7 Ideas for Used Wrapping Paper

Today’s list was inspired, in part, by my Christmas post, involving leftover wrapping paper.

Here are some things you can use it for, instead of just trashing it:

1. Reuse the Stuff–My family has reused wrapping paper for years.  If you just love the kind that someone gave you this year, chances are good that they won’t really remember what they wrapped yours in–so when you wrap theirs in it next year, they will love it (they ought to, since they picked it out originally).  Additionally, you can almost guarantee that your wrapping paper won’t be duplicated–not many papers stay in stores two years in a row.
2. Scrap Booking–Some of the wrappings from Christmas are just so darn cute that you can’t give them up easily.  If you put them into your scrapbook–cut out the pictures, make wrapping paper background, etc–you won’t have to give them up.  Ever.
3. Snowball Fight–I touched on this Christmas day, but it really is a fun way to play around with kids.  Just be careful, they may gang up on you…
4. Basketball–This may seem elementary to some of you, but all you really need for a least a few minutes of entertainment (perhaps hours, if you have that sort of an attention span) is some wadded up wrapping paper and a trash can.  Football, Soccer, and other sports are also possible, if your imagination is up for the challenge.
5. Colored Fire–When different colors of ink burn, they make fire different colors than just the traditional orange.  I am unaware of any inks that make flames toxic, so go nuts!  It could be more fun than burning bugs with a magnifying glass…
6. Packaging–If you are on vacation over the holidays, you may want to pack your damageable items carefully using their own wrappings as padding.  I suggest wadding up pieces of paper and putting them in between the damageables.  Be cautious and use common sense when doing this!  You don’t want to ruin your presents.
7. Tree Ornaments–My (some amount of “Great”) Grandma used to make tree ornaments using wrapping paper and Styrofoam balls.  She would soak the wrapping paper in glue and then mold it around the Styrofoam balls.  I RECOMMEND THAT YOU TRY OUT THIS IDEA ON WRAPPING PAPER THAT YOU DON’T LIKE FIRST, that way you can work out the bugs in the process, before you try it out on your very favorite paper.

Feel free to add any other uses you have found for old wrapping paper to the comments–I think we could all use a few more ideas, since most of us have enough of the stuff for more than 7 things.