Recycled Gift Packaging

If you're anything like me, the holidays aren't just a time for snow and poinsettias and thoughts of dancing sugar plums. They're also a time for junkmail.  And lots of it.  However, thanks to some creative re-imagining over at How About Orange you can turn those piles of catalogs and coupons into gift packaging!

Out of magazine advertisements I made miniature gift bags based on the newspaper gift-bag tutorial and a version of the magazine gift bow. I also adapted the yellow page bow tutorial to make the miniature decorative/magazine paper bows shown below. 

The steps are basically the same, I just used thinner, shorter strips of paper and only four (~ 9 cm) large and two  medium (~ 7.5 cm) sized strips. Fold and glue all of the strips into loops (2 & 3). Then place a dab of glue on the inside of each loop (except the smallest one) and pinch the loops closed (4). 

Glue the loops in an overlapping pattern, start with the four largest (5-7) and continue with the two medium ones (8 & 9). Finish with the smallest loop (10). 

Wouldn't they be just adorable decorating these miniature paper boxes?