Michael’s cloth bags replace single-use wrapping paper
Our family tradition of wrapping presents in fabric gift bags began as little brown paper bags. When my parents were first married in 1942, they lived in a basement apartment, the ceiling crisscrossed with pipes. For one of Mom’s birthdays, when Pop couldn’t afford much, he got her a bunch of little gifts, “Ning-A-Nings,” as we call them.
He put them in little brown paper bags and hung them with string on the pipes. When Mom came home from work, she was greeted with all these little bags of surprises. She loved it! We had paper bag birthdays from that point on!
Decorating paper bags
As children, my brother Andrew and I would draw pictures on the bags or paste cutouts from construction paper, magazines, and old greetings cards. We made bags for special occasions — Mother’s Day, Easter, etc., and saved our favorite ones from year to year.
Our mother Elizabeth hated to wrap presents, so eventually she wanted to convert Christmas to paper bags, too. Andrew and I resisted. To us kids, Christmas meant Christmas wrapping paper!
A compromise
So we compromised: we wrapped some presents in traditional gift wrap, and the rest we put in bags decorated with colorful Christmas cards, and glitter. We proved to be ahead of our time, because at some point, Hallmark stores and others began to offer their own paper bags printed with their own logos, Christmas themes, or fun graphics. (This was long before the commercially available, sturdier paper gift bags we can purchase today.) But we only allowed Christmas themed bags at our house.
We also saved gift boxes of different sizes and covered them with Christmas paper, old cards, etc. The decorated paper bags and boxes could be used over and over and were saved from year to year. With the gifts under the tree in wrapping paper, the Christmas-y paper bags and the paper covered boxes, Christmas still looked festive.
A reusable Christmas bag can replace holiday wrapping paper
Enter… cloth gift wrapping
Some time in my 20′s, Mom was pushing for the ease of all paper bags and boxes so she wouldn’t have to wrap anything ever again. (She would pass off her wrapping chore to her sons and husband so that we would wrap each other’s presents and she wouldn’t need to wrap anything!) But even as a grown up, I still wanted some Christmas paper…about that time, I began to notice Christmas fabrics.
I decided to surprise Mom with cloth Christmas bags. A rectangle of fabric, folded in half and sewn to make a simple sack with an attached ribbon for tying it closed. They had the satisfying festive look of Christmas paper. They made gift-wrapping super simple and they were compact to store. Mom was thrilled!
30-year-old cloth gift wrap bags
These cloth bags eventually edged out the paper Christmas bags, which eventually bit the dust, as well as most of the boxes, bulky to store. Some of these cloth bags we use every year are over 30 years old!
Now we all have collections of cloth Christmas bags, in different sizes to fit just about any gift. Over the years I’ve added bags in other fabrics for birthdays and holidays. As part of their gift, I make bags for some friends and family, who I know will use the bags and not just toss them away.
Wrapping gifts in cloth gift bags couldn’t be simpler. It takes minutes to “wrap” a pile of presents. No need to buy wrapping paper. Haven’t bought any in years!
How about you? How do you creatively wrap gifts without any waste?
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February 17, 2013 at 5:44 pm
I love this, Mike. I recently learned about furoshikis — Japanese wrapping cloths. I understand the Japanese government is trying to share the notion of furoshikis with the world as a contribution to sustainability!
February 18, 2013 at 4:08 pm
Hi Jacquie,
I also love the idea of furoshikis. I’ve never used them, since I have made all these bags over the years. The furoshikis look beautiful and pretty easy to do, but still I think Mom would have gone for the ease and speed of the cloth bags.
On a similar note. We have a wonderful vintage clothing store here in New Haven. I finally stopped in and had a great time poking about. I found a beautiful Hawaiian shirt.
When the lady rang up my order, rather that putting the shirt in a paper or plastic bag, she pulled some squares of fabrics from under the counter. She took the square I chose, place the folded shirt in the center and tied the opposite corners together to form a pouch. A bamboo stick was passed through the knot so that one could carry the purchase home “country picnic lunch/hobo sack” style! A fun and festive idea for a vintage clothing shop!
And the cotton polyester square I chose matched some delicate silk I has used on my Elf puppet from “Puss in Boots.” The silk had become torn and shredding. I was able to repair the Elf using that pouch fabric! On a return visit, I chose a beautifully patterned square for my purchase and then turned it into a new cloth bag for my collection!
February 19, 2013 at 12:00 am
Mike, you will be happy to know that not everyone tosses out wrapping paper. Every bridal or baby shower that I have ever attended assigned one friend to record the gifts and another to collect and smooth out the wrapping paper for later use and kept the ribbons together, too. When I attended a baby shower in Seattle a few years ago, the wrapping paper was collected, but the tissue paper was strewn all over the floor. I use tissue paper to fold and store or pack my clothes, so I collected it all, smoothed it out and took it back to NY. (Of course, I checked first to see if anyone else wanted some.)
