Noreen told me about a nice tutorial she has up at Hankering for Yarn. Here’s a quote from Part 2 to get you all perky about it:
The pages are brown paper that was all wadded up as packing material in a box of something or other that got shipped to us. It was just too nice to toss into the recycling…. so I saved it, knowing that the perfect project would come up.
And she did find the perfect project! Take a look:

Visit Recycled brown paper journal – All the links for the complete roundup on making your own darling journal …read more

Have you ever seen the wrapping paper they always seem to use in films set before 1950 or so?  Doesn’t it look suspiciously like the brown paper bags you can still get in grocery stores? (You do have to ask for it now, I think.)
I love presents wrapped in the stuff because it is understated and makes the present the focus.
All you have to do is cut the bottom out of the sack, then cut along the edge or seam up the side of the bag.  Now wrap.
If you want to, you can use some twine or hemp as ribbon …read more