Thrifty Ideas for Recycling Paper Gift Bags

It’s a conundrum most people face the world over – especially after an engagement party, a wedding reception, or a milestone birthday party. Instead of wrapping presents with paper and sticky tape, many of our invited guests will choose the road less tedious and opt instead for paper gift bags. So, what do we do with these paper gift bags once the festivities are over and done with? Instead of throwing them away or leaving them to gather dust atop a cupboard in your home, here’s how to frugally reprocess your paper gift bags! It’s all about reduce, reuse, recycle…

Regifting Used Gift Bags

It’s the most common way to recycle your used paper gift bags, and you’ve probably considered it once or twice already. Regifting your used gift bags, especially if they’re still in relatively good condition, is one way to get them out of your home and into someone else’s. Just be sure not to gift someone with a gift bag that they actually gave to you on a previous occasion! When in doubt, wrap your paper gift bag with newspaper and they’ll be none the wiser.

Gift Bag Cupboard Inserts

This thrifty method of recycling paper gift bags only works with larger gift bags you might have lying around. Simply cut the square side panels off of your larger gift bags, and use them as cupboard inserts to keep your clothing from being exposed to deteriorating chip wood surfaces many cupboards are made out of.

Household Storage Solutions

Prefer not to cut apart your gift bags in the name of frugality? Consider using them as household storage solutions! Like-sized paper gift bags can be placed next to each other in shoe cupboards to store pairs of shoes, preventing damage. You can also place smaller paper gift bags on top of your toilet cisterns to hold toilet rolls, and hang your used paper gift bags on the inside of clothing cupboards to store socks and underwear.

Scrapbooking Decorations

Got some time on your hands? Are you a fan of scrapbooking? Why not use your paper gift bags as scrapbook decorations? Simply cut out any featured images from the side panels of your gift bags, and for those that don’t feature images – you can use your scissors to cut cool shapes!