Are you looking for inspiration and eco-friendly ideas to make your Christmas wrapping even more special this year? Here, we have shared five ideas for environmentally friendly Christmas gift wrapping using our Winter Fresh from the Farm Flower Box but you could use cuttings from your own garden or even some left over sprigs from our DIY Christmas wreath kit. We have also shared a couple of tips we have picked up along the way.
Choose Recycled and Recyclable Paper
Even now most wrapping papers cannot be recycled so choose recycled brown paper, kids drawing paper, thin recycled lining paper or sugar paper. You can also save the brown paper that is often used in parcels to use.
Hand Stamped Paper
Try hand stamping your paper to create something truly special. Not all-rubber stamps are equal - for beautiful quality rubber stamps we love the English Stamp Company, a family business based in rural Dorset. The English Stamp Company have a greater relief than regular stamps which creates a cleaner image and makes them easier to use. Stamping recycled packaging paper is the perfect way to create something special and unique. Here we have used The English Stamp Company’s Flower Buds stamp to upcycle some parcel paper.
Skip the sticky tape
With all these ideas you can wrap the present as usual, but tie the ribbon or string so that it catches the flaps of your gift so that you do not need to use sticky tape which often cannot be recycled.
1. Mini Herb Wreaths
- Eucalyptus or Rosemary stems from our Fresh from the Farm Flower Box but you can use other flexible stems that are at least 20cm / 8” in length.
- Other sprigs of flowers and foliage from your garden or box. We used Wax Flowers and Viburnum buds.
- Ribbon or string - we used brown cotton velvet.
- Your choice of wrapping paper - plain paper works best here - you can even recycle the brown paper from your Fresh from the Farm Box.
- Scissors - having separate paper and floristry / gardening scissors will keep your scissors sharper for longer - we love working with these Japanese floristry scissors.
- String - we reused the string from the Farm Box.
2. Bunches of Greenery Two Ways
What you will need:
How to Wrap with Bunches of Greenery
- Wrap your gift in the paper.
- Either just use one type of stem, as we have done with the rosemary bunches or create your own posies from a mix of sprigs.
- If you are creating posies then start with your most robust pieces at the back and layer the smaller, more delicate elements on top.
- Cut a piece of string long enough to wrap around your parcel at least once. Wrapping two to three times works well, as we have done in these images.
- Start by tying the base of your stems or posy in the centre of your long length of string.
- Place your tied bunch on top of your parcel in the centre and then wrap around the rest of the string, to fasten the parcel and keep the posy in place.
3. Mini Seasonal Garland
What you will need:
- Plain wrapping paper.
- Your choice of greenery - we used Rosemary, Pine, Vibernum and Eucalyptus berries from our Fresh from the Farm Flower Box.
- String.
- Scissors.
How to Wrap with Mini Garlands
- Wrap your gift in the paper.
- Choose how many sprigs you think will work best for the size of gift. We would suggest working with odd numbers.
- Cut your sprigs to about the same length - ours were around 10cm / 4”.
- Cut a piece of string long enough to wrap around your parcel, plus about 20cm extra.
- Decide how you want to space your sprigs of greenery and berries. and then tie the stalks onto the string to create your mini garland.
- Finish by wrapping the garland around the gift and securing with a knot.
4. Layered Decoration
What you will need:
How to Wrap with Layered Decoration
- Wrap your gift in the paper.
- Lightly ink your stamp (it’s worth having a practice with the stamp on a scrap piece of paper first).
- Stamp two leaves on the top face of your gift. Start with one leaf in the left-hand bottom corner at a slight angle. Then add a second leaf with its stem in the same direction but with the tip of its leaves angled away from the first leaf.
- Add a sprig of flowers where the two leaves meet and secure by wrapping the string around the gift and the stem of the flowers.
5. Textural String Wraps
What you will need:
How to created Textural String Wraps
- Wrap your gift in the paper.
- Wrap the string around your gift five or seven times (again, odd numbers work best), and secure with a knot at the back.
- Post the floral sprigs under the string wrapping.
Click here to shop our Winter Fresh from the Farm Flower Box.