Life Hackery

It’s Christmas morning, and you and your family are checking out the gifts from under the brightly-lit Christmas tree. Billy got a new bicycle, Samantha got a new doll house, Daddy now has a new porcelain smoking pipe, and Mommy has the limited-edition ballroom music CD she always wanted. Billy and Samantha start tearing at the wrappers, while Daddy and Mommy carefully unwrap their own presents. At first, there’s a smile on your face knowing that you made your family happy this Christmas. Then you look at the discarded gift wrappers, and you let out a sigh knowing that they will be bound for the trash bin.

Every year come Christmas time, tons of gift wrappers are discarded. Gift wrappers fill up garbage bins, dumpsters, landfills, and recycling centers. When you think of how many trees are cut to make a single roll of gift wrap, you would know what kind of environmental damage discarded gift wrappers can cause. Instead of throwing gift wrappers away, you can reuse and recycle them to make all sorts of different, useful objects.

Foil Hand Fans

Many Christmas gift wraps today are made from foil or metallic plastic films. Compared to metal cans and plastic containers, foil wrappers are quite difficult to recycle because they’re so thin. One way to recycle foil wrappers is to make hand fans out of them:

1. Prepare two to three sheets of foil gift wrappers, and join them together on each side with glue to make the body of the fan. The thicker the body of the fan, the better. It’s best to use white glue instead of a glue gun. Do not use strong adhesives, because you may end up melting the foil.
2. Prepare nine long Popsicle sticks or bamboo skewers. Join them together on one end with a screw and washer, or a nut and bolt, to make the ribs of the fan.
3. Attach the foil wrapper body to the ribs of the fan with glue. Do not use tape, because the foil wrapper will come off.
4. After the glue has dried, trim the gift wrapper to fit the edges of the fan’s ribs.

Christmas Scrapbooks and Cards

Christmas gift bags have a strong, clean inside surface. If you have many gift bags, you can cut away the broad sides of the gift bags to make Christmas scrapbooks. The inside surface of gift bags are ideal for pasting Holiday pictures, or for writing small notes. (More tips on how to make a scrapbook)

For large gift bags, you can use the white cardboard to make Christmas cards. Cards made from gift bags are less expensive compared to cards you buy from the bookstore. You can even cut small squares from gift bags to make gift tags for Christmas gifts.

Book Covers

Most people unwrap presents carefully to preserve wrapping paper, although many of the wrappers end up just stored inside drawers and shelves. While many gifts and boxes can be wrapped with last year’s gift wrappers, you can also use paper gift wrappers as book covers. When using gift wrap to cover books, here are some things you need to keep in mind:

• The wrapper should be as smooth as possible. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to iron out the crinkles and creases from used gift wrap.
• Make sure that the wrapper is thicker than ordinary gift wrap that costs a few cents from the bookstore.
• Check the wrapper for any signs of mold or fungi, because they can leach into the leaves of the book.
• To see if the wrapper design resists moisture, smudge a drop of water at one corner of the gift wrap. The ink should not come off. If the wrapper is not water-resistant but you insist on using it as a book cover, you may need to cover the book with acetate film.

Handbags

Gift wrappers with a thick grade can be used to make many handicrafts. Thick gift wrappers can be glued, stapled, or taped together to form handbags. Some Christmas gift wrappers are also made with cloth, which can be sewn together to make everything from purses to recycled, eco-friendly shoulder bags. While bags made from recycled Christmas wrappers are not meant to last as long as leather or canvas bags, they do make good tokens or mementos for Christmas gatherings, parties, or small casual dinner events.

Papier-Mâché

Those torn-up or crumpled paper wrappers don’t have to go straight to the trash can. With enough wrapping paper and a lot of creativity, you can make all sorts of papier-mâché items like dolls, masks, and even intricate sculptures.

Papier-mâché starts with a papier-mâché base, which you can make easily with these ingredients:

• Wrapping paper
• Chlorinated bleach or lye (optional)
• Water
• Polyvinyl acetate glue (ordinary white art glue)
• Acrylic paint

To make the base for your papier-mâché art, follow these easy steps:

1. Flatten out all the crumpled wrapping paper. For wrapping paper kept whole, you need to cut them up into thin strips. You may want to hang on to the bigger pieces of shredded wrapping paper.
2. If you want to keep the paper you’ll use for papier-mâché white, soak them for 15-30 minutes in bleach or lye. Remember that bleach or lye will soften the paper, so you need to keep the paper pieces from dissolving into fibers.
3. Rinse the bleached pieces of paper in water, and keep them wet in a separate bowl of water.
4. Mix together one and a half parts of water for every part of PVA glue, until you get a runny, opal-colored mixture. Be careful with the proportions; if you use too much glue, the papier-mâché item will end up a crusty mess of paper fibers and dried glue. If you use too much water, the papier-mâché item will not hold together.
5. To assemble papier-mâché, dip the paper strips in the glue and water mixture, and lightly lay the pieces on the mold or the shape. Perform the same steps until you have completely covered the mold. More paper and glue layers will make the papier-mâché item stronger.
6. Allow the papier-mâché to dry for 12 to 24 hours in a cool, airy place. When the papier-mâché item has dried, paint it with whatever color or design you like.

Part of what makes the Christmas spirit so enjoyable and thrilling is the excitement of opening a gift. Wrappers may just be ways to cover a gift, but the joy of Christmas and gift-giving does not have to come at the expense of the environment. With these simple ways to recycle Christmas gift wrappers, each and every part of your gifts will truly be appreciated by your friends and family this season. For more information regarding this article, read how to make a reusable gift wrap.