Beautiful DIY Gift Wrapping Ideas for $1 or less (So Easy!)
Today’s DIY gift wrapping ideas are all about a line from this beloved song : ” Brown paper packages tied up with strings, these are a few of my favorite things.”
So true. Who needs fancy gift wrapping supplies when we have something so timeless? The humble brown paper and a few things gathered from nature can offer us endless possibilities when it comes to Christmas DIY gift wrapping and beyond!
I will share 7 best tips and tricks on how to wrap our gifts beautifully and really easily without any special gift wrapping paper or ribbons. Most of the materials we will be using today are free, or very low cost and easy to find.
It was so much fun playing with different ideas, I had to split the tutorial into 2 parts! This is part 1. In part 2, we will be using the same materials, and create festive designs like Christmas trees and wreaths on our Christmas gift wrapping.
*Some resources in article are affiliate links. Full disclosure here.
Check out Part 2 of Christmas gift wrapping tutorial here.
Materials for our creative DIY gift wrapping:
( Some of the helpful resources are affiliate links. Full disclosure here. )
- brown paper: you can buy very inexpensive brown kraft paper here , (or white kraft paper ) or take apart paper shopping bags. You will also need some clear scotch tape to wrap the packages
- Strings: my favorites are hemp twine ( we used this 48 lb thickness hemp twine here, which looks fabulous) and baker twine, like these festive red and white ones. You can also use jute twine, or yarn.
- Natural elements: cuttings from evergreen trees and shrubs such as boxwood, rosemary, eucalyptus, cedar, juniper, etc. Colorful berries like Holly, Firethorn, pepper tree, etc. Seed pods and pine cones are also great materials to create with.
IMPORTANT: avoid plant materials that may cause allergies or are poisonous, such as Oleander, poison oak, etc. If unsure, take a picture of a plant and ask your local nursery experts. The popular ones mentioned above are all safe.
Once you have wrapped some gifts with brown paper and gathered some materials from nature, let’s look at our 7 best DIY gift wrapping tips and tricks!
Helpful tip: Most of the fresh cuttings will look nice for 3 to 7 days without water. But you can collect them and put them in a vase with water, which will make them last longer, until you are ready to use them.
1 . Mix colors and textures
Even green foliage cuttings can have so many shades of colors and textures. There are shiny bright greens, dark and light greens, silver greens, blue greens, and all kinds of textures.
These DIY gift wrapping ideas are great for special occasions beyond Christmas, such as Hanukkah, New Year, birthdays, or thank-you gifts.
2. Festive vibe with red and green
Red berries from trees such as Holly or Brazillian pepper combined with greenery look so merry and festive on your gift package
3. Let it snow
Are you wondering where the snow comes from? You can easily add a magical touch to your gifts with these snow covered pine cones and branches! Super easy Tutorial here.
Another great snowy DIY for the holiday season are these 5 minute snow frosted mason jar centerpieces, tutorial here.
5 minute snow frosted mason jar centerpieces DIY tutorial.
4. Everyone loves candy cane
Festive red and white baker twine is perfect for Christmas DIY gift wrapping. It adds extra holiday cheer to the brown paper packages and green foliage cuttings.
5. One string, many variations
Strings don’t have to be tied into a cross pattern. You can create interesting designs with them like in the photos above and below.
If you love the mini wreath Christmas gift wrapping idea, here’s the tutorial on how to make them!
DIY mini wreaths and trees Christmas gift wrapping tutorial.
6. Adorn it with pine cones
Pine cones are great for so many winter and Christmas decorations. They also look lovely on a gift package.
These snow covered pine cones are super easy to make, tutorial here.
Now that I think about it, these “bleached pine cones” would be beautiful on the gift wrap as well! Here’s the secret on how to make “bleached pine cones” without bleach!
DIY “bleached pine cones” without bleach!
7. Put a pretty tag on it.
A simple gift tag might just be the perfect finishing touch eon your Christmas DIY gift wrapping. If you have a lot of gift packages, writing names on the gifts tags will also make it a lot easier to organize all your gifts.
Another great way to decorate with these foliage cuttings and pine cones is to make a centerpiece! Here’s a tutorial on how to make an easy & free DIY Christmas centerpiece!
10 minute beautiful & free DIY Christmas centerpiece!
Happy creating! If you tried any of these ideas, upload a picture under our pins on pinterest. We would love to see it!
Such incredible advice from so many awesome sources! I love it!
Thank you for sharing! These wrapping ideas are so brilliant!! Love it so much!
I love the idea of much more low-waste and recyclable gift wrapping. I would just have to be careful with any actual nature elements because my cat would try to eat it all!
Beautiful DIY gift wrapping project. Love that you recycle the grocery store paper bag into your gift wrapping.
Totally going to do this with our stack of grocery bags. I love how it looks!
Wow, these all look amazing! And so quick and easy to do too – I need to up my wrapping game for sure!