How to Repurpose Vintage Fabric for Gift Wrapping
Happy December everyone! This month is all about the Holidays, decorating our home, the…
This month is all about the Holidays, decorating our home, the trees and wrapping the presents. All of these fun activities can take a toll on a person. Especially me! Today I’m going to show you how I do my gift wrapping with vintage fabric.
I love to see the presents all wrapped up and placed under the tree in time for Christmas. I remember as a little kid anxiously waiting to open those presents. And when my kids were young I’d sent them off to bed and stay up half the night wrapping boxes and adding embellishments. It had become a therapeutic ritual for me after all of the rushing around and shopping.
This of course was when the kids were little. As they grew older I tried to be frugal with the wrapping paper because it was a waste to throw all that paper away. And believe me with four kids, it was a LOT of paper. I even tried using it as a fire starter at one point but I think it was not the best paper for that idea.
In my effort to reduce all of this paper waste I started to wrap gifts with fabric scraps that I had at home – and not just for Christmas. I have lots of pieces of fabric either from old clothes or from curtains that I don’t use anymore. You can use old tablecloths, old sheets anything really as long as you like the pattern and fabric. And I know you have them too, you just need to look at them from a different perspective.
Who says we have to throw everything away? Many of these ribbons that are on the pastry box are so pretty… of course what’s inside the pastry box is also very good, but that’s another story.
If you have a ribbon with writing on it, there is a way to get the ink off. The solution was provided by L’Atelier de Marie-Anne over here. Thank you Marie-Anne, now I can use up all of my pastry ribbons! And they are aplenty!!
The lace you see below was part of a dress my girls wore when they were little and sweet. Well they are not little anymore and they don’t wear lace, and as for sweet, well, as a mama I have to say they are still sweet!
I made this tag by cutting a circle and then using an old hole punch I found to make this pattern.
I hope you have enjoyed my ideas on how to repurpose vintage fabric (or any fabric for that matter) for gift wrapping. Have you ever wrapped your gifts in unusual ways?
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Hello Mary,
this truely is a great idea! Some clothes just aren’t any good to give it to charity. Even though I still find it hard just to throw them away (meaning: giving them to my husband so he can use it in the garage for wiping up anything spilled, etc.). Thus I’ve got quite a stash in the studio too… Thank you for sharing this idea with us!
Have a lovely week!
Marjan
I am so glad to hear that it can be useful Marjan. Some of these scraps are so pretty but not big enough to do much with. So why not use them this way!
What a great idea. A nice twist.
Thank you Kellie. I try to go for the unexpected sometimes. Don’t want to bore my readers (wink)!
Mary, I like your attention to frugality. In our house growing up, we had to cut wrapping paper off carefully, then put back in the box to be reused next year. Today when I see young folks ripping off the beautiful paper, I can’t help but shudder at the waste. Old habits are hard to break. When I was grown, I told myself I wasn’t continuing that tradition, but I feel guilty every time I tear paper off…LOL.
I’m surprised to hear the paper doesn’t burn very well.
Florence the frugality came out of the fact that we had the crisis upon us but even with four kids you are always watching your pennies. I used to do the same thing when I was a kid, learned it from my mom. We would carefully unwrap the presents and reuse the paper. The paper is not good for the fireplace because the colors are toxic when burned. It burns just fine but is not good for inhaling .
I love this idea Mary. We donate most of our old cloths to the hospice, but I have lots of fabric scraps that piling up in the craft cupboard waiting for some kind of inspiration and what better way to save the environment and some money than to use them to wrap Christmas presents
I usually just keep them around till the right project comes along but I had really overdone it lately. I needed to use them somewhere. Why not for Christmas?
I love it! I will steal this idea, actually the whole article. I hope you won’t mind to quote your idea on my blog. 🙂
Gabi, I am glad to hear that you like it. It is an easy and eco-friendly way to celebrate without breaking the bank. I would be happy if you used a photo and a quote and even linked back, no problem at all.
Thank you, Maria. Always a joy to visit you here 🙂
This is inspiring. I love the idea of repurposing children’s outgrown clothing! commercial wrapping paper is such a waste and I love the idea of reusing something!
It really is an idea that serves more than one purpose. I am also on a tight budget so I cannot see spending money needlessly, but even if I wasn’t it still seems a waste to use paper like that.
