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Want to get that brown kraft paper gift wrap look for cheap? You’ll probably laugh when I tell you where I found mine…
Merry Christmas Eve, friends!
Going all out on a “theme” for holiday gift wrapping has never really been a tradition in my family. We might grab one of those 3-pack rolls of wrapping paper where they share a color scheme, but that’s about as far as we’ve ever gone. It’s not really that I haven’t ever wanted to try something a little fancier… it’s that I never had the time!
This year, I went for it with my neutral/woodland Christmas theme. And it was a lot of fun. Not all that much extra work, either.
The best part for me was finding the kraft paper for super cheap. I noticed that whenever a cheap DIY hack like this becomes really trendy, it gets repackaged and sold at a premium. The brown kraft paper is relabeled as wrapping paper, and then suddenly it’s $5-10 more expensive and has at least 4 fewer feet on the roll… funny how that happens, eh?
Instead, I went searching at the home improvement store in the dropcloth aisle where you find painter’s tape. There, I found the same paper for just $4. The roll is actually so long, it will no doubt outlast my desire to wrap things in it. That happens whenever I think I’m being “smart” by buying a huge roll (can anyone relate?).
For the record, these are all actual gifts. No fake empty boxes. So all of this pretty packaging is in the burn pile as I type this (oh well, fun while it lasted).
I was really excited about that glittery gold wrapping paper you see, too. But after trying in vain to wrap only two gifts and seeing it wholly reject my tape, I gave up. It also tore really easy (thick enough not to fold neatly; forcing it tears… UGH). Who designs crappy-ass gift paper that looks this beautiful but can’t be taped or folded without popping open again?? Even clear packaging tape was of no use. So frustrating. If you’ve got a solution for me, I’m all ears — I have almost two rolls of this beautiful, useless stuff.
I learned my lesson. Stick to the kraft paper and get creative instead. I found the feathers at the craft store and the bows were leftovers from my Christmas stash. The flourishes might have been a little more spendy than I usually go for, but the cheap paper made it about the same cost and looks a lot nicer.
Sources:
I guess I now understand why magazines will package all of their presents under the tree to match their theme; it looks way more professional than we all know I am. But unlike the magazine versions you might see, this was short-lived; about three hours after everyone (plus dogs) arrived for our Christmas dinner, it was all gone.
Have you ever used the kraft paper gift wrapping idea? I found tons of other ideas online that I am keeping in mind for next time!
Last year I got a roll of glitter paper from Target and ran into the same issues you had. I ended up hot gluing the paper and that worked really well. It’s still kind of a pain to use that paper but at least it stays closed.
I’d use it as super shiny filler in gift bags or be creative in wrapping and use bakers twine to hold it all “shut”.
Great ideas! I think it will have a second life, just not as traditional wrapping paper. Thanks for providing the inspiration!
Oh, yes. I love the Kraft paper. It’s also found in the aisle with mailers and envelopes, etc. Waaaaay back before we just stuck a gift in a USPS Priority/UPS/FedEx mailer, we would wrap a gift in “nice” paper and then again in the Kraft… or slipped the nice and just used Kraft! Held up to tape and then string wrapped AND the post office could clearly read the address. ?
The plain brown paper looks so nice with certain finishing touches. I think it’s a great wrapping option (and cheap!).
Usually dollar stores carry it too, bought a roll a year or 2 ago, make my own simple repeating patterns for some gifts (especially if they are large and for kids) – cheaper and more durable than most regular wrapping paper :)