make your own Christmas gifts too.

I've created a guide called Make It Special that is packed full of simple, homemade skin care items that you can make (bath items, body butters etc).  People LOVE this stuff and you will too.

The guide is packed full so that you can have an all around great Christmas with your family, without breaking the bank.

Get it early so you'll have lots of time to play, and Make It Special.