I have quite a stash of vintage fabrics. I don’t know whether or not I can part with them though, but it’s a great idea. Maybe if I make sure they give me the fabric back after opening the present.
Claire you just solved your own problem. Have them give the fabric back to you.
What a super idea, Mary!!! I also keep lots of old clothes and fabric in two big suitcases and I really need to get rid of some of them.And I also have two boxes full of ribbons and lace. I will certainly use your idea to wrap my Christmas gifts!!! Thanks for sharing!!!!
I see we think alike Marie-Anne. This is a great way of using all those pretties without having to throw them out. And now other people will get to enjoy them too.
Thank you, Mary, for putting the link to my older post!!! I can imagine many of you now washing and removing the writing from your ribbons!!! You will see it is very easy!!!!
About the ribbon recycling, you might wish to have a look at my older post http://latelierdemarieanne.blogspot.gr/2012/10/ribbon-recycling.html
Greatest re-purpose ever. I plan to use some red and white buffalo check fabric I recently picked up in the thrift store. It is going to be so cute. Thank you for this fantastic idea!!!
Ohh, I am so glad I posted this. I am really surprised by the positive reaction this is getting. Thank you for letting me know that I’m not some kooky old lady who is hoarding things. Lol!
Mary, I really like this idea of using fabric to wrap gifts!! I need to go through my stash and find some cute stuff to wrap gifts. I think if I got a gift wrapped in fabric, I would be just as excited about the gift wrap as the present. 🙂 This is really brilliant and pretty!!
Thank Keri. I have to agree with you. Wrapping it up with fabric makes it extra special. And I know you have a stash, who knows it might even be as big as mine.
I have lots of fabric pieces, smaller and bigger ones, they’d be great to wrap presents! I totally agree that all that paper can get too much and is a waste, I use some paper for a few presents and then have big fabric bags, store bought though, for the bigger presents… I really like how you added gift tags and fun ribbons to the presents Mary! I’m sure they look so great under the tree!
Katrin that is a great idea, to use big fabric bags for the bigger presents. And I was even thinking we could use scarves as gift wrap and then when we are done, wear them as scarves. So many fun ideas instead of the paper which is a sad waste.
What a wonderful idea. The fabric is so pretty and how nice to reuse it over and over.
It sort of makes the gift extra special when it’s wrapped in fabric don’t you agree Debra? And so much less waste.
This is such a clever idea! I was just stacking fabric and wondering what to do with it!
Thanks for inspiring me!
karianne
KariAnne you inspire me every single day! I am honored to have been able to reciprocate. Thanks for visiting.
Love this idea Mary! I use to have a pretty good pile of fabric and scraps until I went through my divorce. Then I had to get rid of a lot, couldn’t take everything with me. But happy to say my stash is starting to grow.
My favorite is the twisted one with the tag!
Linda I’m glad to hear that you are growing your stash. I am trying to make it smaller because I really didn’t need that much. Really there are so many pretty patterns and fabrics out there as long as we are willing to look.
I love using fabric, wallpaper, anything that’s a it out of the ordinary for wrapping gifts. In a pinch, I’ll use a gift bag, but it’s rare to see me buying wrapping paper!
You’ve done a great job of demonstrating different fabrics and wrapping ideas Mary. Your resourcefulness is truly inspiring.
xxx
Girl, you know how much I love this idea!
Good Afternoon Mary, What a brilliant idea to repurpose material.
Reading your other comments I can see we all have the same feeling about wasting wrapping paper. My daughters used to tease me because I used to gather up the paper which was not torn too much and re-use it the following year… do you know I have even been known to iron crinkled paper, which my daughters think is hysterial. They love telling anyone who will listen about this story.
The trouble is, I can’t bear to throw away paper, it seems such a waste. I even cut up last years Christmas cards and use as tags.
I love this idea so I am going to wrap my daughters gifts in material….I know they will love it because they can reuse the material.
Best Wishes
Daphne
I too am like that Daphne always saying every scrap just in case I’ll be using it elsewhere. I hope your daughters were happy with their gift wrapping.
Love this idea Mary, they all look fabulous although I’m not sure I am ready to part with any of my fabric lol
This is such a creative way to use fabric and it’s much better than using paper to just rip and throw away.