February 19, 2013 at 12:47 am
Hello Bonnie,
I also save wrapping paper. I started as a child, because I loved the beauty of the paper and wanted to use it to wrap new packages and make things. Favorite paper was used to cover gift boxes which could be used over and over. Some I still have!
Some friends and family would get a bit impatient and annoyed at me in that I unwrapped the presents so carefully, removing the tape so as not to rip the paper. And they would sigh….”There he goes again!”
Now I carry a little exacto type knife to gift events and quickly slit the tape fast and unwrap the gift is about the same time would take to rip off the paper. The paper and ribbons can be reused, or used for projects. Small or ripped pieces are used for stocking stuffers.
At the annual Three Kings Party, there is often much tissue paper used to fill gift boxes and paper gift bags. I ask everyone for their tissue paper if they are planning to toss it. I use some for future gifts where cloth bags aren’t the choice and the sorry pieces are used to make the confetti for the magical effects in my puppet shows. I collect a lot of paper each year and I end up buying very little bran new tissue paper for my performances!
February 20, 2013 at 11:40 pm
Love your stories about paper bags and wrapping paper. We are of the same mind on this.
Glad you like the assignment of roles at the parties. It really works well and the friends are happy to be part of the whole process.
Best, Bonnie
February 19, 2013 at 12:54 am
Hi Bonnie,
PS. I really like your idea of assigning people the tasks of recording the gifts, collecting and smoothing out the paper. It is so easy to forget who gave what and having others do the “paper work” means the person getting the gifts doesn’t have to open presents and take the time to do all the saving and recording. Wonderful idea!
February 24, 2013 at 6:28 pm
Very cool; I have never understood this whole paper bag mania in the States anyway. Myself, I always keep the little jewelry bags when I get a new piece of jewelery: they make a really cute wrapping for small presents. You can also write a note on a piece of paper, add a sweet etc.
February 24, 2013 at 6:50 pm
Hello Odile,
The cloth jewelry bags would be great for gift bags! Our downstairs neighbor threw away two fancy cloth bags which must have come with shoes he purchased. Maroon velour with a logo. I’ll sew something holiday related, appliqué fashion, over the logo and get two new Christmas bags!
Speaking of notes, I save many of the Christmas cards and other holiday cards I receive. Just took down my Christmas cards from all over the dining room and will go through them to see which ones I can use for other things. If not written on the back part of front of the card, I can cut the card in half and the front of the card can be used for sending a note, or if the right size, become a postcard. If there is a design I can cut out of the front of the card, I can used a hole punch and make a gift tag. Or past the design to a piece of paper for a note card. Or on a paper bag to make a gift bag. I like the creativity involved in reusing the cards and making new things out of them. Some are too beautiful and beg to be used again!
Best wishes,
Mike
February 25, 2013 at 11:15 pm
Love the idea of repurposing shoe bags, Mike. Makes me think of some of the really fancy — velvet — bags I’ve received champagne and wine in over the years. They’d make gorgeous gift bags — ripe for repurposing! Thanks for the idea!
February 27, 2013 at 2:51 pm
This post brought back great childhood memories about my mom, so thank you for that Michael. She was always looking for the best deals and the best ways to save, which made her a waste hater as well – whether she knew it or not. As a little girl, all my Indian outfits were made out of the leftover fabric from hers. Adorable mother-daughter pictures in matching outfits? Check.
It’s amazing what you can do with some leftover fabric and a little imagination. Thanks for reminding us!
March 19, 2013 at 6:04 am
What a good idea. I simply cannot wait to try this one out. AND it looks a lot more fun. I always feel bad with wrapping paper that is so pretty then gets ripped to shreds. This is a much more sustainable, personal way of wrapping a present. Muwhahahaha. Am going to have to share the idea with all my family and friends.
Thanks for the article. It simply is a brilliant idea, but then the old ones usually are.
March 19, 2013 at 11:37 am
Michael,
This is great! I never thought about making my own reusable bags. Something I do at home is reuse newspaper to wrap birthday gifts. It gives the gift a really interesting and sharp look, while not creating any extra waste. My friends also like the personal touch of having the gift wrapped with the newspaper from their birthday.
March 19, 2013 at 11:49 pm
Hi Chelsea and Esther,
Glad you like the idea if cloth bags. We celebrated my brother Andrew’s birthday today. Each gift the three us gave to him was in a cloth bag. Wrapping all the gifts took minutes. And now I’m home and the bags are back in the “Bag Box,” ready for the next celebration.
