I've seen this technique at a restaurant;

they wrinkled the paper bags & used some product to make them shiny (shellac? varnish?), & it was very cool!

I turn the bags inside out so that any store printing is on the inside and cut the bottoms out and use it like kraft paper to wrap packages to post.

:)

A couple times, I have been known to recycle the brown lunchbags by puting a gift for someone in it. then I used old twine to tie it shut at top. very pretty!

It just reminds me of the song, "favorite things...."

Brown paper packages,
warm woolen mittens,
some thing goes here, cant remember....
whiskers on kittens

:)

My Favourite Things

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with string,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Cream coloured ponies and crisp apple strudel,
Door bells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Girls in white dresses and blue satin sashes,
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes,
Silver white winters that melt into spring,
These are a few of my favorite things,

When the dog bites,
When the bee stings,
When I'm feeling sad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel, so bad.

Does anybody hate gift bags as much as I do?
I know they're convenient, but opening a gift bag just isn't the same as unwrapping something.
Poor little kids of today...

gift wrap:

brown paper bag (tie with brightly-colored yarn & decorate with a spray of ripe wheat, holly leaves & berries, pine cones, dollar bills, etc.)

Sunday funny papers (they're in color)

wallpaper, scraps or pieces from an old sample book

I did the whole brown-paper wrapping for several years. No matter how I decorated them, they just looked depressing. Christmas is hard enough, with most of my family being dead, so a little color and brightness help a lot. Then we let the dog open the gifts, which reduces them to soggy shreds (and reduces us to gales of laughter), which we can throw in the compost. Myabe it's not so ecologically sound, but "sometimes you need froo-froo." (Landford Wilson, "Tally's Folly")

oops, didn't mean to give the impression that I think brown paper or newspaper is the only way to wrap a present!

It's just one alternative to those boring gift bags!

I know someone who did the torn paper bag method on their kitchen floor. The bags were torn into irregular 2"-3" pieces. It looked nice. It's been quite a few years ago, but I remember that it was very smooth on the top, not rumpled, so I don't know what he used to seal and coat it all.

Speaking of brown paper bags, I just LOVE the look and texture of them for wrapping gifts and packages to mail. My favorite tie for a brown paper gifts is torn strips of plaid fabric. I also use brown paper bags to make envelopes, by opening and cutting along the seam and using a received envelope as a pattern. I use the BPBs in my art, too, to paint on or collage with or whatever.
Wanda in South Texas

Here is a link that might be useful: The Bee Hive

sylviatexas, I thought i was the only one who hated those giftbags. I have said the same thing 100x about the poor kids and not getting the joy off unwrapping a present. That was the best part of a party. Now what do i do with all those gift bags? I try to regift them to adults for birthday presents and even teachers gifts. But what can i do with the Batman and Princess bags?

I did my walls 3yrs ago with that method. I wadded up shreds of brown paper and dipped it in a mix of water and polyurethene (sorry I don't remember the ratio. Its probably on DIY) then smoothed it onto the walls. It is really neat. If I want to replace it, it should just peel right off.

As for those gift bags, we just keep passing them back and forth. Its kinda fun to see those old friends at the next kids' birthday party.

Jackie

I take them to charity-run thrift stores, but you could also craigslist or freecycle them.

& I've had good luck getting rid of "perfectly useable" things in the past by setting them at the curb with a sign that says "free".

Another way to use them is to put your compost into them: corn husks, leaves, grass clippings and such, then throw the whole darn thing into the compost bin.

I used to wrap my kids gifts in funny papers :) Now we exchange handmade and/or food gifts ... no wrapping allowed.

Haven't bought gift wrap in years.

I tried loading them up with compostable greens, but eventually had to bust it up with a shovel. weird, huh? "shrugs".

Anyway, when I have alot of them, I run em thru the shredder.

OK, Doris,
When I load up the bags with my compostabes, I usually end up thowing it UPSIDEDOWN on my compost pile.
I'm of the type that piles it up, and lets it rot. So I pile it up over the year and maybe turn it once in the fall and once in the spring, then use it the next year. Oh, I guess the kids turn it once or twice again looking for fishing worms in late spring/early summer. It is also open to the elements so it gets rained on which helps that bag disintegrate. *Shrug* BG ;)

see, there ya go, thats the difference, Im to impatient! ROFL! I was in there 2-3 weeks later digging around and said "what? No rot yet?"

ROFL!

Hello,

To recycle plastic goods or paper, I need paper bags. Unfortunately, I don't have any and don't get them when grocery shopping. Any suggestions on how to get some? Or does anyone know someone with a stockpile they want to unload?

Thanks