Christmas Wrapping: Recycled Road Atlases

Since mine and my husband's families live so far apart (Idaho and Arkansas), we are used to driving long distances to visit family members. As a result of our cross-country trips, we have acquired several road atlases over the years. And when it comes time to update to a more current atlas, I don't throw away the old one . . . I DRAB TO FAB it :).

This is my favorite way to wrap presents for the following reasons:

• cheap
• pretty
• recycling
• cool
• easy

I rarely even have to use scissors!  I just tear out a single sheet (or lift out a "double sheet" from the staples in the middle) and it's ready to go. {I don't recommend buying a spiral-bound atlas for either driving OR wrapping, because the pages you use the most get torn out when you still need them to find your way, and, you don't have the "double-sheet" that the staple-bound atlases give you for wrapping}.

If you have a larger gift, carefully remove
a "double sheet" from the center of the
atlas by pulling it up from the staples.

If you travel Tom-Tom style with a GPS and don't have a road atlas, snag an old one (or an outdated world atlas) at your local thrift store.  Siam and Burma may not exist on current atlas anymore, but we can keep them alive under our Christmas trees!

Tulle is my favorite "ribbon"
material, though I don't think it
goes with the map-wrapping as
well as the examples below.

Colored rubber bands:
cheap, easy, festive . . . 

. . . and cute!
The card is a folded 3x5 card from my
surplus of office supplies--I think it is the
perfect compliment to this type of wrapping  

If you want to use ribbon, get
pastel colors that compliment
the typical orange/pink/yellow/
green/blue color scheme found
on most political maps

Kitchen twine is always a classic choice
for your packages and parcels.
(Sneak preview of one of your gifts, Bon!)

One other fun idea is to add a toy car or two
to the outside of your package--especially
if it goes with the gift!

Stay tuned for more ideas from my wrapping-savvy sisters!  Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!