Cheap Gift Wrap Ideas for an Office Gift Exchange
Dress up kraft, grocery bags, and recycled paper with desk supplies, twine, tags, and greenery for a neat exchange gift.
Cheap wrap for an office gift exchange starts with plain kraft paper, grocery bags, and recycled newspaper dressed up with desk supplies. An office gift exchange, where coworkers trade low-cost gifts within a set spending limit, does not need store-bought wrap to look tidy. You can build a clean look from items you already have at work or at home.
Small touches like twine, tags, and greenery add polish without adding much cost.
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What can you use straight from your desk?
Wrap the gift in plain paper first, then decorate with office supplies you already have. The Artful Parent reports that mailing labels, dot stickers, hole-reinforcement stickers, Post-it notes, and washi tape can decorate plain packages in its guide to gift wrap from office supplies. Use labels for stripes, borders, or name tags.
Add dot stickers in rows or clusters for color. Keep the pattern simple so the gift still looks neat from a few feet away. Cut small tags from paint-sample cards or last season's holiday cards.
Ordinary Joes notes that these tags, plus alphabet stamps or washi-tape patterns, dress up plain paper and bags at very low cost. Write the recipient's name in marker so the tag is easy to read.
Which free recycled papers work well?
Free newspaper, Sunday comics, old maps, sheet music, and book pages work as recycled wrap. Farmers' Almanac points out that black-and-white newsprint makes colorful ribbon or twine stand out in its recycled wrap ideas. Pick pages with clear print and few creases.
Comics suit a lighthearted coworker exchange, while maps or sheet music suit a plain box. Match the paper to the box size so seams sit on the back. Tape seams flat and fold sharp corners.
Add one ribbon or twine band to hold thin paper in place. This keeps newsprint from tearing when the gift is carried to the office.
How do you make brown paper look polished?
Start with an inexpensive base. Budget101 describes plain kraft, butcher, or brown postal paper bought for about $1 a roll as a blank canvas for stamps, ribbon, twine, or drawings in its low-cost wrapping ideas. Grocery paper bags offer the same look for nothing.
Ordinary Joes explains that bags turned inside-out, cut along the seams, and ironed flat make clean kraft-style paper finished with twine, paint markers, and yard greenery. Iron on low heat with no steam and keep the paper flat until it cools. Finish brown paper with natural texture: Verily notes that free outdoor sprigs or pinecones tied with twine over brown paper give a refined rustic look.
Use dry, clean cuttings and keep needles away from tape so the wrap stays closed.
- Tie twine twice around the box and knot on top
- Tuck in a small sprig of greenery or a pinecone
- Add a hand-cut tag and a short note
When should you skip paper altogether?
Use fabric when you want the wrapper to stay useful. Budget101 describes cheap pillowcases, old sheet pieces, remnants, or scarves used furoshiki-style, so the cloth becomes part of the gift and can be reused. Place the gift diagonally, fold opposite corners inward, and knot the remaining corners on top.
Thin paper struggles with odd shapes. Budget101 notes that bulky exchange gifts wrap poorly in thin paper, so a reusable basket, pencil box, gift bag, or dollar-store cellophane with raffia works better and keeps the container usable. Set the gift inside, fill gaps with tissue or shredded paper, and tie the top.
Choose a container close to the gift's size. Add a small tag with twine rather than adhesive tape on fabric or cellophane. The recipient can keep the basket or box for desk storage.