Newsprint is a great idea. The colorful comics section are prized for wrapping gifts. I often use newspapers when cloth bags aren’t as good an option. (Mailed gifts or when someone is the type of person who would just toss a handmade cloth bag.) Sometimes I get an mail order item and find it is packed in what looks like plain newsprint paper. A soft tan color. Love it for wrapping paper. I also save colorful magazine pages, (flowers, animals, scenes, etc.) and “last year’s” calendar photos, (similar themes) to wrap small gifts.
I have my “cloth bag” box and another box for these found wrapping papers and saved wrapping paper from gifts others give me. Can’t recall the last time I had to purchase wrapping paper!
Have fun!
Peace, Mike
Best wishes!
Mike
March 20, 2013 at 1:49 pm
Hi Michael,
My family has a similar tradition at my house. When my mother was little my grandpa used to try and save money and avoided purchasing wrapping paper. This meant at every family celebration he would wrap presents in newspaper funnies. It ended up being a wonderful way of getting presents and my family still continues the tradition to this day. It makes opening presents twice as much fun since it’s almost like your getting two presents. You get your gift and you also get to enjoy reading the funny pages afterwards. I remember each birthday opening presents would be an endeavor as you had to be very delicate with the newspaper wrapping or otherwise you might rip the comics. I really like your wrapping cloth idea though and I’ll have to look into it as a possibility for next Christmas as a new tradition for the family!
March 21, 2013 at 6:02 pm
I am the environmentalist in my circle of friends and I have been trying for years to get my girlfriends to resist the lure of virgin gift wrap and consider alternatives. We do a secret santa, so every year, the person assigned to me uses newspaper or reused wrapping paper/accessories and my gift recipient gets the same, but no one else does this for anyone else. It’s given the same consideration as something inconsequential, like a favorite color.
But how do I to get through to them? How do I get them to change their behavior of their own accord (and NOT because I guilted them into it)?
I tried giving them the facts and appealing to their emotional sides, but that didn’t work. I believe this was because these appeals used fear or guilt. Yes, climate change is something to be alarmed about and we should consider how our actions affect those in vulnerable areas affected by it, but this did not seem to be a way to get durable behavior change. If anything, it perhaps gave them more reason to feel doomed and throw their hands up and say “it’s not like anything I do will make a difference.”
So I asked myself, what is it that people love about gift wrap? Anticipation is certainly a big factor. You want to make them excited by what’s inside but still conceal it fully, and maybe even throw them off. Also, some people may equate the presentation as a reflection of themselves (neat, durable, etc.) or if the gift will stay, say, under a tree for a while, then they may want it to play a part in their home decor. But basically, the prettier, the better for the recipient.
The solution I’d like to try means equating “pretty” with “creative” and hopefully INSPIRING others to change their ways! This is why I love the idea of using newspaper from the gift recipient’s actual birthday–because there is a deeper meaning behind it that hopefully trumps the fact that it is newspaper being used. Here are some other ideas that I’ve seen or done:
Save any large paper that is a solid color, especially white, for your base. (I used to save sheets from those giant pads of paper that companies use for brainstorming because the back was always blank. Junk mail and magazines can have fold outs that are blank on the back. Even reused gift wrap is white on the reverse side and brown paper grocery bags are blank on the inside.) Presents wrapped in white or in kraft paper always look clean especially with cute emellishments like yarn, pinecones, cut-outs from old greeting cards, stamps (both the mailing kind and the ink pad variety), children’s drawings, cut-outs from photographs, small figurines, corks, pop tops, etc.
Use this fun weaving techniques but with reused paper: http://www.brit.co/12-days-of-wrapping-pixel-weave/
Use the wrapping to give a hint of what’s inside. If you are giving a gift having to do with music, maybe you can use cassette tape film as “ribbon”. If it’s a scarf you knitted, yarn would be a great decorator.
Similarly, collages are a great way to either hint at what the gift is or tailor the pictures you chose to the recipient.
Old maps look very cool as gift wrap. Great for a travel theme!
Best of all, use these tips to create a fun envelope and stick a gift certificate for an experiential gift–the best and most memorable kind! That’s what my brother did when he gave me sewing lessons as a present. We’ll learn how to make drawstring pouches soon, so I think I’ll be making quite a bit of cloth gift wrap in the weeks to come.
Thanks for the post Michael!
April 15, 2013 at 11:33 pm
My family have not gotten to cloth bags yet, but we are very concious of saving as much of our gift wrapping materials as possible. Used wrapping paper that isn’t too ripped is either reused or cut into small pieces to used as gift tags. Bows and ribbons are reused (and much taped after the glue gives out). Gift bags are always reused and cards are cut up to use as more gift tags. Things can pretty much always be reused, and bags always means less tape- a blessing to a family with a tape-happy member.