This is my last wrapping inspiration post of the season…and I’m sharing natural and sustainable gift wrap ideas! I am so happy the way these gorgeous presents and photos turned out. Joy came over last week, and we had a present wrapping party while our little ones played. I wrapped, Joy photographed and it was glorious. We hadn’t created together for nearly two years, and it was so rejuvenating and needed!

My motivation here was to provide a few ideas of inspiration for natural and sustainable gift wrapping, and then let your creativity take over! Everything can be reused or recycled (or burned if you have a fireplace or wood stove). Brown paper is my all-time favorite wrapping paper. Especially when tied up with string. It’s so versatile and can always be reused, and feels so old-timey. I also love using it as fire starter after it’s past its wrapping life.

For the gift embellishments, I used naturally dyed wool yard and cotton twine, both of which are 100% natural. I keep a bag of recycled ribbons, yarn, and string in my craft closet, and reuse as I can. For decoration, I wanted to use items that my gift recipients could either reuse as other gifts toppers, or put to use in a holiday stovetop potpourri. (Like modifying this recipe). Dried oranges and lemons, star anise, cinnamon sticks, pinecones (miniature and large), dried apple slices, sprigs of fresh pine. The options and combinations are limitless!

When I’m wrapping, I usually give myself a few coordinating wrapping papers (or sometimes just brown kraft paper) to start with, and then surround myself with the raw materials with which to embellish. When wrapping gifts, I love to come up with different arrangements of string/yard/ribbon and other “toppings.” My favorite look from these inspirations is the dried apple strung on yarn. The apple dried so beautifully, and the star center is just so lovely and subtly Christmasy. I ended up liking the dried lemon more than the orange, because the dried lemon flesh turned a deep burgundy color. So lovely. For drying the citrus, I followed my own instructions from two years ago.

Do you have much wrapping left to do? I hope this inspires you (and you still have time to dry some citrus and apples if you want to go with these looks)! Merry wrapping! (And here’s some fun, kid-friendly wrapping ideas, or some elegant, velvet embellished gifts).

Photography by the lovely Joy of Mornings Like These.