I wrap my Christmas presents without tape to reuse the wrapping paper every year: ‘It saves money’

A young woman wraps her Christmas presents without tape every year so that she can reuse the wrapping paper.

Lucy, from Melbourne, bought thick wrapping paper and ribbons years ago and has since recycled the gifting material every year – saving her enough money to splurge on extra gifts.

‘I do it without tape for environmental reasons so that we can just keep reusing it – and I have a bag full of paper and another one with ribbon,’ she said in a video.

She revealed that wrapping most classic gifts – like books and things that come in boxes – without tape is super easy if you know how to do it.

‘The ribbon just takes the place of the tape and holds everything together,’ she said.

Lucy simply wraps a present how she normally would by folding the edges in – but then holds it to her chest and ties a piece of ribbon around the loose parts to keep it in place.

‘The hardest part is holding it together while you put on the ribbon,’ she admitted.

Lucy advised that it’s best to use the hack alongside thick wrapping paper and ribbons because it will stay in place better.

She demonstrated the hack and exclaimed: ‘Here, it’s fully wrapped – no tape just ribbon, and when you take the ribbon off you can reuse the paper!’

‘As soon as the ribbon is taken off, the wrapping falls apart, so it doesn’t rip,’ she revealed.

Many were enamoured with her environmentally-friendly idea.

‘We started using washi tape because it holds it together enough but we’re not using as much plastic,’ one said. ‘And it doesn’t damage the paper too much when you remove it.’  

Another shared, ‘We are doing fabric wrapping paper and bags this year! I have wrapped a few of the kids presents in traditional paper just because they enjoy that and we need to use up our rolls from last year.’

‘I keep gift bags and keep using the same bags every year for the same reason,’ a third added.