5 Top Kraft Paper Xmas Gift Wrapping Ideas

THE CREATIVE SOLUTION | Inexpensive white or brown kraft paper, the kind that comes in big rolls from art supply stores, is the perfect blank canvas to use for wrapping holiday gifts. Here are 5 ways to make it look special.

Could there be anything more sophisticated than a crisp, white kraft-paper-wrapped package (like the one pictured above) set off with a generous, reusable wire bow.

Brown paper packages tied up with string really are one of our favourite things, particularly when they’re spruced up with bits of ribbon and bough the way Martha Stewart has done above. CLICK HERE to see dozens of her gift wrapping ideas.

Brendan Power used brown kraft has as both a base wrap (with a scrap tissue sleeve) and a sleeve over commercial gift-wrap in packaged shown above. In both instances he combined the kraft with coloured twine, scraps of wire and greenery such as sprigs of holly or bits of twig. The results look both Japanese modern and earthy.

You can skip the gift tags and splurge on pretty ribbon instead (that can be recycled) when you wrap and stamp your packages like those pictured above on Jen Jafarzadeh L’Italien’s blog the haystackneedle.com. CLICK HERE for to see more of this Real Simple editor’s creative ideas.

Do you have odd bits and ends of old gift wrap and ribbon lying around that you can’t bring yourself to throw out? Why not combine them with a Kraft paper base to create super quick, one-of-a kind gift packages. That’s what Brendan Power did here when he added a sleeve made of recycled commercial wrap and a wisp of reused wire ribbon to the gift above. —Ruth Rainey

Opus Framing has kraft paper rolls 36 inches wide by 100 feet long (it feels like 30-40 pound weight). Brown is priced at $20.50, white is $23.10. Visit opusframing.com.