So, Christmas is over and the January birthdays are rolling in fast. It's easy to get buried under a giant pile of wrapping paper at this time of year, but don't throw it away!


Here at Spotlight we’ve put our heads together and come up with some great ideas to reuse that leftover wrapping paper in some truly creative (and thrifty!) ways.


* Shred it to create colourful and pretty packing materials
* Use it to cover a folder or box to keep that year’s Christmas/birthday/event cards in, to save and keep.
* Cut into rectangle pieces and staple together at the top to create a quick notepad – write on the white side of the paper.
* Use it to cover dividers in your diary or a folder.
* Line your dresser drawers or shelves.
* Make decorative box label inserts for filing boxes.
* Frame exceptionally pretty wrapping paper in a frame or embroidery hoop to create instant, cheap wall art. Try a few different sized frames/hoops clustered together on your wall with different wrapping paper inside to create an interesting display.
* Using an interesting shaped craft punch, cut out a shape of the paper and glue it onto some cardstock to create christmas/birthday/event gift tags for next year.
* Using circle craft punches, punch out different sized circles of Christmas wrapping paper. Draw a bare Christmas tree or garland on a blank card, and glue the circles of wrapping paper on as baubles or garland decorations.
* Decoupage the front of “bits and bobs” drawers for your craft supplies. You know what I'm talking about! We all have plenty of those "bits and bobs".
* Decoupage a shoe box full of craft supplies for your children to use next year to create their own Christmas ornaments or handmade birthday gifts.
* Fill empty, clear baubles with scrunched up wrapping paper to create mementos of that year’s presents.
* Stuff scrunched up wrapping paper into hats or the toes of shoes to keep their form while in your closet.
* Cut the paper into squares, ready for some origami projects.
* Cut into triangles and machine sew across the shorter edge, leaving a chain of stitches between each triangle, to create festive bunting for your parties.
* Cover cans to create pencil/scissors/paintbrush holders or utensil holders.
* Cut a matching rectangle from wrapping paper and a cereal box, and glue the wrapping paper to the coloured side of the cereal box rectangle to create a bookmark.
* Decoupage plain napkin rings (or curtain rings!) to create festive napkin rings for your next party.
* Make a Christmas card or thank you card (for this year’s gifts) with wrapping paper scraps.


For bigger pieces of wrapping paper, remove all the sticky tape and smooth out most of the creases with your hand. With your iron on low and dry, place a tea towel over your wrapping paper and iron out those creases – but be careful!


And if all else fails – you can always recycle the paper kind of wrapping paper with the rest of your recyclables.


What do you do with your left over wrapping paper? We hope some of these ideas have inspired you to recycle and reuse your old wrapping paper, and maybe take a look at some other discarded things around your house with a different view!


Please share your wrapping paper recycling ideas below!

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